Probably more mercilessly realistic than petty.
Movies and acting are all perception and short leading men don’t do as well. In the movies height can only be perceived via comparison, so a short man is only short if taller men are on stage.
Actually, most of our leading men have been of average height. There are plenty of exceptions but if you look back on the bulk of great stars, most of them were built like Bogie and Cagney not the Duke or Jimmy Stewart.