CineQuiz
Scene from Being Different
Poster for Being Different

Being Different (1981)

Being Different (1981), directed by Harry Rasky, starring Christopher Plummer and Billy Barty.

08/21/1981 BR Documentary 1h 40m

Sign in to like Sign in to mark as watched Remind me to watch Write a review
6.8 User
score
Quiz about this movie

The true story of a modern-day Elephant Man… and other human oddities.

Synopsis

A tribute to the spirit and humanity of people who are physically different from the average: very tall and very large men and women, a bearded woman and her long-time husband, Siamese twins joined at the midsection, and several little people including actor Billy Barty. We meet some at Gibsonton, Florida, where carnival folk winter. They talk about their lives and accomplishments. The camera also goes on the road to visit a grandfather with a distinctive face, a legless mechanic from Kentucky on a second honeymoon in LA, a marathon runner and motivational speaker who has no feet, a karate student with partial limbs, and an armless, down-to-earth mom in Texas.

  • Hideaki KobayashiCinematography
  • Harry RaskyDirector, Producer
  • Mavis Lyons SmullEditing
  • Harold GreenbergProducer

About the film

Being Different is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Harry Rasky and released in 1981. Adapted in part from Leslie Fiedler's 1978 book Freaks: Myths and Images of the Secret Self, the film profiles various people, including amputees, people with dwarfism, conjoined twins and people who are much taller or fatter than average, who have physical characteristics that make them different from the "norm", and centres on both the positive and negative aspects of their experiences.

Figures appearing in the film included actor Billy Barty; Jóhann K. Pétursson, a 7'8" circus entertainer; Sandy Allen, who was recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the tallest living woman in the world; Percilla Bejano, a woman with hypertrichosis who performed in sideshows as “The Monkey Girl”; and Peter Strudwick, a German-American marathon runner who was born without feet.

The film premiered at the 1981 Montreal World Film Festival, and was screened at the 1981 Festival of Festivals in September. Allen personally attended a later commercial screening at Toronto's Carlton Theatre in October.

Read the full article (2k characters)

Being Different is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Harry Rasky and released in 1981. Adapted in part from Leslie Fiedler's 1978 book Freaks: Myths and Images of the Secret Self, the film profiles various people, including amputees, people with dwarfism, conjoined twins and people who are much taller or fatter than average, who have physical characteristics that make them different from the "norm", and centres on both the positive and negative aspects of their experiences.

Figures appearing in the film included actor Billy Barty; Jóhann K. Pétursson, a 7'8" circus entertainer; Sandy Allen, who was recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the tallest living woman in the world; Percilla Bejano, a woman with hypertrichosis who performed in sideshows as “The Monkey Girl”; and Peter Strudwick, a German-American marathon runner who was born without feet.

The film premiered at the 1981 Montreal World Film Festival, and was screened at the 1981 Festival of Festivals in September. Allen personally attended a later commercial screening at Toronto's Carlton Theatre in October.

Response

Jay Scott of The Globe and Mail called it "Rasky's finest film, and that assessment includes Homage to Chagall, for which he received an Oscar nomination."

Maureen Peterson of the Montreal Gazette praised it as "a documentary about the handicapped that has warmth and humour and is almost miraculously devoid of voyeurism and sensationalism", concluding that "if a work of art is something which nourishes our spirit and alters our perception, then Being Different is a work of art." Michael Walsh of The Province, conversely, contrasted it unfavourably against Tod Browning's infamously controversial 1932 film Freaks, writing that "I couldn't shake the feeling that Being Different is too self-consciously well-intentioned, a film rather desperate to mask its less-than-wholesome voyeuristic tendencies with goodwill. All things considered, Browning, the old ex-carney, made a more honest film."

The film received a Genie Award nomination for Best Feature Length Documentary at the 3rd Genie Awards in 1982.

References

External links

Being Different at IMDb

Text from Being Different (film) on Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Being_Different_(film)

Trivia

Production

Cast

Quiz about this movie

Questions from the whole catalogue.

Play now

If you liked this one

Crew

Questions about this film

What is Being Different about?

Being Different: A tribute to the spirit and humanity of people who are physically different from the average: very tall and very large men and women, a bearded woman and her long-time husband, Siamese twins joined at the midsection, and several little people including actor Billy Barty. We meet some at Gibsonton, Florida, where carni…

Who directed Being Different?

Being Different was directed by Harry Rasky in 1981.

Who stars in Being Different?

The cast of Being Different includes Christopher Plummer, Billy Barty, Bob Melvin, Sandra Elaine Allen and Jo-Ann Cantilla.

How long is Being Different?

Being Different runs for 100 minutes, or 1h40.

Similar films

Page updated on 09/14/2026.

Back to the catalogue
Scene from Being Different