Saturday, October 11, 2014
Protecting Racism in Theatre
Bitter Gertrude: Yes, I am still talking about this, despite some truly delightful comments and emails requesting that I stop draining all the fun out of life. (One woman, who said, and I quote, that she would like to punch me in the face, was relieved that I didn’t cast her local production of The King and I, as I would have unfairly deprived her of her favorite role, Lady Thiang, due to my ridiculous stance against yellowface.) The title of Mike Lew’s brilliant HowlRound article, “I’ll Disband My Roving Gang of Thirty Asian Playwrights When You Stop Doing Asian Plays in Yellow Face,” says it all. Privilege goes down hard, and it goes down swinging, and it goes down all the while claiming the right to do, ahem, whatever the fuck it wants.
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10 comments:
I love how this article was written. The author is direct in saying that we need to stop creating excuses for racism in art just because privileged theatre artists don't want to be censored. The biggest issue I see for the any arguments for racism in theatre that involve "artist freedom” or “intellectual complexity” is that one needs to consider what they are saying with their art. Whatever your art may be, it is making endless statements about all kinds of things. And of course audiences will interpret these things in all different ways, but you need to consider what you are trying to say with your art. Does racism fit into that message?
I like how the argument that people, most often white people, cannot relate to any character who is not them, and then turn around and expect people who are different from them to somehow be able to relate to people who are not like them. Art should represent people as they are, and the world includes people who are not white. Actually, the world includes a lot more people who aren’t white then it does people who are.
If we are talking about casting, which I think we are, I absolutely agree that it is silly to cast people in roles for which they are ill suited and have to be covered in make up, assuming you have people of the right ethnicity and talent auditioning. I don't really disagree with anything this particular article said except its blanket. I think this applies to a lot of things today, but also there are a lot of places it does not. Last night I got into an argument about whether or Taylor Swift was racist. The argument? Someone said that because the ballerinas in her new music video were all white, she is a racist. There are people of all ethnicities in the video but she is a racist because in that one short scene all the ballerinas are white. Really!!? A quick google search shows that it is actually a huge problem 99% of ballerinas are white. So than do you think Taylor Swift is a racist or she just cast who showed up. (Also what are the chances she had anything to do with casting the video). Not to get super off topic just that while racism is a huge problem, it makes things worse not better when everyone and everything gets accused of being racist. It does not always apply.
This article was short but it got it's main point across. Racism may or may not be in a piece of art but we should not be trying to pick it out when it is not clearly represented. if a group of white people were cast over a group of mixed ethnicities- there may be some cause of tension because of the obvious and distinct casting choices. However, what if this image was what the director originally intended? You cannot force racism into art and you cannot force racism out of art. Type-casting is inevitable.
This is one of my favorite articles about theatrical theory I've read on this blog. Blind-casting, racism, and making a historic piece relevant are all very important issues that many current theatre makers may not adequately know how to address. It is easy for those with privilege to not recognize classical works as antiquated and requiring a face lift. Retouching a classical piece can be controversial and make people upset but those upset are usually those privileged, not wanting to let go of the supremacy which they know.
The two examples the author of the article mentions illustrate his point very well. It is an empowering idea that by figuring out what discrimination back then was supposed to signify, a piece can be updated so that it does not needlessly discriminate against individuals that in our current world are not associated with such symbols. Without a doubt the discussions of these traits in classical works still applies today but not to the same demographics or classes it used to.
This article does an excellent job at condemning the use of bigotry in theatre, but what impresses me about the argument are the reasons behind this condemnation. Anyone could easily draw support on main stream beliefs and make superficial arguments against racism and be completely backed by moral high ground. This fact rests uneasy on me, because theatre to me is a place where the creators of art should be free to create to make a point. Racism in theatre can be used in ways that condemn racism in the real world. However, the author has made it clear that they are talking about a racism being used for a different purpose, as a blatant rebellion against political correctness. While I am not completely convinced that there is no value in doing this, I agree with the author that the attempt is often misunderstood by audiences, and that conveying a story is the most important job in theatre. If the story confuses message with shock value, then whats the point. Either way, it's an important discussion to have even in the fairly liberalized realm of theatre.
I just want to talk for a moment on the structure of this aritcle. I feel as though it was very poorly written. The author relies on quotes form other workers too often to get his pint across and doesn't give those quotes much support. I'm not even fully aware of what the point is until halfway through the article! It seem like he just used this for a poorly structured rant on bigotry, that could have been good if he took some time to proof read. I get what he was trying to say: stop being such pansies with theatrical art. But it could have been done much better
Racism isn't something that can be ignored in theatre. I understand that sometimes plays and musical have racism as undertones (or as the subject themselves), and that can't be ignored when casting or directing. We simply need to recognize the difference between theatre being racist and from a piece showing racism. Additionally, some pieces are products of their time, so they may have racial undertones that need to be recognized as such. This means that, similarly to some disclaimers in movies, they should have a statement that the opinions expressed in the theatrical piece is a product of its time (past or present) and does not condone such behavior. It's stupid how much racism there is in not only the entertainment industry, but also the world as a whole.
Just cast the damn person suited for the role! I'm tired of these types of arguments because they get everybody nowhere, fast. For too long people have bitched and complained about racism in the theatre and rightly so! It's garbage and needs to be resolved, but do I think it's going to be resolved any time soon? Probably not, but that doesn't mean we can't talk about it and potentially do something about it. It is a serious problem that needs to be dealt with through understanding and cooled off egos. Even though it has already been mentioned, I also agree that blind casting could possibly be a way to start handling such a problem.
Going off of what Nicholas has said, I do believe that blind casting is a stepping stone in tackling the problem of racism in the theatre. However, I do know some people who believe that blind casting is just bringing the idea of race to the forefront. Having a black King in The King & I just makes the show more about having a black king instead of actually centering the show around the story. Recognizing race in the theatre, however, can be a beautiful thing. If you look at shows such as the August Wilson cycle, race is used however it is something that fuels that era and time period. The issue of race can bring an extra element of tension to the story.
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