HowlRound: I don’t have the answer for what to do with The Mikado. I’ve never seen it live. I’ve only seen production photos, YouTube clips, and listened to recordings. I believe in an artist’s right to make the work that they want. But I also believe in making informed and thorough choices at a time when reckless racism is rampant in this country.
2 comments:
I agree with the reasoning behind her argument, but in this specific article it seems a little unfounded, only because she admits that she has never seen this show, or even the production that she is commenting on. Now I agree that theaters don't need to be performing racist works simply because they are classics and things were different when they were written, and I argue that companies should be very aware of the weight that a production like this carries. I also don't know a lot about the Mikado, but based on a quick google search it does sound like the argument for cultural appropriation is correct; it's interesting to see how many comments on the article itself express the view that the Mikado is not what the article portrays it as. I wish the author was more credible regarding this specific production, but I like the conversation that she’s opening about the issue.
The part of this article that drew me in was the line "White people have been making and profiting off stories about the ethnic experience for a long time while creating real life policies that actively exclude them from the social fabric of this country." I don't think that the author should have written and published an article on this particular play without having seen it, but her ideas are sound. Cultural appropriation is a huge, widely ignored issue in our society. Most of this is well intentioned, with simple seemingly harmless microaggressions such as Urban Outfitters selling "Navajo" printed underwear or the swatch of "Sexy Geisha" costumes already hitting the stores for Halloween. The issue isn't that the people involved are trying to be racist. The issue is that entire cultures are being reduced to stereotypes, and they are not even the ones making the money. Turning a culture into a costume delegitimizes it, and is reductive to the culture as a whole. I don't see why people don't understand this. Don't pretend to be a different race, and don't lampoon a different culture. It is just rude. Seems like a pretty simple rule to follow.
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