"Seth, you're white. You have a safe space. It's called America."
When Osi posed the question about culturally specific initiatives and companies, the first thing I thought of was Amber Ruffin's safe space. In class we had discussed how our narratives in theatre (also the United States in general culturally) fall under the gaze of white (and heterosexual and cisgender) men. Most films and plays exist under that umbrella. It is demanding enough to produce any work of theatrical art on its own, but the additional challenge of fighting against the many facets of this hegemony is exhausting. Institutions like Ma-Yi, National Black Theatre, and the Hispanic American Arts Center are necessary as a space where there is more artistic freedom (vs. staying in those "lanes"), safety, inspiration, and camaraderie among groups of people who are marginalized in American society. As Amber puts it: "Safe spaces give you the energy you need to deal with the world's bullshit. I look around at my heroes and the loves of my life and I know that I am not alone. And if they can do it, so can I."
I wanna know where she got those Chris Pine coasters. She's right: he is cute.
The Lanes
I found myself thinking about everything that we don't commonly see. I remember watching these buzzfeed videos and really having my eyes opened to how incredibly monochromatic casting often is (plus how actors of color are pigeonholed into narrow, specific categories-- like performing in "ethnic family dramas"). In the first of the three, the casting calls they are reading are just so profoundly troubling.
"If I hear one more time Latinas referred to as spicy, I'm gonna freak out! And then people will tell me I'm being hot blooded and spicy."
"Whenever race is called out, it's to play out a stereotype."
"Again with, like, skin darkness determining your worth."
"Minorities make up nearly 40% of the U.S. population yet only represent 16.7% of roles in Hollywood... 81% of movies seen by black people do not feature a black cast..."
In the theatre world, I think of examples like Debra Ann Byrd's experience in drama school where she was told to: "stick to things of my own race and ethnicity and not try to cross the line... that I am not welcome.” She went on to found the Harlem Shakespeare Festival, which is known for featuring actors of color in classical works (as well as women in traditionally male roles).
Okay, okay but who is responsible to make change?
Everyone. It's everyone's responsibility. This is a mentality around what kind of stories we tell and how we tell them, and a change in mentality requires more than just, say, directors to be on board. It is important for allies to be conscious of their choices (for example, casting shouldn't follow a similar pattern to casting Emma Stone as an Asian American woman in "Aloha"-- there are fabulous actors who are actually of whichever background is needed for a character who are talented and available so cast them) but more important to give the microphone to people of color and listen. It is a vital part of this change to include a greater number of people of color as playwrights, directors, educators, etc. Even leaving the actors aside for a moment to talk about production-- if our entertainment is meant to reflect who we are, it is ridiculous that-- in a society in which about 40% of the population are people of color-- film directors of color are outnumbered 3 to 1 (12.6%) and screenwriters of color clock in at around 5 to 1 (8.1% for film, 7.1% for broadcast television) according to the UCLA Hollywood Diversity Report 2018 (PDF here). That is not how we disrupt and ultimately change the hegemony of the mayonnaise gaze! Alex Chester has brilliant points to make on this topic (stereotyping, underrepresentation, getting "behind the table" too) and I can't encourage you enough to check out her blog post, The White-List Cabaret is About to Flip the Script. Similarly, if you were as inspired by the Lew reading we had in class as I was, you might also enjoy How to Cast Actors of Color.
But seriously, guys. Let's work together to move the industry away from being all... well...
But seriously, guys. Let's work together to move the industry away from being all... well...
I was thinking about the curator issue. I definitely believe that someone can be an expert on just about anything. And it may be possible that she was the best qualified who submitted. The real issue, in my opinion, is how much effort did the museum put to get the word out. I'm sure there were definitely qualified black men and women who could have taken the job. I'm just thinking back to all the jobs I never got, but I only heard about after the fact. It actually reminds me of tax lien auctions. For a minute I thought I could flip houses. So I was looking for tax lien auctions, but I couldn't find them and I only found them after the auction dates. I came to understand that there is a list that goes out by city officials and they kind of just keep it in their own little group. So in order to break that, you'd have to be in the group.
ReplyDeleteI feel like this is a similar situation, which is why I asked how much effort did the museum put in to be more inclusive and was this job posted on/in places where black people search for jobs. That being said, hiring someone just because of their color is idiotic in general, but I am sure there are plenty of qualified people of color that could have filled that position. My brain does go back to survival of the fittest though - at least to a certain extent. Like, it wouldn't bother me if a white person or black person or anyone who isn't Indian became a curator for an Indian exhibit. Then again, maybe it should. I don't know anything.