Good morning,
CULTURAL APPROPRIATION
There has been much talk of late regarding “cultural appropriation.” It is through this lens that I read an interesting article about a movie the son of a friend of mine wrote and directed about two girls trying out for the same part in a play—as Anne Frank. One of them is white and the other Black. The question, of course, is whether a Black woman can play the part of a white Jewish girl. The answer to my mind is a resounding “yes!” The story of a young girl whose optimism transcends and overshadows the tragedy that has befallen her is timeless and universal.
We recently saw historical events played by people not part of the predominant culture in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton. The first version of West Side Story had non-Puerto Ricans playing some of the Sharks and the members of that community. The part of Othello, a Moor, often is played by white men with dark make-up. Since acting is the process of inhabiting a character and a circumstance, one would expect that we would want to encourage actors of different ethnicities and personal histories to reach to interpret characters and circumstances different from their own.
Today there seems to be a competing trend—that there are certain roles and perspectives that some people believe can only be told from the perspective of a particular ethnic or religious group. Apparently to some it no longer is acceptable for a Black to play a Latino or an Asian to play a Black character. Curiously, it seems that playing Jews is one of the few areas where non-members of the ethnic group are subject to little resistance (see The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel for a recent example).
To allow others to occupy the space of another ethnicity is somehow an affront to some. I do not ascribe to this view. There is no reason David Blight, a white intellectual, cannot write a Pulitzer-winning biography of Frederick Douglass. And while it caused quite a dust-up, why can’t the imagined story of a Mexican-American be told by a white female author, a la American Dirt, by Jeanine Cummins? As it turns out, people protested her for the audacity of attempting to imagine the tribulations of a member of another ethnic group. She has been singled out not for the reality or sentiment of the novel, but for the sheer idea that she had the temerity to write a novel from the perspective of someone not of her ethnicity. Meanwhile, I think it is brilliant that Fiddler on the Roof has played to sold-out houses in Tokyo, with a cast entirely Japanese and speaking a language no one in Anatevka would understand.
There is a current belief that a story apparently can only be told from “lived experience.” Certainly, there are good reasons why those who have experienced a trauma (such as the holocaust, slavery, or warfare) have an important story to tell—a story all-to-often stifled or limited by a majoritarian culture. But that does not prevent anyone of any ethnicity providing their unique take (either as writer, director, or actor) to the story.
A New York Times writer encapsulated my view of this subject: “The Limits of ‘Lived Experience”
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/24/opinion/lived-experience-empathy-culture.html?referringSource=articleShare
The author cites Henry Louis Gates, author and intellectual, on the limitations of restricting the telling of a story to a particular group that may have experienced a particular event: “Whenever we treat an identity as something to be fenced off from those of another identity, we sell short the human imagination.”
That’s the important point. Art allows us to explore emotions and experiences that neither we nor our ancestors experienced. It allows for other artists, of different backgrounds and experiences, to share a perspective in a different and empathetic way.
As I think of those who believe the story of slavery in America can only be told from the perspective of a living Black person, an argument can be made that the person most able to tell that story from “lived experience” may not be a Black person at all. The person most capable of telling the story of slavery may be a person who actually has been enslaved. Sadly, there are more than a few examples of slavery in our lifetimes. Should their proximity to, and personal experience with, the institution of slavery make them better people to relate the experience of slavery, to the exclusion of people who happen to be Black? I think stories of slavery is not the exclusive domain of the descendants of enslaved Black Americans, any more than is the story of the founding of America the unique province of whites. And I don’t think the holocaust’s evil cannot be imagined, written about or acted-out by non-Jews.
Have a great day,
Glenn
From the archives:
Hi Glenn. Enjoy reading your musings. Generally agree with you about 80% of the time. But, I am with you 100% on “ CULTURAL APPROPRIATION.” A good story(especially one with a moral or important message) can translate across racial, ethnic, religious, and generational lines. It can improve understanding and build empathy. I always marveled at Shakespearean troops interpretations of the Bard. And good acting should be appreciated in any color.