An interesting article about UK TV casting on the Guardian, featuring my sci-fi goddess Freema Agyeman:Why the Dickens shouldn't costume dramas be ethnically diverse? (The Guardian, May 7, 2008)
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Colourblind
An interesting article about UK TV casting on the Guardian, featuring my sci-fi goddess Freema Agyeman:Why the Dickens shouldn't costume dramas be ethnically diverse? (The Guardian, May 7, 2008)
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7 comments:
I thought Sophie Okonedo did a great job as Nancy in Oliver Twist earlier in the year, so why not. Interesting that it's the same guy doing both.
I saw the Asian opera singer Sumi Jo play Oscar in Un Ballo In Maschera. She was wonderful, though in the long run I do wish the boy roles were played by boys. Let me ask you something. Is it racist of me to believe all Asians are "smart" in a sense? Good at math and science and logic? Because I can't say I've known "many", but I've known a reasonable number and variety, and every ONE fit into that category.
Hey Joey7777 -- it's not racist, but it is definitely the kind of stereotyping that can lead to racism. Would you assume that Yao Ming or Jackie Chan or Ang Lee was good at math, science, or logic? Of course not. They're good at basketball, fight choreography, and film making.
While it certainly isn't a negative thing to assume that all the people from one continent are smart, it does sort change them regarding the many other talents or cultural contributions they have/can provide to the world community.
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Rey : From my experiences...yes, I actually would assume Jackie Chan and Ang Lee are good at math, science and logic. They might not be working scientists or mathematicians, but neither were the Asians I've known who seemed proficient in those areas. Is it wrong to think there's a strength there, whether it's nature or nurture? Different ethnicities look different, so why not assume there can be inside differences? I asked this, again, because I know there's a school of thought that says we mustn't stereotype, even if the stereotype is, in a sense, a "good" thing. Nevertheless, from my own family, to just about every Caucasian I know, gay, straight, young, old, there seems to be an underlying belief in a type of Asian superiority in certain areas (it ranges from "You KNOW the Indian boy next door must do well in school..." to "Oh, thank God. The guy who'll be doing my surgery is Japanese"). But I can never correct them, because....as I've said, my experiences haven't yet contradicted any of that. (Even when Sameer Mishra won the last National Spelling Bee, what was the most common reaction I heard from people? "THAT figures!", albeit it was spoken with admiration). And I certainly don't think stereotyping people as being hardcore scientific thinkers negates the appreciation (or knowledge) of their other contributions. Most everyone I know is aware of the epic artistic and philosophical traditions in China, Japan, India....going back to B.C.
Joey7777 -- whatever your opinion of the stereotype (positive or negative) hanging onto it means that you will not see people of Asian descent as the people they are without seeing their race and then your idea of their race first. And this could also have a positive and negative effect on you. I mean, if you're choking to death and just assume that the Chinese delivery guy knows the Heimlich or CPR, because of his "innate" scientific understanding, you might be in trouble.
I have a friend, for example, who believes that all white people are lazy. She lives here -- in a country where white people (all people, actually) work longer, harder hours than any other workforce. Doesn't matter, though: white people are lazy.
And who says that the "Asian people are smart" stereotype doesn't have negative results? Here's an article from Tuesday's NYT:
Report Takes Aim at 'Model Minority' Stereotype of Asian-American Students
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