Expectations of
a Stereotype -- Part 1
Part 1: Learning
My Own Stereotype
As a kid, due to my having an Oriental name
and face, every adult I met expected me to speak with a thick Japanese
accent.
I relished
their shock every time I answered them with my perfect, unaccented
American English. After all, I was born in
New York City,
grew up in Queens, and spoke English. I never lived a day in the
Orient. I was 100% American, a fully legal American citizen. Why
would I have an accent? Adults were so silly.
My childish
amusement faded as I learned that most adult Americans I met
genuinely thought that I couldn't speak English.
Often they
even assumed that I was an immigrant, giving some folk a ready-made
excuse to be abusive and hostile. I heard the words "Chink" and "Jap" almost
every day. A neighbor often called my mom a "monkey". Once
an old guy even snarled at me, "why don't you go back where
you came from?"
Thankfully,
this kind of automatic expectation has mostly faded from the
American subconscious in the past 30 years.
I like to
think I was a small part of this progress. When I started acting
in 1990, in upstate New York, I never once thought to audition
only for "Asian" roles. Instead I looked for plays and
roles that suited my talents, training, skills, and desires --
just like every actor should.
The results? From 1990 - 1992:
| SHOW |
ROLE |
SHOW TYPE |
LOCATION |
| "The
Last of Mrs. Lincoln" |
Narrator, Young Senator, German Janitor |
Radio and stage play |
Albany, NY |
| "My
Fair Lady" |
Jamie, Lead Male Soloist, Lead Male Dancer |
stage musical |
Galway, NY |
| "Hearts
of Fire" |
American Indian |
stage musical |
Proctor's Theatre, Schenectady, NY |
| "The
Jewish History of Easter" |
Haman |
church holiday show |
Albany, NY |
| "The
Firebird" |
Koschei's Slave |
ballet |
Saugerties Ballet Company, Woodstock, NY |
| "Anything
Goes" |
Mr. Whitney |
stage musical |
College of St. Rose, Troy, NY |
| "1776" |
Mr. Thomson, Congressional Secretary |
stage musical |
90 Miles Off Broadway, New Paltz, NY |
Had I limited
myself only to Orientals with Accents, I would only have played
Ching or Ling in "Anything
Goes".
Instead, by
freeing myself from my stereotype, I gave myself the opportunity
to perform in more than a half-dozen shows, singing and dancing
before thousands of people.
I also accomplished
something powerful. Though it was never my goal, I showed thousands of people an Oriental
that didn't speak with an Oriental accent.
It was the
exact same thing that George Takei and Nichelle Nichols accomplished
in the original 1964 "Star Trek", and hundreds of others
since them. All were so-called "ethnic
characters" performing without their expected ethnic
stereotype. I was in good company.
American society
has come far in releasing its Stereotyped Expectations. Asians,
Blacks, Latinos, even Native
Americans are no longer automatically expected to speak in accented
tongues on TV and film. Myself, I no longer expect to
have to prepare an accent in my auditions for film,
TV, theatrical, or commercial roles.
In fact, ethnics
speaking plain old English is no longer unusual! Both on television
and in real life, nobody ever says to me "wow, you speak English
very well" anymore.
And that -
more than anything else - is why I am so disgusted with the upcoming
film "Memoirs of a Geisha". And the reason that I have devoted
so much time to this very site.
( TO BE CONTINUED
)
# # #
KEISUKE HOASHI
NOVEMBER 9, 2004
|
