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As popular culture aims to better represent our diverse and complicated world, a debate has emerged about who best can portray a character’s ethnicity, culture and sexual orientation. This issue became even more prominent during the summer when Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks told The New York Times that a straight man today could not play the role of Andrew Beckett – the closeted lawyer who tragically is inflicted with AIDS in the movie “Philadelphia.” A straight man himself who won his first Academy Award for his powerful performance in that role, Hanks said he does not think “people would accept the inauthenticity of a straight guy playing a gay guy.”  

The specter of “inauthenticity” already arising as Bradley Cooper, a talented actor who has won and been nominated for numerous awards across the entertainment industry, prepares to direct and star in the movie “Maestro.” Scheduled for release in 2023, the biopic aims to portray the life of mercurial composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein, who was the child of Ukrainian-Jewish parents. Specifically, according to news reports, “Maestro” will concentrate on Bernstein’s 25-year marriage relationship with Felicia Montealegre, who will be portrayed by Carey Mulligan: their marriage was interrupted when Bernstein came out as gay and went to live with a music director of a classical radio station.  

While Cooper is many things, he is not Jewish and likely not gay. To add another ingredient into Cooper’s brew of cultural appropriation, pictures emerged of the actor in costume, including a nose prosthetic that a reporter for The Independent wrote made a statement that “Jewish men are so ugly that the famous, handsome actor has to deface himself to play one.” Mulligan as well is likely to face accusations of cultural criticism, since the London-born actor will be portraying a Chilean-American actress who arrived in New York via Costa Rica.  

The challenge of balancing appearances, ethnicity, sexual orientation with the art of acting and creative expression will likely be at the forefront of public debate in the years to come. The question arises, do public restrictions somehow invalidate the profession of acting.  We can all agree (I think) that certain depictions of cultures and the choice of actors are wrong and should not ever see a movie theatre or a streaming service again. There are many despicable depictions of blacks in classic movies, particularly in “black face.” And, in fact, those types of portrayals are relatively recent as well, though the intention may have been less sinister. For example, there were instances of “black face” on popular television shows like Mad Men and 30 Rock – modern programs that chose to mock instead of embrace. Still, the producers recognized that the characterizations were offensive nonetheless and saw them removed from the show’s catalog.  

But other minority groups have also been depicted unfairly and with some derision – even by very well-respected actors. Asians have also been the subject of insensitivity and disrespect. One of the best examples from movie history is Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, where he played the role of Mr. Yunioshi. Though known as an accomplished actor, Rooney played the part as the worst form of Asian caricature – it was a role he should never have played.   

In contradistinction to Rooney et. al., the musical phenomenon Hamilton helped break several racial molds. It offered audiences a powerful and diverse cast in the theatre, but more importantly on streaming where many more people could view the hit show. If Lin-Manuel Miranda had remained true to the casting of the historic characters he created, it would have been just another musical and may be set to fade into obscurity. Thankfully, that did not happen, and the cast was possibly the most diverse on Broadway ever. 

Now that cultural representations – albeit far from perfect – are improving, I suspect there will be attacks of “whataboutism.” One can imagine those who attack the entertainment industry from the right, questioning if Hanks and others feel they cannot play gay character, why would a gay actor be permitted to play a heterosexual? If a black actors can play George Washington, James Madison and Thomas Jefferson in Hamilton, why can’t a white actor play Martin Luther King? The culture wars will continue. 

Cultural representation now aside, what about physical representation? Growing up, during my adolescence I very rarely saw characters that looked like me. Brunette, plump, and perpetually glasses wearing characters were not in high demand on the Disney Chanel. Recently, with the production of HBO’s Emmy Award winning drama Euphoria, a character who looks like me was on screen. At last, someone I could watch and feel connected to! The character, a high schooler named Kat Hernandez, played by Barbie Ferreira, who was sexy, witty, and friends with popular girls.  

It was a win for underrepresented girls everywhere! But, like most good things, Ferreira’s time on the show is ending. It dwindled from a large amount of screen time to almost nothing, which changed my mind about the show. I like seeing non-cringe representations of myself on screen. Kat, while flawed like anybody is, was one of the few characters who was bigger than average and did not have an eating disorder, or constantly complained about being bigger. She just existed, and that was important to watch.  

We all come to these issues with our own biases and our own levels of questioning. As a Jewish person, North American culture has been relatively sympathetic as opposed to, say, European. Though there are generally positive representations of Jewish culture, even the show The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, which depicts the struggles of a Jewish female comedian in the 1960s and those of her Jewish family, is filled with actors who themselves are not, in fact, Jewish.

Other instances are not so positive, like in the occasional stage productions of The Merchant of Venice, where non-Jewish actors occasionally put on “Jew face” in order to portray Shylock, the one of the main characters. But that is somehow different than Cooper as Bernstein because it does not seem that he is disrespectful of Bernstein’s Jewish background.  

In recent years, many activists have begun to call for accurate representation in consumable media, like TV shows and movies. Sign me up! Finally, people from all over the world, from all cultures and ethnicities, can see themselves represented by actors who are incredibly accomplished and talented. 

The idea of fair representation presents a conundrum: acting is a job, and actors, just like teachers, doctors, and basketball players, need to make money. Acting is one  of the oldest professions in the world. If someone is good at their job, they are usually not barred from doing it. A commitment to equal representation is needed, in acting and in all fields, but it must be acknowledged that acting is pretending to be someone else. There is a stark difference between appropriation and honouring a culture, and most people should be able to tell the difference. If respectful and honest portrayals are possible, would that be so bad? If all actors played an experience that they lived, we will, as an audience, have powerful narratives, but we will have very limited narratives as well.  

Limited narratives would be more impactful, that is true. It is important to see a reflection of yourself in someone else, as a means of confidence. I know the power of limited narratives: as I reached college age, it was very rare to see a bespectacled, plump, brunette, Jewish character on the screen, movie or otherwise. “Where are the characters that look like me?”, which I would ask myself as I watched plotlines unfold on a screen. But the main noun of that sentence is not actors – no, it is characters. In my younger days, I was more concerned with seeing characters who looked like me, regardless of who was playing them. I just wanted to be seen by the people behind the screen and stage. I wanted to feel less alone: at least in books I could imagine the characters exactly how I wanted, so I was always the heroine, the main character of everything. 

Header By: Rida Chaudhry