Holy Crap!
Comments(5) So, I’m beginning to watch the 1981 version of Othello, starring Anthony Hopkins as Othello without realizing that it was him and noticed that this darker looking white man was speaking out all of Othello’s lines. As I’m beginning to wonder, “wth is going on?” it dawns on me that it’s Anthony Hopkins and that’s how the original Shakespearean plays were probably staged back in the 1600s. That being said, ethical issues quickly begin to fester in my thoughts as the realization creeps in that, in a play that deals with racism, there are actually white actors running around with dark hued make-up caked on, playing the part of this Moor. My thoughts then leaps to another memory I had of being utterly shocked in a similar situation when I was watching W.D. Griffith’s insanely racist movie, Birth of a Nation and his use of white actors portraying African Americans in 19th century America.
I guess what I seem to have a problem with is the fact that, although I understand that in the 1600s, there probably weren’t many English-African actors readily available to play the part of Othello, in 20th century America, there sure weren’t any shortages of real African-American actors available to play the part of Othello. In fact, it wasn’t until Margaret Webster’s 1943 version of Othello that featured the first black actor playing Othello in America. Maybe I’m just being very sensitive, and making this a bigger issue than need be, but I just can’t seem to get over the fact that I find it extremely offensive and racist when other races play the part that are specifically meant for a particular race. I’m curious to everyone’s thoughts.. Does anyone think I’m being totally sensitive?
And it’s not just white actors playing black roles, either. I nearly fell off my chair when I first saw Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and saw Mickey Rooney as Mr. Yunioshi
For those of you interested in seeing a clip from the production Haeji mentions, here you go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLY5ESkKaRI
I remember when Memoirs of a Geisha came out a couple years ago. My mom and I were extremely annoyed because they hired actors/actresses who weren’t Japanese to play Japanese roles, probably expecting that their (mostly) Western audience wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. Sometimes castings are mind boggling. That being said, I wouldn’t second guess the Anthony Hopkins version because, as you said, this was probably the way they performed Othello in the early 17th century. If they were just going for authenticity in performance (period performance?) then I have no problem; of course there are other reasons for a choice like this. If it were a modern production with Othello being played by a white actor with make up, then I would be a little more alarmed. I think it is important to distinguish between the terms “race” and “racism” when talking about Othello. Othello is a play that deals with race (the different meaning of race understood by people living in England in the 1600s), but it is NOT, in my opinion, a play that deals with racism. Racism is a term with origins in 19th-20th century America that describes an ideology of distinguishing, on a hierarchal basis, races from one another. I do not believe this is an issue in Othello, a play that was written over 200 years before the term racism, and the ideology tied thereto, started to come into use. It’s clear Othello is an outsider because of his race, but it never appears to be the basis from which any of the conflict comes to be. In other words, Iago does not hate Othello because he is a black man, nor does anyone else. Anyway, back to the casting: it is because of this historical and contextual difference in intent and understanding (of the role) that I see no similarities, beyond the materials used to color their skin, between Anthony Hopkins as Othello, and the portrayal of blacks Birth of Nation.
I completely sympathize with what you are saying pertaining to other races playing roles that should be designated for a particular race. I say this in that it takes away from the integrity of the play and in the case of Anthony Hopkins playing Othello, it forces me to consider the “minstrel shows” that were used to degrade African-Americans while at the same time providing entertainment for “White America” as it was known in the 19th century. So are we being asked to disregard the fact that a painted faced white actor is playing Othello and just take the role for face-value, or does the savage-type roles played by Hopkins reinforce the perception of Othello that we are encouraged to consider in the play. If this is the case how would it be accepted if Denzel Washington’s face was painted white to play the role of Shylock in “The Merchant Of Venice”. This may be a stretch but I think I could accept the notion of race-reversal in relation to roles better if African-Americans were allowed to play roles other than what’s expected.
I had originally posted a very lengthy comment with pictures and links to this that appears to have been deleted, anywho I’ll sum it up. I honestly, thought it wasn’t as bad as people were making it seem in class, initially in class my perception for how it was being described was as if Hopkins was in “black face” like in the minstrel acts of the early 20th century, but in fact he looked alright, and appears to be portraying Othello very well. I looked up “Moor” in the oxford dictionary then image yahoo searched it, and found images (that were previously posted) to appear similar to how Hopkins had conveyed Othello. So to your original question, yeah you might be a bit “totally sensitive” =)
Anthony hopkins is still one of the best actors these days eventhough he is very old. ^
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