Depending on what one want to emphasize in this discussion, one can branches
out in to two different issues: a practical one regarding employment of
actors actresses with disability, in this sense like employment equity of
elsewhere should we not all be looking at the affirmative-action in the
profession?
The other issues: acting and performance, when I would say when disabled
actors can play other parts I would no longer see why not nondisabled actors
playing part of persons with disability. Are we saying that disabled actors
are less qualified?
A while back I remember watching a documentary, I think on NBC. Wherein,
some "older" back actor talked about when he was young it was very difficult
for black actors to land a role even as a "black character" he said the that
the directors would hire a white actor paint their faces, and black rather
than hire a competent back actor. This seemed to me as constituting
discrimination; in any other profession we would call it that why not to in
showbiz?
After all, this profession has done so much to drag out prejudice against
people with disability. Why not to use it to undo some of the harm.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Timothy Lillie" <[log in to unmask] wrote
> However, I mentioned color not because the US is any more racist than any
> other society (see the Palestinian demands to label Zionism as racism, for
> example and see the Northern Sudanese Arabs and Muslims STILL enslaving
the
> Southern Sudanese Christians and animists, not to mention the racial and
> religious bigotry of Hindus and the racial animus of Japanese towards
> Koreans and Ainu and the list goes on and on...) but because the role is
> traditionally played as if being a Moor equals being black.
>
> In Shakespeare's time, women never played women: boys did. The question
of
> whether a boy can play a woman never came up -- nor did the question of a
> "real" Jew playing Shylock and so on.
> Timothy Lillie, Ph.D.
> Department of Curricular & Instructional Studies
> The College of Education
> 322 Zook Hall
> The University of Akron
> Akron OH 44325-4205
> 330-972-6746
>
>
> > perhaps, because I am still racist even though I have tried to change.
> > Sadly, I can't think of a famous black person in the US where color
wasn't
> > part of who he/she was -- but then, that's because the US is a racist
> > society and color is always noticed (e.g., I noticed it in the remake of
> > Cinderella even though "race" was irrelevant to the story). And Timothy
> > noticed it by questioning the color of the character rather than of the
> > actor ("However, he [Laurence Olivier] should not be excluded
> > simply because
> > of the color of his skin. After all, perhaps Othello was a light-skinned
> > Moor, no?") but nonetheless assumed a "color-match" between actor and
> > character.
> >
> > Lilah
>
> ________________End of message______________________
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