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agonyaunt2024-12-06 08:43 am
minoanmiss) wrote in agonyaunt2024-12-06 08:43 am
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Dear Care & Feeding: Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Content advisory: discussion of cultural appropriation and whitewashing
My son “Owen” is a theater kid. His school is doing an adaptation of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a Chinese historical/epic.
It’s not 100 percent finalized, but it looks like he’ll get the part of Sun Quan, which is apparently the third largest role in the play. However, we’re white and our family roots come from Germany and Poland. I do not see how Owen can take a major role as a Chinese historical figure without inevitably whitewashing actual Asian history. When I told him my concerns, he sarcastically asked who should take the role, because apparently there’s only one person of Chinese descent in the theater club and she’s not angling for a male part.
I think that under these circumstances, it is completely irresponsible for a school to put on a production which purports to display Chinese history. The only ethical option in my view is to get the play pulled. But I’m not sure how to go about doing that. I only vaguely know the woman who runs the theater club, and I’m sure if I just come in and tell her how insensitive the entire project is, she’ll shut down. Should I be going to the parents of the other children in this club, try to present some kind of united front here? I don’t really have any experience organizing something like this.
—Holding onto Integrity
Dear Holding On,
First: Have you read the play? If not, do! You could also ask to attend a couple of rehearsals. If you see anyone in yellowface or hear a fake accent, by all means put a stop to it. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with asking questions or sharing some of your concerns with the school, but right now you’re in a bit of a rush to condemn this production before you’ve learned much about it.
Not sure it’s possible to “whitewash actual Asian history,” since that actual history, by definition, is of Asia. Like, no one in the audience is going to get the impression that the real Sun Quan was a white kid just because your son is a white kid. This isn’t like those (fictional) movies where some white dude shows up to save China or Japan; nor is it like The Mikado (perhaps my most problematic fave, alas) or Miss Saigon, outdated shows written by white men that rely on tropes and stereotypes. The play your son’s school has chosen is based on a Chinese historical epic, centered on Chinese people, written by a Chinese person—all of which should and hopefully will be made very clear to the audience.
Is Romance of the Three Kingdoms a strange and kind of awkward choice for a school without many Chinese kids? Definitely. But there are ways it could be approached with genuine respect for the source material, which in and of itself is neither reductive nor harmful. To look on the brightest possible side, this play could introduce a bunch of students to a piece of Chinese history they might not learn otherwise. Obviously, I am just one person and no one has elected me Official Arbiter of What Is and Isn’t Asian Appropriation, but I think you can probably slow your roll and try to get a little more information before you start an organized crusade against this production.
My son “Owen” is a theater kid. His school is doing an adaptation of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a Chinese historical/epic.
It’s not 100 percent finalized, but it looks like he’ll get the part of Sun Quan, which is apparently the third largest role in the play. However, we’re white and our family roots come from Germany and Poland. I do not see how Owen can take a major role as a Chinese historical figure without inevitably whitewashing actual Asian history. When I told him my concerns, he sarcastically asked who should take the role, because apparently there’s only one person of Chinese descent in the theater club and she’s not angling for a male part.
I think that under these circumstances, it is completely irresponsible for a school to put on a production which purports to display Chinese history. The only ethical option in my view is to get the play pulled. But I’m not sure how to go about doing that. I only vaguely know the woman who runs the theater club, and I’m sure if I just come in and tell her how insensitive the entire project is, she’ll shut down. Should I be going to the parents of the other children in this club, try to present some kind of united front here? I don’t really have any experience organizing something like this.
—Holding onto Integrity
Dear Holding On,
First: Have you read the play? If not, do! You could also ask to attend a couple of rehearsals. If you see anyone in yellowface or hear a fake accent, by all means put a stop to it. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with asking questions or sharing some of your concerns with the school, but right now you’re in a bit of a rush to condemn this production before you’ve learned much about it.
Not sure it’s possible to “whitewash actual Asian history,” since that actual history, by definition, is of Asia. Like, no one in the audience is going to get the impression that the real Sun Quan was a white kid just because your son is a white kid. This isn’t like those (fictional) movies where some white dude shows up to save China or Japan; nor is it like The Mikado (perhaps my most problematic fave, alas) or Miss Saigon, outdated shows written by white men that rely on tropes and stereotypes. The play your son’s school has chosen is based on a Chinese historical epic, centered on Chinese people, written by a Chinese person—all of which should and hopefully will be made very clear to the audience.
Is Romance of the Three Kingdoms a strange and kind of awkward choice for a school without many Chinese kids? Definitely. But there are ways it could be approached with genuine respect for the source material, which in and of itself is neither reductive nor harmful. To look on the brightest possible side, this play could introduce a bunch of students to a piece of Chinese history they might not learn otherwise. Obviously, I am just one person and no one has elected me Official Arbiter of What Is and Isn’t Asian Appropriation, but I think you can probably slow your roll and try to get a little more information before you start an organized crusade against this production.
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