In art, exploring her adopted life

photo credit: Michael Bryant/Staff Philadelphia Inquirer

Seeing stories like this warms my heart. Not only is Sarah Mittledorf an adult adoptee from China, she's from my hometown: Mount Airy (Philadelphia)! This article in the Philadelphia Inquirer explains how Sarah is creating a theater production about the Chinese adoptee experience. She was inspired after attending a public screening of Wo Ai Ni Mommy. There were plenty of adoptive parents and adoption professionals present at the discussion, but the voice of the adoptee was absent. My earlier photo post featured one other theater production about adoption - which took place in Minnesota. Since Sarah Mittledorf is based on the East Coast, perhaps I'll be able to experience her final work.

I applaud Sarah Mittledorf for her courage create a work such as this.

Any thoughts, readers?

Defining Race: Part 2

So, it looks like I'm not the only one who wrestles with this question! Thank you, readers, for those who responded online and by email.

The straight definition of race from Merriam-Webster is:

1: a breeding stock of animals

2 a : a family, tribe, people, or nation belonging to the same stock b : a class or kind of people unified by shared interests, habits, or characteristics

3 a : an actually or potentially interbreeding group within a species; also : a taxonomic category (as a subspecies) representing such a group b : breed c : a category of humankind that shares certain distinctive physical traits

But the more complex question is: where did the concept of race come from?

What Merriam-Webster does NOT tell you is that race in the United States has its roots in history, when Western Europeans arrived in North America. Over the years, it has become socialized and legalized - so that the color of one's skin DOES impact their lived experience.

As I tried to address this question in a couple of blog posts, I realized that I would not be able to do so...or at least not as eloquently as other researchers have done before me. So, in great humility and acknowledgment of researchers I admire, I DO want to point you to a fabulous website and movie about the history of race (follow the previous link). It is an excerpt from the "RACE: Are We So Different" exhibit. I would encourage you to see when this amazing exhibit is in your neighborhood. You will never look at race in the same way again!

Shout out for FUSION!

About two years ago, I attended the White Privilege Conference.  For those who may not follow social justice issues, the title for the conference may seem a bit strange.  But, rest assured, this conference brings in big name speakers and has amazing workshops around all sorts of social justice themes.

It was there I first encountered a group called iPride based out of the San Francisco Bay area. One of their board members was leading the WPC Youth Leadership portion of the conference.

I signed up to receive their e-newsletters, and what should appear in my Inbox this week, but a notice for the FUSION program for Mixed Heritage Youth. I'm so thrilled to see this kind of program in place, "supporting multiracial, multiethnic and/or transracially adopted youth and their families."

MUST give a shout-out to the FUSION program - check it out!

Finding a Perfect Match

OK - as I sat watching a re-run of NCIS (yes, I am a fan), I couldn't help but notice Cote de Pablo (pictured above) - the actress who plays Officer Ziva David. The interesting thing about her is that she is of Chilean descent, raised in Miami...and she is portraying an ex-Mossad agent from Israel.

It just makes me wonder: Is there a shortage of good actors and actresses who actually MATCH the nationality/ethnicity of the character they portray?

I can think of so many examples of this - where do I begin?

How about in the movie portrayal of Memoirs of a Geisha - Chinese actress ZiYi Zhang was cast as the main character, Chiyo/Sayuri. As someone who lived in Kyoto, and is of Japanese descent, this was infuriating to me! It was a fine example of market-driven decision making. Even though I knew that the producers thought, "Hmmm...who's a popular East Asian actress who we can cast in the role...who's going to bring in the big bucks?", it still didn't make me feel any better. In fact, it made me feel worse that the integrity of the story was compromised in this way. I know that the commentary from the director and producers deny this, claiming "artistic license" in how they represented Arthur Golden's story. But, seriously, let's evolve a little in our perceptions of certain ethnic groups, especially Asian women. We do not all "look alike." There are distinct differences between Chinese, Japanese and Koreans (all of whom were cast in this movie). And with the myth of geisha = prostitute...the production team missed a great opportunity to shed light on this topic and dispel the myth ("geisha" literally means "artist" because of their training in music and dance to entertain). Please, if you watch this movie, take it for what it is: an artistic interpretation of historic fiction.

So, really, does the movie/TV industry think that we are blind to these mismatched castings? Or perhaps I should challenge the actors/actresses themselves to think twice before accepting a mismatched or stereotypical role?

I'm reading a book called The Asian Mystique by Sheridan Prasso. She references Lucy Liu stating that she "felt that she has no choice except to play stereotypical roles (for Asian women)." Well now that you've made some big money, Lucy, I hope you can afford to be more choosy in your future roles.

I know that my post has a cynical edge to it...but, really, I am not trying to slam any of these actresses' skills. I enjoy watching Cote de Pablo (NCIS), Lucy Liu (Charlie's Angels) and Zhang Ziyi (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). I also like Michelle Yeoh who was in both Crouching Tiger AND Memoirs of a Geisha. I'm just wondering when the media industry will leave their tiresome ways of casting and start showing some ethics and social justice in their decisions.

I hope it's soon.

Note: Two other things that I'd like to mention:
1) In Kung Fu Panda, why is it that the main characters of this movie (set in China) were not Chinese? And why were the secondary characters Chinese? Shouldn't it have been the other way around? Similar parallels can be drawn to Memoirs of a Geisha.
2) Despite my initial impressions of Kung Fu Panda, it wasn't as filled with demeaning stereotypes as I thought it would be. I actually enjoyed the movie for entertainment:-)