Walked pass a cast and crew on location
yesterday. It was an Australian drama in its second season. The drama features
a bunch of 20 something people living in a building in Coogee. It is all good
except for the fact that it does not look anything like what I saw in my own suburb.
When the first season was launched it was criticized for being overly white and
presenting another version of a white washed Australian beach suburb. An Asian
Australian actor once tweeted about his disappointment with this new series and
was immediately warned by some executives in the production company about his
job opportunities with their company because of his comments.
Fast forward to yesterday. I did not know
that they actually have a second season until I saw them filming. Nothing had
changed. The cast is still all white and even the extras who are beach goers
are all white. Girls slim and beach babish and guys are blonde hunks with six
packs. At this point I couldn’t really care less about this production. But
then when I looked around the crew I noticed that the crewmembers were actually
very multi-cultural and diverse. Then I came to realize that while it is ok to
be diverse behind the camera, it is not ok to be diverse in front of the
camera. I suddenly felt very angry and disappointed. So I left.
The fact that the mainstream Australian
media and entertainment industry still refuses to admit the fact that this is a
multicultural society in year 2014 is disturbing. The fact that they segregate
multiculturalism between on and off screen members of the production is even
more disturbing. Multiculturalism on screen is still limited to ABC and SBS but
not on other commercial channels (hm is it partly because of this the current
government wants to reduce their funding?). The fact that commercial television only acknowledges
multiculturalism in reality shows but not in scripted shows is extremely
frustrating, disrespectful and condescending.
Multiculturalism on screen is not a token
you exchange for media headlines (as in Neighbours) or a lip service you can pay
to quell criticism. Multiculturalism, in 2014 Australia, should be a matter of
fact because this is the society we are living in. Past excuses of can’t find
multicultural actors are long gone when you look at the theatre school graduates
from the last 10 years especially NIDA. If you check out Pearly Productions Minority Box series you will know how many trained non-Anglo actors are waiting
for the opportunity to show what they can do – and they are just some of them.
Some people keep saying non-Anglo actors
need to write materials and produce these materials to get their voice heard.
Yes that is happening but at the same time why is it so important to segregate
non-Anglo materials from Anglo materials? When we are all living as normal
people in this modern Australian society, why is it that every piece of
material that involves non-Anglo actors has to be specifically written for
them? I recently worked in a new hospital and there are a number of non-Anglo
workers when you just listen to them, they are as Austraaaalian as you can
imagine. A lot of them are professionals such as doctors, nurses,
administrators and IT professionals. So why is it that as soon as their skin
colour is different they have to tell their own stories but not as part of the
bigger Australian stories? Are they not Australians when they, well, actually
speak Austraaaaalian?
Maybe for us to actually get this message
out, I need to reiterate the following:
·
I am Chinese Australian but I
have never worked in a Chinese restaurant except when I am in front of the
camera
·
I have a number of female
Chinese Australian peers who had never whored themselves in real life except
when they are being cast in productions
·
I have a number of Muslim
friends who have no idea how to make bombs except when being asked to do so on
screen
·
I have a number of Indian peers
who do not work in news agencies or Indian take away – in fact they are IT
professionals and medical professionals
·
I have a number of Middle
Eastern peers who had never been involved in Underbelly kind of activities
apart from going into the studio or on location
So next time when producers are casting,
maybe they should look around and think this twice. Casting agents in my
experience are a lot more open minded (and I love them) so who are the
gatekeepers? I don’t think I need to articulate that.
It is all good to tell people “I have a lot
of non-Anglo friends so I am not biased or racist”. But for me, actions are
louder than words. If you do respect your non-Anglo friends and acknowledge
them, reflect that in your work. It is not a challenge but a simple acceptance –
nothing more nothing less.
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