“We Can't Even Play Ourselves”: Mixed-Race Actresses in the Early
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“WE CAN’T EVEN PLAY OURSELVES”: MIXED-RACE ACTRESSES IN THE EARLY TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI'I AT MĀNOA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN AMERICAN STUDIES AUGUST 2017 By Valerie M. Lo Dissertation Committee: Robert Perkinson, Chairperson Mari Yoshihara Jonna Eagle Konrad Ng Jonathan Okamura Keywords: Mixed race, Ambiguity, Post-Racial, Color-blind, Film ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project has been a test of my resiliency and grew from my desire to add a small contribution to the ongoing discussion of mixed race representations in film and television. Many people have come into my life in the last several years and encouraged my studies, talked excitedly with me, and subtly (or blatantly) pushed me to continue when I thought the road ahead looked too ominous. In 2005, at San Francisco State University’s Asian American Studies banquet, my Master’s thesis chair, Wei Ming Dariotis, remarked that a PhD was in the stars for me. Those words stayed close to me during my graduate work at the University of Hawai'i. My first teaching assistantship with Isabelle Peluad at San Francisco State University in Asian American Literature showed me exactly what I wanted to immerse myself in for the rest of my life. Graduate courses with Russell Jeung and Madeline Hsu reaffirmed my desire to work within the field of Asian American Studies and continue on to a doctorate program. My coursework in American Studies was rigorous and pushed me out of my comfort zone in the best way. David Stannard, Mari Yoshihara, and Vernadette Gonzalez provided some of the most memorable learning communities within which I have had the pleasure to work. My early teaching was significantly shaped by assisting Vernadette Gonzalez, Robert Perkinson, and Theodore Gonzalves. I am thankful to have had such passionate mentors, particularly Vernadette, who taught me that it is good for students to be uncomfortable and wrestle with complex issues. The drafts of the dissertation from the proposal through many revisions were greatly supported by Mari Yoshihara, Jonna Eagle, and especially Robert Perkinson. Robert pushed me to grapple with arguments that helped the project continue to grow. More than anyone, Mari i helped with the tedious editing process. Konrad Ng and Jonathan Okamura provided thoughtful responses and support from the initial stages of the project onward. My years in Hawai'i are among my most cherished. I made lifelong friends within and beyond the American Studies Department. I am immensely appreciative of my cohort members Nicole Suzuki, Sean Trundle, and Mo Wells, and American Studies colleagues Cheryl Beredo, Jeff Tripp, David Doolin, and Kevin Lim. I could not have undergone the rigor of graduate work and teaching plus all of life’s pain and exhilaration without the friendship, support, and love from Angela Krattiger, Melissa Rand, Jon Schmitz, and Sean Trundle. Finally, I thank my parents, who have continuously supported my educational efforts despite the long and winding road I needed to take. I am grateful to my Sensei, Dr. Stevan Gengo, and his continual support of my educational pursuits and martial arts training. My good friend and training partner Eunejune Kim continually encouraged me from our very first conversation about race relations, and commiserated with me when it seemed like no one else understood. My supportive colleagues at City College of San Francisco and San Jose State University, and my family and team at The Park Gym provided encouragement and laughs during the most challenging times. Thank you! ii ABSTRACT At the turn of the twenty-first century, images of mixed race and racial ambiguity were in demand, mixed-race characters were becoming more common on screen, and racially mixed performers were being cast in roles across races. Mainstream media deemed mixed-race performers symbols of racial progress, yet their casting often exposed latent racism, and their characters reflected outdated racial politics. Increased fame, positive media attention, and more acting opportunities were available for mixed performers; however, they often played racially unmarked characters. The inclusion of mixed-race performers and characters based on their ability to be detached from specific racial identities—and appear as no race at all—revealed fractures in racial progressiveness. Despite breaking racial boundaries for their casting, mixed black and white performers were often placed in roles where the dominant culture and mainstream society’s discomfort with speaking frankly about race was replicated on screen. They regularly played characters coded as racially neutral, only partially formed, or based on antiquated stereotypes of tragic or deviant figures. Even in lead roles, mixed characters often lacked families or romances in order to keep race and interracial relationships out of the story. Casting mixed-race performers but coding them as white meant they occupied a white cultural frame at the expense of a black identity revealing white racial hierarchies and persisting racism. During this era of purported racial progressiveness, actresses Rashida Jones, Thandie Newton, and Maya Rudolph achieved unprecedented success for mixed black female performers. Playing roles that spanned races and appealed to wide audiences, the three contributed to a complex reframing of black identity and pushed the boundaries of racial fluidity for mixed performers. However, when cast or coded as black or African, due to the limited onscreen iii opportunities for single-race African Americans, their casting revealed pervasive color-blind racism and colorism in Hollywood. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………………..i Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………...iii Introduction: Seeing Mixed Race …………………………………………………………………1 Chapter 1: Rashida Jones: “a symbol for this new ‘post-racial’ age we’re supposedly living in” ……………………………………………………………………………………………………49 Chapter 2: Thandie Newton: A Mixed-race “person from anywhere”………………………......99 Chapter 3: Maya Rudolph: “Mixed . but nobody talks about it”………………………….....161 Conclusion: Mixed-race Performers and the Absence of Black Identity……………………....219 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………................242 INTRODUCTION Seeing Mixed Race During the fall of 2006, the popular mockumentary sitcom The Office added racially mixed, up-and-coming actress Rashida Jones to the cast in the role of Karen Filippelli. Like Jones, Karen also appeared to be of mixed race. As recently as 2006, mixed-race characters on television were rare, and I was eager to find out if Karen’s background would be addressed on the show. Due to the genre of The Office, I did not expect a particularly sensitive treatment of race; on the other hand, since the show had a racially diverse cast, especially in relation to other sitcoms of the era, I expected that Karen’s race would contribute to the identity of her character. I was mildly amused, and then frustrated, when Karen’s racial ambiguity became the cause for other characters’ speculation about her parents’ possible illicit relationship, comments about her body, and an awkward coding as Italian American. In creating an Italian American identity for Karen, the show reinforced stereotypes about mixed race and perpetuated the general discomfort many people have around others who are racially mixed and ambiguous. Black TV critics and journalists writing for black media slammed Jones and The Office for Jones’ racial passing and for Karen not having a black or mixed identity. Yet, mainstream media was relatively silent about the way Karen’s identity was awkwardly constructed as if to obscure her non-white ancestry. At the time of the show’s release, mainstream media privileged racially ambiguous- appearing celebrities and public figures. Racial specificity was often ignored in favor of emphasizing the physicality of mixed-race people that could stand for any and all races. As someone who enjoyed spotting mixed race on screen but felt uneasy with how it would be addressed, I wanted to examine the ways mixed race was presently being represented, especially when mixed characters were played by mixed performers. 1 I came of age as mixed race during the 1980s and 1990s; even in racially diverse San Francisco, I lacked a shared racial identity with others. While I am part Asian American (as opposed to part black/African American like the performers analyzed in this dissertation), I share commonalities with the three racially mixed actresses in this project, including a mixed-race identity, particularly one made up of the dominant race and a minority race, and also the fact that we all experienced coming of age at a time when there was a near absence of mixed individuals in daily life and media representations. I was drawn to interviews with Jones, Newton, and Rudolph that discussed their early struggles with identity and isolation, and how their experiences grappling with their racially mixed backgrounds ranged from traumatic (Newton), to conflicted (Jones), to incidental (Rudolph). Finally, the shift in American culture since the 1970s, when I and the three performers were born, meant mixed-race individuals went from being unique, outcasts, and unable to legally identify as more than one race, to being in demand, held up as symbols of racial progress, and allowed to choose how to identify. The current decade has also seen a growing number on-screen roles for the three performers. The lack of mixed-race images in pop culture led me and other mixed individuals growing up in the post-Loving,1 pre-Hapa2, pre-Obama era to latch onto and “claim” any mixed person in the public light.3 Seeing a mixed person was validation that there were others like us. LeiLani Nishime’s depiction of the visceral reaction of “spotting” and “outing” a mixed celebrity, which she deems a “guilty pleasure,” resonates with my own experiences, and her 1 Loving v. Virginia. 388 U.S. 1 (1967). 2 Hapa with a capital “H” denotes the Hawaiian term “hapa,” appropriated by racially mixed Asian Americans on the continental United States.