Qoheleth's Mindscape

Audio version of Qoheleth's Content Roundup. Play below or click this for links

Hello, this is Qoheleth here. He who wanders the vast desert of the mind, gathering content, thoughts, and ideas. I aim to act as your content hub.

On the internet and in the wide world there is lot of information, and it can sometimes be overwhelming... with the constant updates that never end. Worry not. We'll just say this is my little project I am trying to get off of the ground to share insights and ideas; from my subscription feeds and the web.

Let's start with a video essay uploaded to youtube titled , “wait...i thought y'all did this already?” The essay is about the racist backlash against the casting of black actress Francesca Amewudah-Rivers as Juliet in a new West End stage adaptation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

This backlash is, as pointed out by the essay, despite the long history of diverse casting in Shakespeare plays and many creative reinterpretations of this particular story. Romeo and Juliet has been adapted countless times, often changing the setting, time period, characters, and other major elements. Having actors of color in Shakespeare productions, including as leads, has been common practice in theater for many decades.

As the essay points out, the anger over Rivers' casting seems to be more about how some white people feel when not centered in these stories, rather than any actual concern for faithfulness to Shakespeare. Backlash has occurred not just when black actors are cast in originally white roles, but also over black-led original films, suggesting the real issue may be with black actors' presence in general. And so, calls for more “original stories” with diverse leads ring hollow when those are also met with disappointment and outrage by some.

These are some salient points driven home in the video essay. And I have a few thoughts. In the essay, the author argues that there is no clear textual evidence in Shakespeare's original play that Juliet was white. She points out that if strict adherence to the original text were truly the priority for those criticizing the casting of a black actress as Juliet, they would insist that the actress be of Italian descent, as the play is set in Verona, Italy. However, this demand is not made of white actresses who have played the role.

I, who am called Qoheleth, would like to add to the discussion some thoughts on the shifting nature of “ethnicity”. In the past, Italians, along with other Southern and Eastern European groups, were often excluded from the category of whiteness and viewed as racially distinct from Northern and Western Europeans. They were subjected to discrimination, stereotyping, and even racial violence in the United States and other countries. It wasn't until the mid-20th century that Italians and other European immigrant groups began to be more fully accepted as white in the United States.

So when people argue that a black actress playing Juliet is not “historically accurate” because the character is Italian and therefore should be played by a white actress, they are ignoring the complex history of how racial categories have been constructed and contested over time. Ultimately, this controversy says more about our current racial politics and anxieties than it does about the “true” identity of Shakespeare's Juliet. But let's address the ethnicity of Juliet for a minute.

The author of the essay, if you remember, points out the lack of a narrative in the original play when it comes to Juliet's ethnicity. And while that is true, if Shakespeare had imagined Juliet as black, he likely would have made some reference to her skin color, as he did with Othello, whose racial identity is central to the plot of that play. The fact that Juliet's race is not specified could suggest that Shakespeare assumed she would be perceived as ethnically Italian, which may have been the default for a character in a play set in Italy.

However, we should recognize that during Shakespeare's time, In the 16th and early 17th centuries, European societies tended to define identity more in terms of religion, nationality, and social class than by skin color or other physical features. Shakespeare was not writing within the same framework of racial categorization and ideology that informs backlash and debate over representation and casting today.

More importantly, Juliet's race is not central to her character or the themes of the play. The story of Romeo and Juliet is about the transcendent power of love to cross social boundaries and challenge entrenched prejudices. The specific nature of those boundaries can be adapted to different contexts and eras without losing the essential meaning of the narrative. Therefore, the casting of a black actress as Juliet is not a betrayal of Shakespeare's original vision, but a valid artistic choice that highlights the universality of the play's themes.

The anger over Rivers' casting as Juliet has included, as pointed to in the video essay, cruel and crude online comments. The essay points to comments about her appearance as reflecting the misogynoir and colorism that dark-skinned black women face.

On one hand, I Qoheleth, am sympathetic to critiques of the industry and it's “identity politics”. We should critique the function of how the industry often exploits and commodifies diversity for commercial gain, and how this does not meaningfully challenging systemic inequalities. There is a risk that the selective inclusion of actors of color in high-profile roles and it's coverage can serve as a superficial form of “identity politics” . One that allows studios and people to market themselves as progressive and inclusive, while we all fail to fundamentally alter power structures.

The co-optation of diversity can potentially stunt more radical efforts to transform the ways in which resources are allocated, and decisions are made in society. However, the intense backlash and vitriol directed at black actors who are cast in traditionally white roles, or in projects that reimagine classic narratives with diverse leads, cannot be justified or excused by these broader critiques of the industry. The obsessive fixation on the race of individual actors, and the vicious online harassment and bullying that often accompanies it, speaks to deeper pathologies and anxieties.

The kind of behavior we see, which seeks to police and punish, is not a reasonable response to good-faith critiques of the limitations and contradictions of “identity politics” in the entertainment industry. Rather, it is itself characteristic of an “identity politics” that needs to be challenged.

This was your content roundup with Qoheleth. He wanders the desert of the mind, collecting thought-provoking content from the realms of philosophy, politics, religion, media, and culture. This time we looked at a video essay you can find link to in the show notes. Hope you join us next time. See you later!

notes; referenced video essay: wait...i thought y'all did this already?