iâve been staring at this response all day, trying to figure out where to even begin with these two messages. i donât know if you are aware, but the experiences that someone has based off of their race can completely change the narrative. white people go through situations completely different than people of colour and i really donât know how to emphasize it or how to make you understand that if you donât already. i guess the only thing i can say is relating it to another marginalized identity you hold - people who arenât able bodied go through life differently than those who are; cisgendered men go through life differently than those who arenât. i canât speak for other POC communities, but at the very least, mental illness of any kind is not acknowledged within the asian american community - or at least, if it has, i havenât been fortunate enough to be validated and reminded that my anxiety and depression arenât made up or just an excuse. iâm not saying that white people playing evan hansen doesnât hold an importance, especially for representation â iâm just saying that there is also a severe lack of representation for people of colour and for people who arenât able bodied, not to mention both of them.  iâd like to show you this video & hope that it offers a different perspective & how it changes the narrative completely when a person of colour sings waving through a window.
you said that there was no reason for characters to be POC, and youâre right. there isnât a reason stating that evan has to be api, or latinx, or black â but there isnât a reason that any character needs to be white either. the implication being that there should be a specific reason as to why a character is a certain race, if not white, is only an indication that weâve become so used to having white actors play roles on broadway as a default. i am happy that we have shows like on your feet, like allegiance, like the color purple - shows that allow people of colour to shine. but when can we get shows, when can we get actors playing roles that arenât race specific?Â
every time we get an actor playing a typically white role, itâs a huge deal. it took us 30 years to get an asian american to play christine on broadway. there is no reason for marius to always be played by a white man, there is no reason for there not to be a single lead POC in bandstand, there is no reason for it to be 2017 & for us to still not have an asian glinda or elphaba on broadway (iâm not sure about other races & ethnicities). and iâm not saying this with the intension of saying that every actor who has played a âwhite roleâ didnât do a good job; just that iâm sick and tired of white being the default race. this broadway season is so incredibly white & thatâs not an opinion; thatâs a fact. itâs so incredibly upsetting to see the âprogressivenessâ of last season - which, really, is it that progressive if itâs all in a couple of race specific shows (but thatâs a different story) be followed by this season.Â
i donât know if any of that made sense but right now, iâm really upset & i think iâm gonna go off tumblr for the night but please feel free to message me and we can talk more about this? i really want to engage in discourse & discussion and not a debate, and iâm hoping that youâll be willing to accept and at least listen to my thoughts and my point of view with an open mind.Â
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