“We need an other-oriented acting approach of the kind that Anna Deavere Smith is attempting to develop, which can present race as simultaneously both anchored and mobile, both fact and act, both trap and trope.” (Thompson, 137)
This is a quote that summarizes Debby Thompson’s article “Is Race a Trope?”: Anna Deavere Smith and the Question of Racial Performativity and, I feel, summarizes the beauty behind Smith’s performance acting in Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992. Thompson analyzes Smith’s “post-structuralist acting practices” (127) that separate her from the typical Method Acting, based on liberal humanism or a Naturalistic approach, that dominates current Western acting practices. The idea behind this Naturalistic Acting Approach is that human nature is a universal entity that the actor must strive to reveal by bringing the “truth of the human soul to the stage” (128). This belief has many flaws, as it limits the portrayal of a character to what the actor has experienced, while, more importantly, it “naturalizes ideology” (128) by supporting an image of universality of emotions or identities. This form of acting would not accurately portray the racial differences and the problems stemming from them within Twilight: Los Angeles, a film that presents many individual perspectives on the Los Angeles riots that followed the Rodney King verdict.
This is where Anna Deavere Smith’s “other-oriented” approach to acting reveals its ability to connect to such a diverse character base and to, in turn, expose racial identities and conflicts. The “other-oriented” approach requires the actor to first look outside of themselves to “build the character from the outside in” (130). This allows for an “exploration of the gap between self and other, actor and character, … [and] the gaps within our seemingly linear ideological narratives” (130).
Smith’s unique performance acting has be likened to Brecht’s “Alienation Effect”, which suggests that “a representation that alienates is one which allows us to recognize its subject, but at the same time make it seem unfamiliar” (130). This effect is evident within Twilight: Los Angeles, as Smith creates a sort of clean slate for each individual by personally representing all of them. Initially, while watching the film, I felt that the differences between each character were painfully obvious. I first accredited this to overacting or over-performing the individuals’ unique personality traits or speech conventions. However, as I continued to watch the film, I realized that this overacting helped to portray the differences between characters due to social or racial constructs. In regards to the “Alienation Effect”, the portrayal of so many different people by just one actor allowed each identity, although extremely constructed through speech patterns, accents, slang, and body language, to become slightly ambiguous. What I mean by this is that such a range of characters all held a similar trait because they were performed by the same actor, and this drew a connection between each character to create that universality that comes from the Naturalistic form of acting. This was not the intended effect of Smith’s acting approach, and it is not my final interpretation by any means.
The universality that comes from her portrayal of these different individuals actually strengthens the differences and the racial or social divides that exist between each character. By putting each character on a clean slate (which is what I consider their portrayal by one person to be), the viewer may expect connections and similarities to form, but this is not the case. There are obvious differences between some characters, such as Mrs. Young Soon-Han with her thick Korean accent and obvious stance on the situation, and Twilight Bey, Katie Miller, Sergeant Charles Duke, or Elaine Young. There are less obvious differences with other characters and it’s even possible to mistake a character’s race due to Smith’s performance. This could be the case with Charles Lloyd, the African-American defense attorney, which was one mistaken identity that was discussed in class. When it was discovered that Lloyd was African-American and not white, the differences and the stereotypes that are created in our society were only emphasized and made even more obvious. This was a powerful element of the film and was a way that the viewer became an active participant in the conflict of race through the “Alienation Effect”. The viewer is able to recognize the subject that Smith is performing, yet there are elements that become unfamiliar in this new context, which ultimately help to strengthen our understanding of the social constructs created for race.
The Thompson article also touches on the work of Judith Butler, when Thompson states that “identities are radically theatrical and performative, constituted by repeated poses, postures, acts, and gestures” (132). This reveals the importance of performance and the appropriateness of Smith’s act of performing these individuals in her work. With Twilight: Los Angeles as an example, the individuals she portrays are strengthened by her performances of their gestures and unique traits. She actually makes the characters more real and more observable through this method of acting. This approach also brings about a more true portrayal of each individual because it includes the flaws that come through in the speech process. The viewer has to look past what’s simply being said to really understand the human behind the words, and so “all of the utterances, every “uh”, is a rhythmic beat which informs the development of character” (Introduction to Twilight: Los Angeles, 4). The actual language and the process of speaking for each character becomes part of their identity. This is revealed in the Thompson article, through various interviews and performances that Smith has done, an example being her interview with George C. Wolfe, the director of Smith’s work. He sways between saying that blackness does not resist or exist in relationship to whiteness. This becomes a very telling moment for the relationship between black and white identities and the resistance that occurs simultaneously with the existence of blackness and whiteness (Thompson, 135-136). Small flaws or slipups in speech expose a great deal of truth at both a personal and more universal level, which is a strong element to Smith’s performance acting.
To come back to the quote that I began this blog entry with, Smith’s form of other-oriented acting is successful in developing race as many different conceptions. It is a societal truth that cannot be ignored and must be accepted. Within Twilight: Los Angeles and regarding the issue of the Rodney King trial in general, the issue of race and the oppositions and divides that are created by race become dominant and powerful. Smith manages this issue within her documentary theater piece and, more specifically, with her approach to acting as a performance.
This is a quote that summarizes Debby Thompson’s article “Is Race a Trope?”: Anna Deavere Smith and the Question of Racial Performativity and, I feel, summarizes the beauty behind Smith’s performance acting in Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992. Thompson analyzes Smith’s “post-structuralist acting practices” (127) that separate her from the typical Method Acting, based on liberal humanism or a Naturalistic approach, that dominates current Western acting practices. The idea behind this Naturalistic Acting Approach is that human nature is a universal entity that the actor must strive to reveal by bringing the “truth of the human soul to the stage” (128). This belief has many flaws, as it limits the portrayal of a character to what the actor has experienced, while, more importantly, it “naturalizes ideology” (128) by supporting an image of universality of emotions or identities. This form of acting would not accurately portray the racial differences and the problems stemming from them within Twilight: Los Angeles, a film that presents many individual perspectives on the Los Angeles riots that followed the Rodney King verdict.This is where Anna Deavere Smith’s “other-oriented” approach to acting reveals its ability to connect to such a diverse character base and to, in turn, expose racial identities and conflicts. The “other-oriented” approach requires the actor to first look outside of themselves to “build the character from the outside in” (130). This allows for an “exploration of the gap between self and other, actor and character, … [and] the gaps within our seemingly linear ideological narratives” (130).
Smith’s unique performance acting has be likened to Brecht’s “Alienation Effect”, which suggests that “a representation that alienates is one which allows us to recognize its subject, but at the same time make it seem unfamiliar” (130). This effect is evident within Twilight: Los Angeles, as Smith creates a sort of clean slate for each individual by personally representing all of them. Initially, while watching the film, I felt that the differences between each character were painfully obvious. I first accredited this to overacting or over-performing the individuals’ unique personality traits or speech conventions. However, as I continued to watch the film, I realized that this overacting helped to portray the differences between characters due to social or racial constructs. In regards to the “Alienation Effect”, the portrayal of so many different people by just one actor allowed each identity, although extremely constructed through speech patterns, accents, slang, and body language, to become slightly ambiguous. What I mean by this is that such a range of characters all held a similar trait because they were performed by the same actor, and this drew a connection between each character to create that universality that comes from the Naturalistic form of acting. This was not the intended effect of Smith’s acting approach, and it is not my final interpretation by any means.
The universality that comes from her portrayal of these different individuals actually strengthens the differences and the racial or social divides that exist between each character. By putting each character on a clean slate (which is what I consider their portrayal by one person to be), the viewer may expect connections and similarities to form, but this is not the case. There are obvious differences between some characters, such as Mrs. Young Soon-Han with her thick Korean accent and obvious stance on the situation, and Twilight Bey, Katie Miller, Sergeant Charles Duke, or Elaine Young. There are less obvious differences with other characters and it’s even possible to mistake a character’s race due to Smith’s performance. This could be the case with Charles Lloyd, the African-American defense attorney, which was one mistaken identity that was discussed in class. When it was discovered that Lloyd was African-American and not white, the differences and the stereotypes that are created in our society were only emphasized and made even more obvious. This was a powerful element of the film and was a way that the viewer became an active participant in the conflict of race through the “Alienation Effect”. The viewer is able to recognize the subject that Smith is performing, yet there are elements that become unfamiliar in this new context, which ultimately help to strengthen our understanding of the social constructs created for race.
The Thompson article also touches on the work of Judith Butler, when Thompson states that “identities are radically theatrical and performative, constituted by repeated poses, postures, acts, and gestures” (132). This reveals the importance of performance and the appropriateness of Smith’s act of performing these individuals in her work. With Twilight: Los Angeles as an example, the individuals she portrays are strengthened by her performances of their gestures and unique traits. She actually makes the characters more real and more observable through this method of acting. This approach also brings about a more true portrayal of each individual because it includes the flaws that come through in the speech process. The viewer has to look past what’s simply being said to really understand the human behind the words, and so “all of the utterances, every “uh”, is a rhythmic beat which informs the development of character” (Introduction to Twilight: Los Angeles, 4). The actual language and the process of speaking for each character becomes part of their identity. This is revealed in the Thompson article, through various interviews and performances that Smith has done, an example being her interview with George C. Wolfe, the director of Smith’s work. He sways between saying that blackness does not resist or exist in relationship to whiteness. This becomes a very telling moment for the relationship between black and white identities and the resistance that occurs simultaneously with the existence of blackness and whiteness (Thompson, 135-136). Small flaws or slipups in speech expose a great deal of truth at both a personal and more universal level, which is a strong element to Smith’s performance acting.
To come back to the quote that I began this blog entry with, Smith’s form of other-oriented acting is successful in developing race as many different conceptions. It is a societal truth that cannot be ignored and must be accepted. Within Twilight: Los Angeles and regarding the issue of the Rodney King trial in general, the issue of race and the oppositions and divides that are created by race become dominant and powerful. Smith manages this issue within her documentary theater piece and, more specifically, with her approach to acting as a performance.
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