Another person’s photo and name are wrongly called for the Korean Leading Actor nomination.
Extremes amid criticism of’racial discrimination and white-centered closure’
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A play awards ceremony held in Los Angeles (LA) last month is being criticized for making absurd mistakes, such as incorrectly calling the name of a Korean actor who was nominated for the Best Actress Award, and uploading a photo of another actor in the nomination photo. Although the organizers made an apology, it is pointed out that this uproar, which showed its indifference towards Asians, was not a simple mistake, but a reflection of racist perceptions.
According to the Daily LA Times on the 2nd (local time), the LA Stage Alliance (LASA), an association of LA theater companies, incorrectly called the name of Julie Lee, nominee for Best Actress, at the online theater awards ceremony for the’Ovation Awards’ held on the 30th of last month. The face of an Asian actor was uploaded as a candidate photo.
As the uproar broke out, LASA issued an apology in the name of the board of directors stating that “we take full responsibility for mistakes” the day after the awards ceremony. However, in the theater world, criticism is growing that such a mistake is a product of racism that does not even make efforts to properly recognize Asian names and the stereotype that Asian faces look the same.
Julie Lee, the person concerned, said that she did not even realize that her name was wrongly called at the time. “I just felt like an Asian with no name or face that was just accidentally nominated.”
Some point out that this situation is a structural problem stemming from white-centered closure. The reality that the 300 voters who determine the winners of the Ovation Awards are white, and three out of four executive board directors are white, Asian actors are bound to be relatively marginalized.
Accumulated dissatisfaction, such as that only white theater companies are called as candidates when a play produced by an Asian theater company with a white-centered theater is nominated for the awards ceremony, is also erupting from this incident.
Eastwest Player, an Asian theater company, criticized the incident and declared withdrawal from LASA, and 25 theater companies, including LA’s representative theater companies Center Theater Group and Gefun Playhouse, also joined the withdrawal procession.
/ Reporter Kwak Yoon-ah [email protected]
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