Cultural appropriation is when one culture takes on the appearance, dress, mannerisms, celebrations or other manifestations of another culture. That’s the official definition, the unofficial definition is “male bovine excrement.”
There are a number of actors who have gotten into trouble recently for their acting choices in the past and they have felt the need to apologize. In the Amazon Prime series Transparent, Jeffery Tambor portrayed a transgender woman – a Jewish, divorced father of three in the premise of the show – and he did it in an entertaining and acclaimed way. He was later castigated for appearing as that character in the series because he is not actually trans despite the fact he was recognized with an Emmy, the Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild and other awards for his sympathetic depiction of the character. Eddie Redmayne won the Oscar for his portrayal of physicist Stephen Hawking, a brilliant man confined to a wheel chair by ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). Eddie Redmayne is not disabled in any way. Brokeback Mountain, the breakout film about a homosexual couple featured Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal neither of whom is gay. These various communities are crying “foul”, claiming that one of their own kind should have portrayed these characters. Apparently these people are unfamiliar with the concept of “acting”, pretending to something or someone you’re not.
Clearly, if the part calls for a particular ethnicity that’s a different story. Tom Hanks is a great actor with two Best Actor Oscars and multiple other nominations but the British actor David Oyelowo (who is Black) was the better choice to play Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the film Selma. Does cultural appropriation work in reverse? If an actor is gay does that mean all straight parts are off limits to them? Can disabled people only play disabled people, like Stephen Hawking, in a film or could they be a “regular” character like an attorney who just happens to be confined to a wheelchair etc.? Where do television series like Bosom Buddies and films like Some Like It Hot land on the spectrum of cultural appropriation political correctness?
There are a myriad of other examples of people crying “cultural appropriation!” There is an attractive hairstyle that involves braiding the hair in multiple strands and attaching bead like things to the braids, colloquially known as cornrows. It began in the African-American community and celebrities like Kim Kardashian have been called out for adopting it for a night out simply because they are not African-American. Is it appropriation of white culture if a person of color dyes their hair blonde? Does a hairstyle really belong to only one community? I can see derision if it isn’t a good look for that person but otherwise why should it matter where a style or practice originated and who embraces it?
Hoodies began as apparel of young African-Americans in the “hood” and ponchos were the sartorial domain of Hispanics. Does that mean the rest of us can’t enjoy this comfortable clothing if we are not the “correct” ethnicity? Is it cultural appropriation of white culture if a minority wears a tie and a three-piece suit? I think you’ll agree that’s ridiculous.
If one is dressing as another culture to ridicule or mock that culture, then I agree that is disrespectful and despicable. However, if one is doing it for entertainment or for Halloween, as an example, should the “offender” be “cancelled” for dressing as something they’re not culturally? The movie Three Amigos has three white men (Steve Martin, Chevy Chase and Martin Short) dressed in full gaucho garb. The movie is hilarious and in no way insulting to Hispanic culture simply because these comedians are dressed in that way.
Emma Lazarus’ famous poem, The New Colossus, adorns the Statute of Liberty and says in part, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…” and people from all over the world heeded the call and came to this country. They were (and are) people of all different ethnicities, cultures and colors making up the “melting pot” of the United States. It is only right that all of us partake in the various traditional practices and attire of our ancestors and celebrate together the various cultures that weave the fabric of modern America together as one people and culture.