In an interview with Lane Czaplinski about The Shipment, YJL talks about how there is not as much of a spotlight on racism against Asian-Americans as there is one on racism against African-Americans. Being Korean, and so on the outside of black-white discrimination, has allowed her to witness it in such a way that she can thus write on the matter objectively. When she is asked why she wrote a black American identity politics play, she honestly answers that after Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven, an Asian-American identity politics play, “race plays still weren’t cool, so [she guessed she] was just gonna keep doing that.” (interview with Lane Czaplinski) More importantly, “The idea really terrified [her], so [she]decided to just go for it.” (gothamist, 1/22/09) The Shipment tackles issues of race and stereotyping, both white and black. No white person, except maybe Eminem, could have written this play without being accused of being racist. Even the previous sentence is questionably racist. It is a fine line. The fact that YJL is Korean reinforces the attention that must be paid to this subject. As someone indirectly affected by it, she is able to, allowed to, take various scenarios out of context, throw them up on a stage and unapologetically say, “here, take a look. Really, here you go. I see it every day, and you do too. I know that, you know that. Except I’m lucky to have an outside perspective, so I can help you see it better. It might hurt, and you’ll probably cringe. That’s normal. Just watch, listen, think, and respond.”
The plays opens with a dance piece set to the tune of “F. N. T” by Semisonic, an awesome 90’s hit. Two of the 5 actors dance playfully, abstractly to alternative rock with lyrics like, “I’m surprised that you’ve never been told before/ that you’re lovely and you’re perfect/ that somebody wants you.” It is a nice, sweet, nondescript overture abruptly halted when on comes a great rap song and the dancers swagger offstage, leaving place to the voice over introduction of another cast member, Douglas Scott Streater, as a stand-up comedian. He practically flies onstage, makes lewd sexual foreplay gestures that I legitimately did not understand the purpose of, acknowledges Seattle, and begins a sketch about differences between black and white people. Not once does he suggest that one is better than the other, but he does point out the painfully obvious to the white folks in the audience, myself very much included. In one instance, he riffs on those who proclaim themselves to be colorblind, “does this [circling around his face with his pointer finger] look like a tan to you, mothafucka?” This punch line elicits a lot of laughter, both genuine and uncomfortable, because it’s absolutely true that many white people say they do not see race (and don’t tell me I need a source to prove this somehow)… Streeter implies the question plainly: HOW IS THAT REMOTELY POSSIBLE? I hereby commit to never pretending to be colorblind, and never doing colorblind casting in my plays that I may direct throughout my lifetime, unless it is called for.
He also makes fun of white people who tiptoe around black people, and are careful with what they say and how they say it… ending up praising, “don’t stop! keep going! I like it when you’re worried about what your next move is!” This makes me feel better about when I do the exact same thing. After all this, however, he willingly admits that he’s often scared to walk into a room full of black people himself, because he doesn’t actually speak in person the way he does onstage. White people talk vs. street talk. He confesses he’s even been accused of modifying his speech in order to accouter to a white audience, stating that he is guilty as charged.
This man speaks the truth about the big and little issues of the black-white phenomena so harshly that he makes his audience either laugh, or shut up and listen. Between YJL’s use of tone and language in the text, and Streeter’s performance, this segment is extremely effective. There are moments where he so attacks the audience with the pitch and direction of his voice on the words that in those moments, what we are watching is the polar opposite of a comedy sketch. Suffice it to say, that is YJL’s intention; to bring serious matter to light surrounded by other slightly less serious matter than can be made fun of.
Above all it is informative about things we already know but do not want to, do not care to, do not have the time to pay attention to outside of the realm of the theatres this play is performed in. I was blown away by Streeter’s comment on the concept of “Even Steven.” I had never in my life thought about it in the terms he put it in. According to him/YJL, this is how white people understand the concept: “if I got this much stuff [indicating a lot], and you got this much stuff [indicating very little], and somebody comes over and gives us a cookie, we gonna split that cookie straight down the middle.” He begins with how much white people love the concept of Even Steven and by the time he gets to making fun of black people, he adds in, “and now all the white people in the audience are goin ‘Eeven Steeven, Eeeeven Steeeeven!’” while making a jerking off motion with his free hand. He was right! I admit it, I did feel that way for a second. I say for a second, because then I remembered my place.
This play then becomes about place; knowing one’s place. I can’t even begin to wrap my head around what mine is at this point in time. There’s a sensation of owing an apology to a big picture, and the need to do right by blank. I do not know what that blank is. What would Streeter say to that?
Learning the hierarchy of race, and how it falls nowadays. Who respects who and under what circumstances? A question unanswered by the play itself. The ideal answer would be that everybody ought to respect each other under all circumstances, something I feel the play conveys without saying. On the other hand, something else that comes through the play is that life is not as such, but that at the very least, we can make efforts to acknowledge the discrepancies and do our best to fix them.
But you see the thing is… If that is the case, why is it more acceptable in modern/pop culture for black people to make jokes about white people? I mean really—seriously this time—even if the most respected white rapper & hip-hop artist Eminem goes and does an entire comedy sketch out of black-white racism stereotype jokes, leaning heavily on the black jokes, while throwing in a few white jokes. (Picture it.) Then he and the rest of his all-white cast act in a naturalistic dining room drama in which the audience gradually discovers that the actors are in fact portraying black stock characters that Eminem had made fun of in his sketch, and ends with the two lines:
“We wouldn’t be playing this game if there was a white person in the room.”
“Depends on what kind of white person it was.”
Blackout.
I’ve but a mere hunch that this would cause much more uproar than YJL’s play as it stands. Maybe I should write that play… Christ, I’d be crucified. And get Eminem to act in it. But then he would think it’s racist and he wouldn’t do it! Because he’s a rapper & hip-hop artist—music traditionally belonging to the African-American culture. I wonder if he’s allowed to say the word “nigga.”
I acknowledge that now I’m getting defensive. While I think I’ve made it perfectly clear that I agree with what YJL’s play is telling us, I also question, and through questioning I come to realization[s]. That’s what this play makes people do! It really has one [re]evaluate the way he or she looks at and sees this component of our daily lives. Now. I literally just noticed how I’ve neglected to write about the abstract segment of the play, and the a capella song, which fall (in that order) in between the comedy sketch and the naturalist play. The abstract segment is a deadpan, almost puppet-like, simplified version of the life of a black kid who doesn’t go to college because he wants to become a rap star and the steps he has to take in order to get there. Sell drugs, make money, do drugs, get involved in drug war, get famous, philander, do drugs, kill someone, go to jail, get visited by his dead grandma… this is not all in the right order, I apologize. The deadpanness of the piece gives it a slapstick detached quality; another wonderful tactic used by YJL to shed light on a touchy subject few people wish to address. It’s also a way of showing us how engrained that step-by-step process is, like “how to be cool.” When in fact, it’s really not cool. It’s dangerous and sad. The same goes for rich white prep school kids who sell and do mountains of coke to the point of destroying their septums, and go to rehab 2 or 3 times before graduating high school. To cleanse our pallet follows an a capella version of Modest Mouse’s “Dark Center of The Universe” sung by two men and the woman. “Well it took a lot of work to be the ass I am, and I’m pretty sure that anyone can equally, easily fuck you over.” It is tragic, beautiful, deceptively simple and complicated at the same time… Human. Like the rest of the play. Thank you Young Jean Lee for sharing your wisdom and taking me on this ride.
