Cliff Curtis has Represented Everyone
Portrayed Representations are Always Intentional
A representation is specific, it is a message of how something should be viewed by the creator of that representation. It has been pointed out numerous times how this constructed gaze is even more so amplified under the film industry, where the final product is viewed by millions of people globally. There are many representations of the same thing, and while none may be the absolutely correct one, but the representations can be positive or negative. If film makers decide to incorporate characters or a situation in their film that may create a gaze for, as an example a certain ethnic group, then the type of gaze they construct is at their discretion.
While some actors take on different roles, most times their roles do not have as much wielding power to affect the gaze as much as a film maker. But consider an actor whose plays different characters of not only different personalities and motivations, but also of different ethinicities. Cliff Curtis is a New Zealand actor of Maori descent, and is known for his the various characters of different ethnic backgrounds he has portrayed. A video clip briefly reviewing his numerous roles playing characters of different ethnicities can be watched here .
It is a unique topic in the discussion of Hollywood representation. In this case, any representation of any ethnicity that is negative is entirely because the film maker made it so. His entire character is constructed. For example, and Asian actor playing an Asian character, that is not 100% acting. But for Cliff Curtis, his performance goes beyond, as he is not only acting out a character’s personality, but also an ethnicity.
In another sense, such a thing only seems to add how Hollywood, and films and television is highly constructed and designed by choice. It is hard to ignore the underlying message that seems to come from an actor like Cliff Curtis getting roles for multiple ethnicities, that apparently it is easier to have an actor play a certain ethnicity than have a person of the desired ethnicity act in a film. Not to take away from Curtis who is clearly talented at portraying other ethnicities, but every representation in film is clearly purposeful, no matter how minor, when film makers in a sense need to construct a character from the ground up, which is the case of many of Curtis’ characters.
However, Cliff Curtis has used his versatility as a tool in some of his television portrayals as a tool to counter how ethnicity plays a role in character identification. Below is a quote from his interview with slate.com.
“Yeah, the last two TV shows I did, one for ABC and one for NBC, those were leading-type roles that were not ethnically specific. The problem is that you can’t dig too deeply into those characters, because what’s fascinating about human beings is what’s culturally specific that is culturally universal. If you can’t get specific about who they are, you’re going to be in this ambiguous universe where you can’t quite pin anything down.” Cliff Curtis, May 2014
He has used his unique stigma to attempt to remove the concept of racial representation from his work in this situation. When you do not know the ethnic background of a film or television series character, it becomes impossible to attach any kind of gaze to that character, and you end up looking at that character at a very basic level, simply at his personality and traits.
Fortunately, Cliff Curtis takes what he does seriously, to quote him, “I take the responsibility of playing another ethnicity very, very seriously, and I promise myself and those people that I will represent them with as much dignity and integrity as I can muster.” But as we know, this is not always the case, and a lot of times Hollywood films offers us representations that are show some groups in a negative manner. While actors may just be doing their jobs, it is my opinion that the film makers are responsible for any negative representations they may portray, intentional or not. When you construct an imaginary character with their ethnicity as part of that construction, as Cliff Curtis does with his characters, then their is no excuse for film makers, who are solely responsible for the messages their work put out, to use ethnic background as a reason for a negative quality.
