Ever since my ASTU class started to look into the theme of “faking it” from Fred Wah’s Diamond Grill, I found the psychology behind the mechanism quite intriguing. In Fred Wah’s case, we learn that he follows a front-stage “performance” or an “act” (what my colleagues call it) to fake his outward racial ethnicity in order to fit in with the white people, by masking the Chinese quarter of his true racial identity and attempting to take full potential of his remaining white-ness. Fred’s personal experience happens in a time where race/ethnicity/cultural identity critically, and heavily, defined an individual’s status, role, and agency (power) in society. We learn that his motive for initiating the actor mentality is to find maximum preference, or social acceptance, and privilege of power by representing himself as a full-blooded white, and to avoid being a victim of Chinese racism. Thus, he finds himself faking his own ethnicity; hiding his true cultural lifestyles and celebrations, disgracing his own heritage, and distancing away from Chinese associations in public.
Though racial differences have been increasingly accepted in many societies today, there stills seems to be an ongoing notion of “faking it” for many other purposes (fulfilling movie roles, winning political votes in a certain community, glamourization of a culture to increase popularity, faking an accent to seem more “posh” etc.). I am shocked at a particular motive, sparked by society’s growing emphasis on, and effects of influence from, popular culture and lifestyle, which seem to pressure, consciously or not, individuals to fake a certain race or culture in order to self-identify themselves uniquely.
Jersey Shore cast stars not even Italian, yet display Italian-American subculture values and norms…
A greatly controversial example I partially witnessed on TV is Jersey Shore, an American-based reality TV show created to entertainingly show the world what a certain Italian-American lifestyle and subculture is like, in the state of New Jersey (greatly criticized for displaying negative, non-representative stereotypes of Italian-Americans). However only one cast member is full Italian, the rest are only half, or not Italian at all. Though the cast members finally admit they are not truly Italian, they still publicly and willingly submit, and assimilate, into living under the particular subculture (taking names of ‘guido’/’guidette’, taking part of negative stereotypes, to represent the entire culture, of fake tans, gelled hair, heavy makeup, false eyelashes, false nails, pierced ears, gangster jewelry and apparel, etc.). This contrasts Fred Wah’s performance of “faking it”, as the members do not even contain a single drop of a certain race they are trying to “become”, and seem to act so, not to counteract racism, but to gain fame and likeness of their status. The cast, only one of whom is truly full Italian, do so by broadcasting on national television their perspective of Italian-American, Jersey Shore-based way of life. The extent that they have gone to, obviously pretending to be a race that they’re not, just to be gossiped about, bewilders me.
Generally, reality TV shows are not so “reality”, significantly including many aspects of “faking it” (scripted? behind the scenes? contracts? certain desired portrayals?)
Ultimately, “faking it” is still being taken up in society, which continues to disgrace, negatively portray, or disadvantage certain ethnicities depending on the situation. Nonetheless, the widely known expression, “fake it ’til you make it”, best describes my point that taking part of an ethnic culture has certain goals that will, in various ways, ”succeed” an individual in achieving something within society.
Very interesting post, I especially like how you related “faking it” to modern day pop culture to show that it is an on-going phenomenon that not only mixed-race people went through back during the time Diamond Grill takes place. I want to add to your final statement about how “passing” for another ethnicity/culture can, much of the time, make an individual feel as if they have “succeeded.” I found this celebrity article online titled “10 Black Celebs who successfully pass as White.” When I first read the title, I thought to myself, “why does this use the word “successfully?” I was confused, as I read through the article, made up mostly pictures of celebrities of mixed race, I thought about what they were achieving by “successfully passing.” It showed celebrities who played different roles as white people in movies, but did this make them more accepted? The article inferred this, as it talked about how many of the celebs even deny their black background. This also relates to the idea of “fake it til you make it.” In this white-obsessed world, it seems like that is what mixed-race/black actors need to do if they want to make it in the movie industry. Here is the article link: http://atlantablackstar.com/2013/08/13/10-black-actors-who-are-successfully-passing-for-white/2/
It’s really interesting that you brought up Fred Wah in the context of pop culture. We definitely see (and sometimes don’t see) “faking it” all throughout our media, as people intentionally conform or move away from certain cultural scripts. In a society obsessed with “reality TV” that most of us know is scripted, I think it’s interesting that people are all the more attached to ideas of authenticity. What about mass culture is actually authentic, and why do we sometimes draw such arbitrary lines about what we will and won’t believe?