Smith’s portrayal of Elaine Young really
makes me think about white privilege and what it means to be white and an ally.
The way that Smith speaks as Young, could be seen as mockingly but I feel that
Smith is merely trying to show how uneducated Young was. Young repeatedly mentions the Beverly Hills
Hotel making it seem that being there during the riots was something that she
was proud of/had to brag about. I think that Smith was annoyed with Young while
interviewing her (frankly I would be too) because going back to Smith’s voice
for Young, it is very nasally and represent the vibe that I feel she was giving
off to Smith.
It really
frustrated me when Young said “let me put this out of my mind and go on”
because the fact that she could forget what was happening in her surroundings
and continue to live her privileged life is very relatable to people today.
People ignore these issues, hoping that they will just go away and then they
don’t get involved or take sides in anything because it is easier mentally,
emotionally, and socially. To me, that is something very relevant today. On
election day, I believe that people who did not want to vote for any of the
candidates voted for their dogs, or Obama, or anything else which ended up
hurting our country. White middle/upper class people are the main cause of this
ignorance.
White
privilege is a topic that everyone is aware of but if you went up to someone on
the street and asked them what white privilege meant would they would be able
to give you a solid definition/description? I would think not... This is due to
the lack of education and discussions with white/of European decent people
about what it means to be white and how if you are white/of European decent how
you can be an ally to minorities. Even though talking to the whole population
about this is a very big dream and not very reachable I feel like it could make
a dent in society education.
The
difference between Elaine Young and Henry Keith Watson is very great. The anger
and emotion that was involved in the transition startled me as the tone
immediately changed. How Smith presented this was brilliant as it immediately
catches the eye of the watcher and really makes you see the different perspectives
more clearly.
I think you raise a good point that part of privilege is being able to disengage when things get tense/tough/scary and even dangerous. I've had a lot of conversations about white privilege lately (not at Roeper) where white people seem to think that the concept of white privilege invalidates their personal efforts or struggles, and I've been trying to convey that that isn't the point at all. One of the simplest definitions of white privilege I've ever heard is "there is a lot of shit that people of color have to deal with that white people never have to worry about." And on some level, Young's experience illustrates just that: in a situation like this, she not only has a safe space to access, but she has the ability to disengage. That is an option for most of the people whose perspectives we see in Twilight.
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