Something odd happened to Jill and I at the Hackesher Markt today, when our waiter asked us where we were from.
"The United States!" But before we had to time even finish our sentence, our waiter responded:
"Oh, I hear black people are really bad over there, right?"
I mean, considering 97% of the people here are white, (the percentage is probably higher, I'm just ballparking here) I was expecting to hear some kind of racist nonsense at some point.
Jill and I tried to explain that his statement was wrong.
Anywho, let's talk about theater.
Real Magic. Well, there were chicken suits. And repetition. And about thirty minutes into the show, my nails had dug into my skin and created fresh little holes of hell.
I have seen a lot of theater in my life, and I can truly say that nothing made me more anxious than this show. I felt uncomfortable in my own body.
This has led me to two conclusions:
1) theater is supposed to make you feel something.
Yes, this show made me feel one emotion very strongly. However,
2) theater is supposed to fulfill a purpose.
This show did not speak to me in any way that was actually saying something important, in my opinion. Yes, theater can make you feel very strong emotions if that is its purpose. However, the best theater to me has a strong underlying meaning, moral, political purpose, etc. This piece existed for the sole purpose of causing discomfort.
I'm a big fan of discomfort when it comes with meaning. I like tough love. I like learning a lesson the hard way.
I walked away from this show more confused and bothered. No lessons were learned.
I would like to see what the playwright and director were trying to achieve.
This piece will probably haunt me for a long time because I don't understand it.
"I mean, considering 97% of the people here are white, (the percentage is probably higher, I'm just ballparking here) I was expecting to hear some kind of racist nonsense at some point."
ReplyDeleteKim, why ballpark? The waiter you are talking about was misinformed about race in America, but you are posting here from a place of misinformation about race in Berlin. This wikipedia link provides a lot of clearly laid-out demographic info on Berlin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Berlin
It's well-cited so I tend to think it's accurate, but if you prefer to go beyond wikipedia, I found this census information, and it's even published in English! https://www.statistik-berlin-brandenburg.de/produkte/kleinestatistik/AP_kleinestatistik_en_2015_be.pdf
According to the census, the residents of Mitte are more than 25% foreigners. Race is so complicated, and I have been inspired about how some of the theater we are seeing confronts the topic. That said, perhaps we should examine why your perception of Berlin led you to ballpark the 97% figure. Perhaps non-white Berliners are not visiting the theaters, museums, and restaurants we have been frequenting? I wonder why? There are so many layers here, and I very much want to have these conversations. I know very little about this place that I am passing through, but I'm glad to have the opportunity to learn more!
Your post inspired me to look up those demographics - thank you for that :)
Thank your for this, Tasha. It is indeed complex.
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