Tonya Pinkins' Open Letter to Jesse Green — Page 2

I like Tonya. She does good work and has been a theater actor for years. But I hope she realizes two things can be true at once. And in this case, the two truths are:

1. There needs to be more diversity in theater criticism especially when examining works by people of color.

2. Robert O'Hara completely butchered this production of A Raisin in The Sun. Anyone who knows the play, regardless of their background, will have something to say about his odd choices. Jesse is not alone.

In my opinion, this is a great letter. There needs to be more female and poc theater critics. Green had no business reviewing it since he will never fully understand it.

Kad said: "EllieRose2 said: "In my opinion, this is a great letter. There needs to be more female and poc theater critics. Green had no business reviewing it since he will never fully understand it."

But if he had given it a rave, Pinkins would not have written this essay. Would she have accepted a negative review from Maya Phillips? I somehow doubt it."

I agree, Kad.

EllieRose2 said: "In my opinion, this is a great letter. There needs to be more female and poc theater critics. Green had no business reviewing it since he will never fully understand it."

100%. And just ignore the people making dumb assumptions and asinine generalizations on other critics.

It kind of goes back to "only people of disability can portray a person with a disability, etc" when can a critic just critique? Can a gay queer critic not review a "straight" play?

Kad said: "Worth pointing out that Pinkins herself does not argue for such a position at all."

Yes, but if Jesse Green wasn’t white, this essay would not exist.

I'm not arguing that only black people should review plays by black playwrights about black issues, gay critics with gay playwrights, etc., but in the age when everyone can publish their own opinion on the internet, the idea that any one critic (even if they write for a major newspaper) is the "authority" on a play's value/meaning/worth etc. is becoming a thing of the past. This is also why award shows ratings are in the toilet - every vote, every review is now more generally recognized as "just one person's opinion." The cat is out of the bag so to speak that there is no such thing as an impartial review, so if a white critic pans a production of, say, A Raisin in the Sun, some people are inevitably going to accuse that critic of racism. And sometimes they will be right - although in this case I think Pinkins' accusations are a bit far fetched. It's just...less problematic to have a critic of color review plays by playwrights of color (and to especially avoid a white male critic reviewing a play by a black female playwright).

Updated On: 11/14/22 at 04:55 PM

Kad said: "Worth pointing out that Pinkins herself does not argue for such a position at all."

I mean I think she comes pretty close; she strongly suggests, if not says outright, that White people (men?) are incapable of appreciating powerful Black women. If thats the case, how could a White critic ever review a play with powerful Black women in it?

Its all completely deranged. Someone in this thread suggested that Jesse Green is INCAPABLE of understanding it as a White person. Can you imagine saying something in the inverse? And I'm all for a more diverse roster of critics, and I also think criticism in general has become sorta silly in todays Everyone Has An Opinion Day and Age, but if White people aren't capable of understanding this show, should I not bring White members of my family? Should there be productions for White people only? And should all these shows be reviewed by only the appropriate ethnicity/gender/religion?

This silliness gives progressivism such a bad name.

https://nypost.com/2022/11/12/lion-king-sign-language-interpreter-keith-wann-says-he-was-fired-for-being-white/

I've been seeing this story in the news for the past couple of days. Isn't this also racist?

I wonder if Tonya made a call to somebody?

LarryD2 said: "If Maya Phillips had written a similarly negative review, there would be an essay from Tonya about how she was a self-hating Black woman who is upholding white supremacy. That’s just who she is."

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Where-Are-All-of-the-Female-Theatre-Critics-20221111

Now I have an excuse to quote this article.

Morisseau noted we all uphold the patriarchy in our own way: "You take a black woman critic, I'm a black woman. That does not mean that they cannot uphold, or even that I cannot uphold, tenets of white supremacy in my work. Because I'm black it doesn't mean I'm free of any residual baggage of being a part of a white supremacist patriarchal culture. I'm not free of that. No one person can be the solution. So, for me, I'm not interested in reviewers just changing optics. I'm interested in changing the whole system of operations."

dan94 said: "But that quote from Green's review is what it comes down to for me. Like or dislike the production, to see it and walk out talking about Walter Lee, to practically hang your entire review on that statement, shows you were looking for something specific rather than being open to what was presented to you.

Green's writing has gotten incredibly sloppy since he left Vulture. And it is so nice to see someone take him to task."

I disagree with Green all the time (as you note, his review of Company was particularly dismissive and maddening). I may even disagree with him re this production (I haven't seen it, and Pinkins has made the case pretty strongly that I shouldn't bother).

But to take the comment and turn it into a screed against Green's inability to appreciate Black female characters is not only unhinged and immature, its incredibly unfair to Green. PARTICULARLY when, as Pinkins herself notes I think, Green *just last season* welcomed the Caroline revival with a rave review, and kept those accolades coming all the way to Tony season. To say Green missed the mark when he reviewed this show is one thing, to say he isnt capable of reviewing Black-led productions is another, and to imply hes working out of some sort of ignorant animus is another. She's just wrong, through and through, and we can say so.

Not sure if the point has already been made but Jesse Green’s clap back should be:

“Tonya, you are correct. Hellen Keller would have enjoyed this production because she wouldn’t have been able to see or hear it.”