A Question of Color

First-time filmmaker Jonathan Lisecki enlists the help of friends Sarita Choudhury and Kerry Washington on Woman in Burka, a lighthearted yet scathing look at racism in Hollywood.

By Nick Haramis

Film still from Woman in Burka.

“I grew up in the Bronx in a large Irish Catholic family filled with incredibly funny oddballs,” says filmmaker, actor, and script reader Jonathan Lisecki, as if needing to explain the origins of his skewed comedy. “Every family get-together was like some dark, drunken version of ‘Last Comic Standing.’ I learned early on to try and look at the world with a finely tuned sense of humor.” Appropriately, his first short film, Woman in Burka, about the scant roles available to “Middle Eastern-looking” actors struggling to find work in post-9/11 America, is funny. It’s a real knee-slapper, in fact. Lisecki, a white man, might not be the most obvious choice to helm cinematic social commentary deriding racism in Hollywood, but he maintains an understanding that, while different, shares obvious parallels with race relations. “As an actor who never hid being gay, I’ve auditioned for many ‘screaming queen’ and ‘funny faggot’ roles. The parts aren’t always terrible—the projects themselves sometimes have redeeming qualities—but you question whether you should be perpetuating a stereotype. A straight casting director once told me, with no sense of irony, that I was ‘in the running for a role if they didn’t go Gay-sian.’”

“Over the years, I have worked on and off as a script reader for a friend who manages some high-profile actors, mostly actors of color. I’ve been on conference calls with her and heard things you can’t even believe. Actors of color have a particularly crazy time in this business. White agents and producers will say this person is ‘too black’ or that person is ‘not black enough,’ as if ‘black’ were a specifically defined quality. When a show like ‘24’ calls and asks if you have any Middle Eastern-looking actors who would be a good terrorist, it takes a lot to not just hang up. I’ve known Sarita Choudhury for years now, and the kind of parts she’s been called for since 9/11 and the start of the Iraq War are, for the most part, appalling.”

The fact that art imitates life in this case proves especially disheartening. We asked several Hollywood agents to tell us about their favorite “Middle Eastern-looking” actors. Eight of them couldn’t think of any. One replied, “Sayid from ‘Lost,’” whose name is actually Naveen Andrews. Another wrote back, as if proud of themselves, “Shohreh Aghdashloo!” Except, of course, that the Oscar-nominated actress played the wife of a terrorist on “24.” It’s almost impossible to name even one “Middle Eastern-looking” actor who has made a name for himself in America without attacking World Trade Center effigies on camera. Conversely, when one searches for “Middle Eastern Actress” online, the second result is a Craigslist classified—and even in that case, the actress they’re looking for can “be of any decent [sic] as long as she has a fair skin.” Star of Woman in Burka, British-born actress of Bengali descent Sarita Choudhury says, “This movie is my anecdote of cultural insensitivity. My life has been full of situations like the ones in this film, and like in this film they have occurred with people who meant well, and who in their ignorance have a heart. Which always somehow made me smile within the pain and shock of it all.”

Film still from Woman in Burka.

Lisecki doesn’t want to settle for a smile. Instead, he’s hoping to garner laughs at the absurdity of race issues in contemporary filmmaking. “I made the film to point out how ridiculous this business can be when it comes to portraying people who aren’t straight and white,” he chuckles, although not necessarily from the heart. “For those of us who deal with it on a daily basis, it’s best seen through the lens of humor. It’s funny seeing people make idiots out of themselves when they are unaware of it. And, frankly, humor is the best way to get a point across.  I don’t want to teach anyone a lesson. I want to make people laugh. If an audience gets anything out of the film beyond that, it’s a complete bonus. The other feeling behind the movie is that there’s no pause button after something really tragic happens—there’s no chance for people to process it, for events to resonate, before Hollywood exploits the subject for entertainment. The films that come out right after some horrible event are usually the ones that perpetuate the worst stereotypes. I do wish that more care and thought were put into these kind of projects, but I appreciate that they give me something to satirize.”

Film still from Woman in Burka.

Kerry Washington is also in the film. And while Woman in Burka doesn’t tackle the traditional black-and-white binary in the business, her experience behind the cameras mimics those of Lisecki and Choudhury. She concedes, “The cultural ignorance or insensitivity that you see in Hollywood is really just a microcosmic reflection of the state of cultural understanding (or misunderstanding) in the world. I try to never be surprised by what ‘industry’ people believe or don’t believe, and I think it’s important to try to not take it all personally—a moment of witnessing another person’s ignorance is an opportunity for growth—a teaching moment for everyone involved. I love the honesty and humor that Jonathan was able to bring to this subject in his film. If we can collectively laugh at our societal ills, I think it often becomes easier to heal them.”

And so, while Hollywood continues its reign of typecasting and racial profiling, these three—a white gay man, a half-Indian Brit, and a black woman—will continue to laugh and heal. Even if things aren’t that funny.

For more information on the film, click here!