The Dramaturgical Research Corner
By: Youth Dramaturgy/Directing Apprentice Iris Luz Hernandez
A Jumping Off Point: Who Can Tell What Stories?
A Jumping Off Point operates within the hyper-competitive word of successful playwriting for the screen in The United States, specifically how successful playwriting at the national level functions for Black and Brown women. This particular niche contains challenges and nuances which separates it from writing locally or for the stage, and brings with it a hierarchy which has been cemented over the last century.
White and Black Power Dynamics in Media
~ Racial Reality – A History of Stolen Stories
The argument of who may tell which stories has become particularly important as Black writers have begun to say “Enough!” to white writers telling their stories. As Hollywood has started to pivot in order to tell more diverse stories, white writers are trying to insert diverse characters in their writing without the proper research or understanding of the culture. This results in stories featuring a form of Blackness that does not truly represent the culture at hand.
While the fact that Black and Brown individuals are being portrayed in the media seems like a concrete step forward, it can actually be a step back if the representation is inaccurate or fragmentary. In television for instance, shows such as The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, The Jeffersons, and The Cosby Show, which have their own merit for entertainment value and a partial portrayal of Black culture, were still not created by Black people. Other works, such as The Help, Green Book, and Mandela teach audiences that Black people should respond to oppression with kindness and virtue.
Nowadays, Black writers are trying to take their stories back. From superheroes like Black Panther and Watchmen, to retellings of history such as Judas and Genius: Aretha, Black writers are evolving stories of Blackness portrayed in the media from fragmentary stereotypes to fully fleshed out depictions of the complex culture that informs life as a black individual. If these stories are the ones people chose to follow and support, we can look forward to seeing a future with well-told, accurate stories about underrepresented peoples.
~ The Magical Negro Trope – Black Power Used for White Actualization
The “Magical Negro” trope is one which pervades popular culture, and yet the term is not widely used, though many would certainly recognize its dynamics. The trope builds off of the original “Uncle Tom” stereotypes which operates around a Black character who has experienced innumerable hardships at the hands of white oppressors. Instead of fighting for their personhood with violence or speaking out, they instead become a figure of martyrdom, resigning themselves to their fate, while simultaneously generating a sort of spiritual renewal within their oppressors, who recognize the immense mental endurance of the person. Sometimes the Uncle Tom character may even help an individual in power over them to realize their own humanity, while losing their own.
Although the Uncle Tom individual is a positive character in that they hold strength and self-control, the dynamics of the stereotype are detrimental to the way white audiences understand their role in oppression, and the way Black and Brown audiences see their oppression reflected. The Magical Negro trope includes an African American who has actual magical abilities, who uses them to further a white agenda, or who is taught a lesson by the white protagonist, in turn lowering themselves, despite their position of power as the owner of magic. The trope creates a responsibility within the Black character to use their power for “good,” specifically helping a white individual or group to reach a point of self-realization.
This dynamic pervades the 1999 film Green Mile, where John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan), the “Magical Negro,” is convicted for the rape and murder of two white girls. However, corrections officer Paul Edgcombe (Tom Hanks) discovers that Coffey has healing abilities and is extremely empathetic. After Coffey, at Edgecomb’s request, heals multiple people, Edgecomb discovers Coffey did not kill the girls, and was holding them because he was trying to heal them. Despite knowing of Coffey’s innocence, Edgecombe goes through with Coffey’s execution via electric chair, but he does it with a newfound understanding.
In this film, nothing Coffey does is for himself – his powers and demeanor solely exist as a vehicle to impart white sympathy. While he is a likable and heroic character, his role in the movie teaches oppressed people’s that acceptance and obedience in the face of injustice is an admirable choice, as well as making white audience comfortable with this response, and as a result, looking down on any other response in these situations. When this relationship is the only story told in popular culture, it is clear to see how it creates problems, and only makes the journey towards social justice more difficult.
This is the dynamic which creates such tension within A Jumping Off Point. Andrew enters the story with a sense of entitlement, and Leslie is the “Magical Negro” in the situation. She holds the power, which according to the rules of the trope, she should share with Andrew. When her reaction to his demands is instead one of refusal and disgust, to an audience who has been familiarized with the martyrdom of Black characters, Leslie comes across as unreasonable and inexcusable in her choices. However, viewing the situation without the biases of this trope, the relationship is one of two people who have both committed wrongs. Leslie having plagiarized Andrew's work, but also Andrew blackmailing her into a position of power, rather than pursuing his art honestly.
The Path to Success
~ Leslie and Andrew’s College Experience
The playwriting program which Leslie and Andrew attend is most similar to that of the USC Master of Fine Arts in Dramatic Writing. This program has an acceptance rate of less than ten percent, making it one of the most selective playwriting programs in the country.
The final projects of the USC program include multiple completed plays and a thesis/dissertation. The final assessment is made up of Capstone Course THTR 596ab: Thesis Attainment & Development, annual reviews of student progress by faculty, and USC New Works Festivals: Year One, Year Two, Year Three, and the New Theatre for Right Now Initiative. For the USC New Works Festival, each year leading students in the program are chosen to present their works, as concert readings or workshop productions. Andrew’s 20 page play, presented to Jacinta Muñoz, was for a New Works Festival at the end of one year, and the piece titled Coleman’s Eyes, which Leslie plagiarized, was a different piece, completed for his thesis.
USC Diversity Statistics
~ The Process of Receiving an HBO Show
First, an individual must acquire an option on story rights: this means a producer pays the writer to consider their work for productions. Then the company may choose to purchase “A/V Conveyance Rights” for full script: these are exclusive rights to produce the work, which includes how much the author receives in cash to purchase exclusive rights to make the movie and whether the writer receives a percentage of residual rights, and what percentage they receive. The purchase price for the rights may either be a flat dollar amount which is pre-agreed by the parties, or an amount determined by reference to a formula which takes into account the budget of the project.
HBO uses “direct to series order” meaning they don’t contract the writer for only the pilot, but rather the entire first season, usually 10-13 episodes, of which the majority is written before any filming occurs. This is why the deal going through is such concrete success for Leslie: it is the entire first season approved, not just a first episode. Because of this process, the “20 weeks” Andrew refers to is likely an uninterrupted chunk of time where Leslie & co. have been drafting the entire first season. While Netflix, HBO, and Showtime all have this format, other services will write as they go, only approving one episode at a time.
~ Statistics of Women and BIPOC Individuals in Hollywood
Hollywood Diversity Statistics 2010
BIPOC TV Writers: 13.7%
BIPOC Screenwriters: 5.2%
Women TV Writers: 29.3%
Women Screenwriters: 17.2%
Hollywood Diversity Statistics Today
BIPOC Women TV Writers: 36.6%
BIPOC Women Showrunners: 6.9%
BIPOC Women Executive Producers: 7.4%
BIPOC Women Feature Film Writers: 9.6%
~ Hollywood Writer’s Rooms
The Hollywood writer’s rooms which Leslie and Andrew operate within have a distinctly hierarchical structure. Each room has about 40-50 people, organized by their roles within the production. This structure results in a less collaborative process than we might see in small theaters or film productions. The Executive producers/showrunners are at the top, story editors and staff writers fall in the middle, and writer’s PA’s are at the bottom. Upward movement within the writer’s room occurs as a result of ideas laid down during the writing room process.
A producer credit is given to each member of the writing staff who made a demonstrable contribution to the final product: the level of these credits are in part determined by the writing room hierarchy. Leslie’s producer credit would be “created by” or “developed by,” as she formed the original idea for the series. In the HBO show writer’s room, Leslie answers to executive producers and showrunners, and works with editors and producers to make her ideas into the storyline of the series.
Plagiarism Accounts From the Press: A Timely Issue
Plagiarism is defined as the practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own. This may include, but is not limited to: mis-citation, usage of non-reputable sources, or copying of other’s work without credit. Recently, a pattern of plagiarism accusations made by conservative news sites, directed at minorities in positions of educational power has arisen within the circle of high level universities.
Dr. Claudine Gay resigned after being accused of plagiarism in her thesis dissertation, however many of the examples of plagiarism pulled from her work are of very low concern. People argue that this sudden unearthing of her past work was a thinly veiled attempt to undermine her as an African American woman in an Ivy League university.
Link: Harvard’s Claudine Gay was ousted for ‘plagiarism’. How serious was it really?
Harvard DEI Leader Target of Newest Plagiarism Accusations
Alade McKen, DEI official at Columbia University, was accused of copying portions of his 2021 dissertation from Iowa University, changing only word order and punctuation. The 55 page complaint was published in The Washington Free Beacon, the same conservative newspaper which led the march against Dr. Claudine Gay. These allegations hold more stock than those surrounding Dr. Gay, however the motivations to investigate point towards a destructive conservative agenda.
Link: Columbia Official Is Accused of Plagiarizing Dissertation From Wikipedia
Dr. Sherri Charelston, DEI official at Harvard, was accused, again by The Washington Free Beacon, of plagiarism in her 2009 dissertation, which included mis-citing her husband's own research. This accusation, combined with those of Dr. McKen and Dr. Gay, have been utilized by conservatives to question DEI efforts within high level colleges.