Dr. Kurt Blankschaen, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Daemen University, co-authored a publication featured in the Journal of Moral Philosophy on October 25 that explores the ethical
question of whether it is morally acceptable for straight actors to play queer characters.
Blankschaen and his friend from graduate school, Travis Timmerman, set out on a year-long project to dive into LGBTQ character representation through historical and contemporary research.
The duo engaged in extensive discussions about whether performers should share the same social identity as the characters they portray. They noted that this could potentially force performers to out themselves or take on roles without doing so, which could lead to public backlash.
“After exploring past and present performance examples, we found that people responded to how genuinely a character was portrayed,” said Blankschaen. “Performers have an obligation to fully understand their character to be able to tell rich stories that are both accurate and sympathetic. Audiences connect with characters, and that’s what matters. As we conducted more research, many of the arguments for the demand of only playing characters that correspond to one’s social identity didn’t hold up, at least in the case of queer characters.”
Blankschaen and Timmerman were happy with the outcome of their publication and said it was met with positive reviews. “The common feedback we received from readers was that they felt the same way about not requiring performers to disclose aspects of their social identity to take on a role, but they were uncomfortable saying it,” Blankschaen noted.
The Journal of Moral Philosophy is a peer-reviewed journal of moral, political and legal philosophy with an international focus. It publishes articles in all areas of normative philosophy, including pure and applied ethics, as well as moral, legal, and political theory.