Racial Commentary (on Yellow Face) in "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt"

As per usual, Netflix had impeccable timing when releasing new shows. Last week, season two of "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," was released on Netflix. So, naturally, instead of studying for finals I've been catching up on this hilarious show, created by Tina Fey.

Throughout the first few episodes of this season, the characters have satirically commented on social issues in society today. There have been stark examples of this throughout the first few episodes, but I want to focus on episode 3. In episode 3, Titus, a black man, has a one-man show where he plays a Japanese woman, who he believed he was in a past life. Once the Internet gets a hold of his show, a group of anti-Titus Internet users come to "boo" his performance. The group comes to protest Titus's show because he is practicing yellow face by dressing as a Japanese woman. Ironically, at the end of the show, the Internet group is moved to tears because Titus's performance was so beautiful.

By making this episode, the producers of "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" bring humor to a recurring practice of whitewashing in the media. The episode is lighthearted and funny, but whitewashing is a real issue that is happening constantly in media and symbolically annihilating minority groups. When an actor plays a role of another race, they are stripping that race of their right to own their story and correctly portray that role.