David and Goliath: The men of 'Race' (STUDS TERKEL - DAVID SCHWIMMER BARF ALERT)

Chicago Sun-Times ^ | June 8, 2003 | HEDY WEISS THEATER CRITIC

[Chi-townChief]

Conclusion of article:

In the workshops, the actors were encouraged to probe their own experiences and feelings about race, no matter how buried, and some of what was uncovered has made its way into the script.

"It took tremendous courage to be in those sessions," he said. "The actors had to exhume a lot of suppressed stuff. Luckily we had two very good facilitators along the way."

Schwimmer catapulted to stardom on NBC's "Friends," the decidedly whitebread sitcom that only began to introduce a black character in recent episodes--after a decade on the air.

Of course TV is not real life. And Schwimmer, the child of two liberal Jewish lawyers who were deeply involved in the civil rights movement and other causes, laughed as he noted: "The first real theater I can remember was attending demonstrations and walking picket lines."

Asked when he first became conscious of race, Schwimmer said: "You mean, when did that loss of innocence occur--that moment that everyone has when they realize there is an issue? I think I was always aware of it as a child because my parents so diligently taught my sister and me the lessons of the Holocaust, and were so concerned with women's rights. They made a point of sending us to a multiracial school and I always had friends of every race. It was only after college that I think I realized I had lost all my friends of color along the way."

Schwimmer's big hope is that audiences will leave the theater with a desire to continue talking about the issues raised in the show. "I also hope they will realize that we still all have a lot of work to do."

mailto:hweiss@suntimes.com

[Chi-townChief]

Well, at least Mr. Schwimmer proves that he's as big a phony as old Studs. What I can't understand is that if his parents are as liberal as he says, why did they have to make "a point of sending us to a multiracial school." It would seem that if they had lived in one of Chicago's "progresssive" enclaves like Edgewater-Uptown, Hyde Park, or even Morgan Park, or many of the suburbs, any public school that Schwimmer went to would been "multiracial." Very odd.

[Chi-townChief]

CHICAGOLAND PING

[I_Love_My_Husband]

"They made a point of sending us to a multiracial school"

Yes, a PRIVATE school. Not the local PUBLIC real multiracial school.

Naturally.

[Welsh Rabbit]

".... It was only after college that I think I realized I had lost all my friends of color along the way."

Is he recommending racial quotas for friendship? It just occurred to me, I don't currently have any Asian friends, so I guess I'll immediately go out and try to strike up a friendship with the first Asian person I see. In the meantime, I'll put a freeze on forming any friendships with non-Asians < /sarcasm off >

[Norse]

I'm sick and tired of this multi-ethnic bullcrap. One of the main secret objectives of these multi-ethnic types is to dissolve European man into a multi-racial demographic through inter-racial marriages.

[ThreePuttinDude]

"Schwimmer catapulted to stardom on NBC's "Friends," "

That's BS, He is the least talented of
the cast. What has he done that is
recognized as even "Fair"??

[Chi-townChief]

I always thought that they should have killed off the Ross character in a "very special" episode long ago. Of course, I've also thought that Jennifer Aniston shouldn't have any dialogue and just walk around naked for the whole show.

[ThreePuttinDude]

HA HA HA, you betcha. Aniston is eye candy at best.

Since her speaking out about the Iraq conflict, I've really not
even enjoyed looking at her. Now that Valley Girl Pheobe, she can
cook my breakfast anytime.....

OH OH, was that chauvanistic??

Hope so.....

[TheRightGuy]

I've watched Fox & "Friends" on numerous mornings and have never heard anything about a swimmer character. Is there other kind of "Friends" show on TV -- is it about swimming?

[NP-INCOMPLETE]

Speak for yourself, I'm of the notion that European men are trying to get our asian women! Which is probably bad for Asians as an ethnic group in this country.

[John Locke]

Speak for yourself, I'm of the notion that European men are trying to get our asian women!

You bet we are! I'll take this one:

[NP-INCOMPLETE]

And this is supposed to be a good thing!! Call it what you will, but this is akin to genocide. In a couple of generations there will be no-more pure asians left in this country, only hybrids whites.

[NP-INCOMPLETE]

And another thing, why the fascination with asian women? Why not more black and hispanic women, these two groups are huge segments of the population. And the white men in all fairness should go for their women first!

[Clemenza]

Edgewater-Uptown, Hyde Park

I lived in both of these places. Uptown was the most interesting as I had Bosnians, Nigerians, Vietnamese, Russians, Bangladeshis, an old lady from Kentucky and a few mentally ill people to round off the fellow tenants in my building. As for Hyde Park, I enjoyed it but always kept in mind what Mike Nichols said about his old nabe: "Black and White united against the poor."

[Clemenza]

Well, as long as you don't tell me who I can date, you can believe what you wish. When I was at the U of Chicago, I never saw so many white guy/Asian woman pairings in my life. Many Asian men were upset about this.

[Clemenza]

Most of the girls I've dated have been Latin. Remember, however, that "Latino" is not a race and that I have dated Latin girls who were whiter and blonder than this "white" guy.

[Clemenza]

Here in New York, poor and blue collar black guys who want to marry outside their group marry Puerto Ricans. Rich black guys of course get fat blondes.

[Castlebar]

That's BS, He is the least talented of the cast. What has he done that is recognized as even "Fair"??

IMHO, in the-made-for-HBO series Band of Brothers Schwimmer played the extremely difficult role of Captain Herbert Sobel, and played it brilliantly. I admit to being surprised.

[John Locke]

Just to remind you I live in a country whose population is 98.6% Asian. It's unlikely my fairly modest dating is going to seriously dilute that gene pool.

[timm22]

And this is supposed to be a good thing!! Call it what you will, but this is akin to genocide. In a couple of generations there will be no-more pure asians left in this country, only hybrids whites.

Oh dear, I certainly wouldn't want to taint the ethnic purity of your people with my untermensch white genes! < /sarcasm>

Get real. I'm a mix of several different European ethnic groups that were once more or less homogenous groups in this country. Being a mutt isn't that bad, unless you define yourself by the color of your skin or other meaningless characteristics.

And another thing, why the fascination with asian women? Why not more black and hispanic women, these two groups are huge segments of the population. And the white men in all fairness should go for their women first!

Gee, I never knew that women were assigned to certain groups of men. I always kind of figured they were independent individuals, capable of choosing their own mates.

I just happen to find asian features attractive, just like some men like blonde hair or a Southern accent or a big booty. Plus, in my experience asian women are more likely to give a whitebread guy like me a chance than would a black or hispanic woman.

Since they obviously can't stop us, or asian women, why don't asian men fight fire with fire and start going after white women?