What level of comtenpt should be leveled at the actor in the racist Hoekstra ad?

[Bicoastal]

29. Short answer? Pretty much...

Long answer--you make it sound as if actors always know ahead of time what they're getting into. If I have to guess, this woman probably answered a local trade ad that said something like: "SEEKING ASIAN-AMERICAN ACTRESS FOR TV! Political Campaign seeks female performer of any East Asian background (pref. Chinese), 25-35 years old, for statewide Television spot." (etc)

After auditioning and landing the part (yay! $500 for one day's worth of filming!) you report to the shoot and deliver your pre-memorized lines. They may say "Can you do it again, this time with a bit of accent?" Of course you can--accents are a specialty of yours...At no point do you really wonder what the entire commercial is going to look like, because you're too busy trying to give a good performance--although you suspect there's a bit of satire going on. (There MUST be, right?) You pick up your check, thank everyone, and move on to your next project.

Historically, society treated actors with a great deal of contempt because their career was judged to be "amoral" precisely for the reasons you just gave--pretending to be someone you're not, saying words that are clearly immoral, all in the name of a paycheck. They were at the bottom of the social ladder, along with prostitutes and thieves. I'd hate to think we're going back to those times...