Construction of a Post-Racial Identity
9
constructed gap in the strings of information Diesel himself has presented for
public consumption. The underlying theme here is that failure to disclose is
tantamount to deception, because the reporter seems to think it impossible to
think beyond racial categories. One might speculate, too, that the reporter is
awash in his own assumptions about race and somehow resentful that the
profiled subject will not agree with or respond to those assumptions. His last
remark that Diesel ‘"wants to be all-inclusive” comes across as judgmental, and
as a challenge, as if the logical progression of the thought is “he wants to be allinclusive, but we know better.”
Peter Levine in GQ also gets into the act, referring to Diesel’s remark
about being multicultural, “and that’s it,” as a “shrewd bit of personal
mythmaking” (112). What might be considered a natural curiosity about human
difference has been reduced, in the racially charged atmosphere of this country,
into a socially acceptable, demanding curiosity about racial identity in particular.
The expressed equation of multiculturalism with personal mythmaking suggests
both that the reporter does not identify multiculturalism as a true personal
identity, and suggests further that it is an invalid construct, unlike race and racial
heritage are alleged to be.
In commenting on Diesel’s self presentation, Benjamin Svetsky in
Entertainment Weekly perhaps unconsciously reveals why many reporters have
trouble letting go of questions regarding racial identity. “By stripping away all
identifying marks,” he says, “presenting himself as a blank slate—particularly
when it comes to his racial background—he’s found a way to market himself to
the broadest possible audience. He’s selling himself as a multiethnic Everyman,
a movie star virtually every demographic can claim as his own” (27). While the
idea that an actor begins each role as a tabul &6