What If Clinton Were a Man, Trump Were a Woman?

 

After Hillary Clinton lost the presidency¹ to Donald Trump², some wondered how many voters were unwilling³ to elect a woman for president. Now, a New York show is helping⁴ to provide some answers.

It is recreating important moments from the three Trump-Clinton presidential debates, but with a big difference. A female actor plays Trump and a male actor plays Clinton.

The show is called: “Her Opponent.”

Do the gender⁵ changes make a difference? People who have seen the show say yes.

But surprisingly, many who speak out in the discussion that follows each show say Trump comes across in the show more sympathetic as a woman and Clinton less so as a man.

Christine Ostrosky, 22, is a senior at Miami University in Ohio. She watched a performance of “Her Opponent” online.

When she watched the “real” debates, she said, “It was obvious to me” that Clinton had more charisma⁶, and was clearly the more qualified⁷ debater.”

But after watching the Trump and Clinton actors perform the debate lines, Ostrosky said she could understand better the appeal Trump had with some women voters.

Among the debate moments acted out in “Her Opponent,” is this one over Clinton's experience.

Let’s listen to the real Trump and Clinton in the presidential debate:

Clinton: So I know how to really work to get new jobs and to get exports that help to create more new jobs.

Trump: But you haven't done it in 30 years or 26 years or any number you want to...

Clinton: Well, I've been a senator, Donald...

Trump: You haven't done it. You haven't done it.

Clinton: And I have been a secretary of state.

Now, let’s listen to the rehearsal⁸ of the actors playing Trump and Clinton in “Her Opponent:”

Clinton: So I know how to really work to get new jobs and to get exports that help to create more new jobs.

Trump: But you haven't done it in 30 years or 26 years or any number you want to...

Clinton: Well, I've been a senator, Donald...

Trump: You haven't done it. You haven't done it.

Clinton: And I have been a secretary of state.

The show’s creators are Joe Salvatore, a playwright⁹ and New York University theater professor and Maria Guadalupe, who teaches political science and economics at Insead, a graduate business school in France.

Guadalupe said: “One sees that, when performed by a man, Clinton was behaving within a very female script (smiling, nodding while she was being attacked) and that was not appealing and looked weak.”

But Trump, performed by a woman, “looked less aggressive and more truthful¹⁰, passionate¹¹,” Guadalupe said.

Salvatore said it was not so much that Clinton supporters became Trump supporters after watching “Her Opponent.” But audience members say they now know “why Trump won,” he said.

Salvatore said the experience of putting together “Her Opponent” has left him ready to offer advice to candidates.

A candidate might learn a lot by watching how an actor would act out their words, complete with facial expressions and hand motions, Salvatore said.

“I think that we spend a lot of time in analysis talking about what people said and I don’t think that we spend enough time in analysis talking about how people said it.”

It is not only word choice, but how a person delivers his or her message, Salvatore said.

“I think this difference between Clinton offering so many facts and figures, almost to the point of it being dizzying in some moments in the debates, vs. Trump saying kind of short, quick, repeatable things over and over again, even if they are not necessarily accurate. The message lands more strongly and clearly.”

This kind of show is called ‘documentary theater’

A show in which the actors repeat the same words said earlier by other people is not new. Some call it “documentary theater.”

According to Drama Online, this type of show dates back to the 1920s. The aims of documentary theater are to reassess history and to investigate major events.

I'm Dorothy Gundy.

And I'm Bruce Alpert.

Words in This Story

gender - n. the state of being male or female

obvious - adj. easy to see or notice

charisma - n. a special charm or appeal that causes people to feel attracted and excited by someone

qualified - adj. having the necessary skill, experience, or knowledge to do a particular job or activity

script - n. the written form of a play, movie, television show

nod - v. to move your head up and down as a way of answering “yes” or of showing agreement

passionate - adj. having, showing, or expressing strong emotions or beliefs

analyze¹² - v. to study something closely and carefully

dizzying - adj. causing or likely to cause dizziness

accurate - adj. free from mistakes or errors

reassess - v. to reconsider a judgement about someone or something

1 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

2 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

3 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

6 charisma   

n.(大众爱戴的)领袖气质，魅力

参考例句：

• He has enormous charisma. He is a giant of a man.他有超凡的个人魅力，是个伟人。
• I don't have the charisma to pull a crowd this size.我没有那么大的魅力，能吸引这么多人。

7 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

8 rehearsal   

n.排练，排演；练习

参考例句：

• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。
• You can sharpen your skills with rehearsal.排练可以让技巧更加纯熟。

9 playwright   

n.剧作家，编写剧本的人

参考例句：

• Gwyn Thomas was a famous playwright.格温·托马斯是著名的剧作家。
• The playwright was slaughtered by the press.这位剧作家受到新闻界的无情批判。

10 truthful   

adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的

参考例句：

• You can count on him for a truthful report of the accident.你放心，他会对事故作出如实的报告的。
• I don't think you are being entirely truthful.我认为你并没全讲真话。

11 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

12 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。