On Howie Mandel’s most recent episode of his podcast, Howie pointed out to Sarah Silverman that the actress she chose to portray her mother in an upcoming off-Broadway musical about her childhood isn’t Jewish. Silverman’s response was that it was ok because her mom “isn’t very Jewy.”
I… I had to… I had to switch off the podcast after that. On Wed, Nov 17, 2021 at 7:28 PM PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > Thanks for the correction on EGR, I was less than 100% on the exact role > he played but too tired to look it up at the time. Only watched that film > once, in a re-release at a drive-in with my grandparents. Also, completely > agree with your point about Silverman. > > There may be no way to prove the non existence of a historical Moses, but > the burden of proof is on the claim that there was one, and that is a > burden that can only be met through the eyes of faith. In any case, I don’t > think think the absence of a modern Jewish actor playing Moses is in the > top 100 most persuasive examples of the problematic aspects of Jewish > appropriation in the movies, so it is odd that’s the one NPR decided to go > with. > > On Wed, 17 Nov 2021 at 10:25 AM <[email protected]> wrote: > >> The difference between Silverman’s take and the others is that hers took >> the form of a grievance and the others are more of an observation. In the >> NPR article she’s now walking back that grievance. It’s one thing to note >> that the roles of Jewish women are being played by non-Jewish actresses and >> another to claim it’s a failure of representation. >> >> There will never be a way to prove or disprove the existence of a >> historical Moses. There are so few contemporary texts or archeological >> evidence available to provide anything meaningful. The Egyptian historical >> record doesn’t match the biblical account and that’s meaningful. But there >> could have been a tribal chieftain named Moses who led a Hebrew speaking >> people from Egypt to Canaan without the plagues and miracles. >> >> Yup Brynner played pharaoh in The Ten Commandments. Edward G Robinson >> played Dothan who was comedy relief and a foil for Moses. I remember >> speculation that Robinson really wanted to be in the movie and the studio >> wanted to punish him for his left leaning views during the McCarthy era and >> that was the only role they would give him. >> >> On Nov 17, 2021, at 8:55 AM, PGage <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> >> >> Bial’s take is thoughtful and nuanced (which I guess just means I agree >> with him). I’m not so sure about the author of the article, who cites as >> one of the more problematic appropriations Charlton Heston playing Moses, >> who A) may have been Hebrew, but was not Jewish in any recognizably modern >> or technical sense (that term would not have applied at the time) and B) >> with all due respect, probably has to be regarded as a fictional character. >> >> More striking from that film is the casting of Edward G Robinson as >> Pharaoh, not so much for cultural appropriation, but hilarious miscasting. >> >> On Wed, 17 Nov 2021 at 3:09 AM Steve Timko <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> NPR weighs in. >>> >>> >>> https://www.npr.org/2021/11/16/1053632682/jewish-roles-movies-tv-sarah-silverman >>> >>> >>> >>> On Thu, Oct 7, 2021, 10:22 AM Tom Wolper <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> On Thu, Oct 7, 2021 at 11:06 AM PGage <[email protected]> wrote: >>>> >>>>> I think Tom makes the main point that there is a relevant discussion >>>>> to be had here, but it easily regresses into progressive caricature when >>>>> it >>>>> abandons nuance and flexibility. >>>>> >>>>> I think the most problematic part of Silverman’s argument is the use >>>>> of the term “Jewface” (not sure if that was part of the original Time >>>>> article Tom refers to). The problem with Blackface is not primarily that >>>>> famous white actors got roles denied Black actors. Blackface was >>>>> explicitly >>>>> part of a larger social process of stigmatizing, de-legitimizing and >>>>> rationalizing a pervasive, violent antiBlack regime. The analogy is not to >>>>> Rachel Brosnahan playing an attractive, intelligent and very likable Mrs >>>>> Maisel, but maybe to something that could have existed in 1930s Germany >>>>> with Aryans wearing stereotypical noses and clothing and enacting >>>>> characters that would justify the attitudes and assumptions that led to >>>>> the >>>>> Holocaust. >>>>> >>>>> I don’t necessarily blame Silverman for this, the whole modern >>>>> critique of blackface has tended to turn it into the “representation” >>>>> issue >>>>> that Silverman is writing about, which tends to minimize and trivialize >>>>> what the problem with blackface was. >>>>> >>>> >>>> Jewface wasn't in the Time article. That article was about being >>>> sensitive to having Jewish women being excluded from stories about Jewish >>>> women. I have a CD called Jewface, which is a collection of recordings of >>>> songs made during the first decades of the previous century. The songs are >>>> from vaudeville and are ethnic caricatures of Jewish characters. The songs >>>> are written and performed by Jewish men. It's very far from minstrelsy and >>>> the degradation of blackface. >>>> >>>> -- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>> an email to [email protected]. >>>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAJE-FiEAkzWu2d4uHLDvNzqnL5jZH5VoLJ30EWVRqRStBS9UWg%40mail.gmail.com >>>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAJE-FiEAkzWu2d4uHLDvNzqnL5jZH5VoLJ30EWVRqRStBS9UWg%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>>> . >>>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>> an email to [email protected]. >>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAH5J8yzzu4do4M7R%2Bd-fBzCthH%2BSCrkifAPw9kd7Fg8COhbrSQ%40mail.gmail.com >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAH5J8yzzu4do4M7R%2Bd-fBzCthH%2BSCrkifAPw9kd7Fg8COhbrSQ%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>> . >>> >> -- >> Sent from Gmail Mobile >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "TVorNotTV" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> >> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkY%2BQXyVmdK%3DFDE-t_WmGPxfyOoNA0cOTp5CgU7abP0%2BQoQ%40mail.gmail.com >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkY%2BQXyVmdK%3DFDE-t_WmGPxfyOoNA0cOTp5CgU7abP0%2BQoQ%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "TVorNotTV" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/41993AAA-C182-430B-8249-7F8BF8D4B646%40gmail.com >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/41993AAA-C182-430B-8249-7F8BF8D4B646%40gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> > -- > Sent from Gmail Mobile > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkY%2BwAJn%3Dwfy_-nJ%2BVgNQvicBBEeWJ8j%2BuNWJ41xhTVgS_g%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkY%2BwAJn%3Dwfy_-nJ%2BVgNQvicBBEeWJ8j%2BuNWJ41xhTVgS_g%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- Kevin M. (RPCV) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKgmY4D0yaiE8Dftf1EM6MGJtOG2ZMdVLDvTAQvebRSe%3DTyLWQ%40mail.gmail.com.
