As Others See Us- Jews on T V
PEARL, JONATHAN AND JUDITH
AS OTHERS SEE US JEWS ON TV JONATHAN AND JUDITH PEARL Thanks to the current popularity of TV shows like "thirtysomething" and "LA. Law" that depict interfaith married couples and the...
...Although the terrorists' methods are shown to be brutal and are condemned, at no point in the TV movie is their harangue against Israel challenged or countered in any way...
...ABC plants to air Forgotten: The Sis and Gerry Levin Story, based on the true story of a CNN bureau chief held captive in Lebanon for two years and his wife's efforts on behalf of his release...
...The observance of Jewish rituals seen on TV is also an expression of Americans' allegiance—both ideologically and practically—to religious pluralism...
...Still, we contend that demeaning portrayals are far outweighed by the many favorable Jewish televimages...
...Two recent, extreme examples include the made-for-TV movie The Hijacking of the Achille Lauro and an episode of the comedy series, "The Famous Teddy Z." The first dramatizes the capture of the Greek cruise ship by Arab terrorists and the murder of wheelchair-bound American Leon Klinghoffer...
...Naturally, focusing on these kinds of characterizations should be avoided in favor of greater diversity and depth...
...No one is more forceful in this fight against more moral than in real life...
...Depictions of the Shoah often move Jewish characters to intensify their Jewish identity...
...In the miniseries "The Winds of War," American Jews Aaron Jastrow and his niece Natalie are trapped in Nazi Europe...
...In the humor- m ous style of the 1960s com- ¦ edy series "Car 54, Where Are You...
...Seeing popular and beloved television heroes like Paladin in years past on "Have Gun, Will Travel" driving out a band of antisemitic thugs or Mary Richards of tkje "Mary Tyler Moore Show" declaring she is a Jew to expose an antisemitic friend may strike responsive chords in viewers since TV heroes are the icons of our age, known by all and emulated by many...
...their total absence from TV would project as false a picture as would their exclusive presence...
...The potential impact of these programs on Jewish viewers—many of whom are likewise assimilated—is particularly significant since the TV Jews usually emerge with a sense of reawakened Jewish pride and heightened religious or ethnic identity...
...For television nearly always to depict romantically involved Jews in interfaith relationships is inaccurate, imbalanced and, possibly, harmful...
...Later, trying to understand his reaction, uncharacteristic both in its vehemence and its strong Jewish component in light of his admitted lack of Jewish affiliation, Stuart explains to Anne that he suddenly felt "the weight of 5,000 years...
...When dealing with antisemitism, TV tends to depict non-Jews as either vile perpetrators or heroic opponents of antisemitism rather than show the harm done by those who are silent and acquiescent...
...He affirms his Jewish identity by exclaiming, "It's who I am...
...Most negative depictions arise, ironicatty, not when characters are expliciUy identified as Jewish and Jewish issues are the central theme but rather when characters with Jewish-sounding names or some perceived Jewish trait or mannerism appear...
...The picture of Archie Bunker joining a group to fight synagogue vandalism can be a potent symbol for the 97.5 percent of Americans who are not Jewish...
...Another CBS comedy, "Doctor, Doctor," returns to the schedule with one of its stars, young and handsome Jewish cardiologist Grant Linowitz...
...Two other series with Jewish characters not in the fall line-up are "Northern Exposure" (CBS), which featured brash New York City doctor, Fleischman, transplanted to Alaska, and "The Marshall Chronicles" (ABC), portraying the high school days of hapless Marshall Brightman...
...The widely-known "thirtysomething," "L.A...
...Drawing on his strong Jewish roots, the cantor summoned the fortitude to reexamine his thinking and regained his faith in God and Judaism...
...his heritage and his religion...
...Blues" and Arvin Kaufman on an "Alien Nation" episode aired last season...
...She replies, "There is something inside me that was passed down 5,000 years ago, and I thought I gave it to you...
...and J.P...
...Seinfeld," scheduled to restart in the fall line-up, so far portrays merely amorphous and ambiguous Jewish characters...
...Viewers have seen the bar mitzvah of a boy with Down's Syndrome, a wheelchair-bound youngster and adults who had been unable to celebrate their bar mitzvah at the traditional age of 13...
...They are reassured by people who are their coreligionists, who are probably alike in appearance, demeanor and tenuous Judaic affiliation, that being Jewish is something to be proud of, to renew ties with, to declare aloud and to fight for...
...Television Jews emerge with a reawakened sense of Jewish pride and ethnic identityN Nearly all such depictions involve non-Jewish characters...
...Archie and Edith Bunker hosted a traditional Shabbat dinner on "Archie Bunker's Place...
...Law," had no desire to change who he was—a mohel (ritual circumciser)—yet was ordered to do so by a judge in a court of law...
...Comics Jerry Seinfeld and Richard Lewis will continue to be seen on their shows, "Seinfeld" (NBC) and "Anything But Love" (ABC...
...With today's high rate of interfaith marriage and its popularity as a topic of discussions, workshops, articles and books, this is hardly surprising...
...This concept was the focus of an episode of "Archie Bunker's Place" in which members organize protection for their temple and community following an outbreak of synagogue vandalism...
...on the "Archie Bunker's Place" episode about synagogue vandalism, Archie's initial apathy is the subject of much discussion and is ultimately overcome by the admonishments of friends on the dangers of cowardice and inaction...
...Albert Rosenfeld gets a lecture about treating the townspeople with respect and then a punch to drive home the point from series hero Agent Cooper...
...The particular appeal of shows like "thirtysomething" and "L.A...
...Although at first he politely endures the antisemitic comments of his future mother-in-law, the situation worsens until he can no longer contain himself and he reacts with rage...
...Ritual is the most tangible form of religious expression...
...On the "Frank's Place" episode that shows a Chanukah celebration, a Jewish boy and girl explain the holiday to a non-Jewish family guest: "We light a candle each night to remember when Judah Maccabee and his men recaptured the Temple from all the bad guys...
...Natalie tells her uncle, "I'm beginning to feel like a Jew," to which he responds, "I've never stopped feeling like one...
...In contrast, Richard Lewis's wacky, neurotic, Marty Gold character on "Anything But Love"—slated to appear as a mid-season replacement— regularly comments on and displays his Jewishness...
...Holding the fort on this front is Melissa Steadman, free-lance photographer and cousin to Michael Steadman on "thirtysomething" (ABC...
...Summer series "Singer and Sons" (NBC), about a Jewish deli-owner who brings the grown sons of his black housekeeper into the family business, will not be returning...
...At the same time, coundess TV doctors, lawyers, businesspeople, politicians, shopkeepers, detectives and other characters with Jewish names have been matter-of-factly or favorably portrayed...
...The abundance of Jewish rites and rituals on TV reflects the universality of religious observance and the fact that Americans consider themselves a religious people, for whom religious identity, belief and activity is important...
...Every aspect of Jewish life has been portrayed—from a circumcision to a Jewish funeral, from synagogue vandalism to righteous gentiles—generally with respect, relative depth, affection and good intentions...
...This is hardly surprising...
...Teen-aged girls in the sitcom "Facts of Life" discussed shiva and the meaning of Jewish mourning customs...
...These images, though not explicitly Jewish, cannot be dismissed as unimportant: If viewers assume such characters to be Jewish, they may take them into account as they form notions about the traits and behaviors of Jews...
...AS OTHERS SEE US JEWS ON TV JONATHAN AND JUDITH PEARL Thanks to the current popularity of TV shows like "thirtysomething" and "LA...
...More than 30 years ear- * her, the dramatic anthology series ¦ "Crossroads" aired an episode in which m a crooked Jewish politician was so ¦ moved by his nephew's bar mitzvah M evoking his own youth and lost M heritage, that the politician re- ¦ forms his ways...
...When a brilliant young Jewish student is expelled by a bigoted teacher, patriarch Ben Cartwright leads the way in forcefully exposing the teacher's prejudices and restoring the youngster to class...
...That nonjews are shown helping in the fight against antisemitism in no way makes the Jews seem helpless or powerless...
...Viewers of the 1960s western series "Here Come the Brides" saw a Jewish bride in llie Old West going to the mUtveh (ritual bath) in preparation for her wedding, while the meaning of the immersion ceremony was explained...
...Law" lies in the reality of the issues...
...The real problem, however, lies not in the existence of such depictions (they do reflect the high rate of intermarriage), but in their preponderance—to the near-exclusion of Jewish-Jewish relationships...
...Law" (NBC), will be back this fall...
...antisemitism than the rabbi or than temple member (and Archie's business partner) Murray Klein, who lead the campaign...
...The Jewish characters in these shows are frequently depicted as deeply involved in their Judaism...
...Regardless, as this season gets underway, TV viewers will encounter yet again a variety of Jewish characters and themes—a variety diminished, however, by the under-representation of Jewish women...
...Returning comedy shows include "Murphy Brown" (CBS), which features the character Miles Silverberg, Jewish executive producer of the fictional news show "F.Y.I...
...Who can forget, for example, Danny Kaye's superb role in the made-for-TV movie Skokie...
...The portrayal of a Jewish character who has rejected his own heritage and who is redeemable only by virtue of Christianity is reminiscent of an old anti-Judaism that one would have hoped was long banished...
...These are not shows that merely contain passing references to something Jewish— uncountable shows contain these—nor are they shows where characters are Jewish by virtue of name or accent...
...By realizing the extent to which Jewish themes have been portrayed on popular television and by approaching these Jewish televimages as valuable reflectors and shapers of Jewish predicaments and possibilities, we can truly begin seeing ourselves on TV...
...Antisemitism, whether through synagogue vandalism, violence against Jews, virulent rhetoric, Holocaust revisionism or the genteel murmurings of the upper crust, has been portrayed on scores of programs...
...On 'The Flying Nun," a rabbi performed a Jewish wedding at a convent— complete with chuppah (bridal canopy) and breaking of the glass...
...Besieged Jews of the Warsaw ghetto celebrated a Passover seder in the miniseries "Holocaust...
...Fleeting and fashionable attention to this topic, however, is not sufficient...
...The presence of non-Jews allows for explanation of the Jewish rituals...
...Michael Steadman of "thirtysomething," assimilated, intermarried and apparently raised like Jackie Fisher, realizes as a parent that he must actively express his religious identity if it is to be transmitted to his daughter...
...A brit milnh {circumcision ceremony) look place in the "M*A*S*H" operating room, with a Christian chaplain reciting the appropriate Hebrew prayers, relayed by a rabbi from an offshore naval vessel...
...There was only enough oil for the eternal flame to burn for one night, but then a miracle happened, and the light burned for eight nights—the eight nights of Chanukah...
...While much attention has focused on negative aspects of interfaith marriage on TV, the lesson here is that children will not grow up with a commitment to Judaism if it is absent from the home...
...These conflicts spark in Michael a search for his own Jewish identity, leading him to take tentative steps into a synagogue for the first time in years...
...Jewish customs and ceremonies are presented as a natural thread in the fabric of American religious and cultural life...
...Shows as diverse as "Bonanza," "The Flying Nun," "M*A*S*H," "The Waltons" and "Miami Vice" have featured Jewish themes...
...Elsewhere," the hospital's Catholic priest urges a Jewish doctor facing religious hatred to stay and fight rather than flee...
...In one disturbing episode, he is cast as a Scrooge who ruins Christmas for his Christian co-workers and whose mean-spirited ways are sought to be repaired through the folklore of Christmas...
...Chanukah festivities in the American South were seen by viewers of "Frank's Place...
...Weightier topics will also be explored on popular TV in the coming season...
...I'd thought I'd gotten away from it—obviously I haven't...
...Rather, our focus is on primetime popular programs that prominently feature Jewish themes as the main or one of the main story lines...
...Programs where Jews happily date and marry Jews, where objections to intermarriage are raised and where there are Jewish families are underrepresented on TV...
...Law" style—of progressing from a tongue-in-cheek attitude toward an issue and then proceeding to add layer upon layer of seriousness and depth—the episode included some "bris jokes" and exaggerated Jewish characters before it evolved into a moving and sympathetic portrait of an elderly person unable, because of failing faculties, to do what is most dear to him...
...If so American a family as the Waltons could join in a bar mitzvah, hear kaddish (memorial prayer) recited for their dead relative and dance the horah in the Blue Ridge Mountains—as they did on episodes of the popular, long-running series "The Waltons"—isn't it okay for everyone to do so...
...Law," engaged to the non-Jewish Anne Kelsey, discovers within himself deeply buried feelings of Jewish identity when confronted with antisemitism...
...The TV movie follows the secret romance between a pair of high school students—he Jewish, she Catholic...
...Stuart Markowitz of "L.A...
...the kindnesses shown a young boy on his bar mitzvah day transform his father from a cruel landlord to a repentant and humble being...
...This "yuppie" series' interfaith couple Michael and Hope, as well as TVs other star intermarrieds, Stuart Markowitz and Anne Kelsey of "L.A...
...After hearing the judge bar him from performing circumcisions, the rabbi, in a poignant, tearful reaction, explains that performing the brit is his pride and joy and that without the ability to do so, he asks, "What am I?" Many current popular programs deal with Jewish identity within the context of interfaith marriage and interdating...
...During the holiday season as he watches his nonjewish wife, Hope, make grand preparations to celebrate Christmas, Michael finds he can no longer enjoy Christmas as a secular, fun time...
...The world has its share of Jewish mothers, Jewish lawyers and doctors and Jewish criminals...
...Law" that depict interfaith married couples and the star-attraction of the Jewish comic leads on "Anything But Love" and "Seinfeld"—not to mention the controversy surrounding Jackie Mason's short-lived "Chicken Soup"— the subject of Jewish images on popular primetime television has become a hot topic...
...In fact, this show is an exception to the generally positive image of Israel that has prevailed throughout popular TV's history...
...Stay tuned...
...The 52-year-old Jackie Sisher questions his mother's feelings by reminding her, "You're not even that religious...
...A Yom Kippur service was featured on "The Goldbergs...
...In different circumstances—the plush offices of a Los Angeles talent agency—a Jewish character who is a regular on The Famous Teddy Z" appears as a Hollywood agent...
...Middle East turmoil will continue to find its way onto popular TV...
...Jackie's mother assumes that knowledge of and devotion to Judaism will magically be passed down genetically despite the fact that Judaism is neither practiced nor taught in her home...
...Chicken Soup" represented a Jewish mother upset over her son's interfaith dating...
...The Messenger chronicles the plight of two Czecho-slovakian Jews—twins—who are subjected to the cruelty of Josef Mengele's experiments in Auschwitz...
...Those in the TV audience concerned about Jewish images can, when irritated by what they perceive as negative images—or pleased with positive ones— express their views in letters to the program's producers, writers, production company and broadcasting network, and to the Jewish Televimages Resource Center, dedicated to exploring, evaluating and enhancing Jewish images on popular television...
...It should be kept in mind, however, that the portrayal of a Jewish character with stereotypical or negative traits is not necessarily wrong or harmful...
...These and other depictions of intermarriage and interdating arouse concerns that TV promotes and legitimates such relationships...
...Another program, scheduled for the "holiday season," tells of the clandestine trek of Jewish children out of Germany to Denmark and their subsequent rescue by the Danish resistance...
...They tell bound and terrified hostages about their former "beautiful village [in] north Falestine," shouting that "then come Zionists, drive us out, take our land, take house, make us live in camp, while stranger get rich from my stolen land...
...Jewish holidays and Shabbat have been presented in a variety of settings and circumstances...
...Invariably, when Jewish rites are portrayed, a non-Jew is shown participating in, respecting, enjoying and learning about Jewish practices...
...It is vital to examine this vast programming since most Americans, especially those who have little personal contact with Jews, gain a large portion of their knowledge about Jews and Judaism through such programs...
...Although it has been long accepted that images of Jews on popular TV have been rare and that what little has appeared has been stereotypical and negative, in fact, hundreds of primetime drama and comedy programs have featured Jewish themes and positively portrayed Jewish characters since the inception of network television...
...NBC also tackles interfaith dating in Til f Kissed Ya, billed as a "1960s bittersweet Romeo and Juliet story...
...And that light still shines for the whole world...
...It seems that, owing to faltering hands, he had nicked an infant's penis during a brit milah and now was being sued for damages...
...the average U.S...
...Identity crises often confront highly assimilated characters...
...Yet some depictions of intermarriage have the potential for positive impact on a segment of Jewish viewers...
...But perhaps most important, the presence of non-Jewish characters at Jewish events provides viewers with a strong message about the acceptance of Jews and Jewish customs...
...Rather, these programs project the message that fighting antisemitism is not solely a Jewish concern, but the responsibility of all people...
...A rabbi and a Chinese woman discover what they have in common...
...On the medical series "St...
...A few series that made their debuts and screened briefly during the past few months are not on the fall schedule...
...Viewers today are perhaps most familiar with the religious searchings of "thirtysomething's" interfaith married Michael Steadman, but dramas and sitcoms have been featuring Jewish identity crises for 40 years...
...In every case, antisemitism is shown to be a loathsome trait that is ultimately quashed...
...The center relays such input to TV's creative and business forces...
...The depictions of Jewish themes and characters on TV, whether accurate or not, are often accepted by viewers as a true picture of Jews...
...While we are convinced there is a great deal that is positive on these shows both in the messages they transmit and their potential impact on the vast TV audience, we are well aware of the instances of shallow, stereotypical and inaccurate Jewish televimages...
...in the visual language or television, it conveniently telescopes a character's religious standing and sentiments...
...While there have been some stereotypical portrayals of Jews, our intensive research has revealed that over the past 40 years, hundreds of episodes of situation comedies, westerns, dramas, made-for-TV movies and miniseries have prominently portrayed a broad spectrum of Jewish issues— antisemitism, Jewish lore and tradition, interfaith marriage, interfaith relations, Israel and the Shoah...
...at the same time, religious distinctiveness is acknowledged and respected...
...In its need for drama, the medium highlights not the apathy and indifference that characterize most people, but the low and high points of human existence...
...This issue has not been wholly ignored...
...While Seinfeld's TV persona may act Jewish and is perceived so by viewers, the program has yet to feature any explicit Jewish content...
...These positive messages on TV dramas often depict relationships and characters as Jewish identity is grappled with frequently on popular TV in a myriad of fascinating forms...
...it also provides an open, undisputed platform for the terrorists to deliver virulentiy anti-Israel invectives...
...On the much-heralded new series Twin Peaks," an obnoxious, big-city forensic specialist named Dr...
...He worries that Hope's Christmas celebration and his own lack of Jewish affiliation will threaten how his daughter will view him, continued on page 58 Jewish Televimages Continue ? Sampling of the I990-9I TV Season Popular television's portrayal of Jewish issues and characters continues apace in the upcoming 1990-91 TV season...
...Jewish rites and rituals have been most often depicted...
...Antisemitism in the Old West was the subject of an episode of "Bonanza," the enormously popular western series...
...On many programs, Jewish characters vehemently oppose antisemites in a variety of ways, from violence to political action...
...J.P...
...In the characteristic "L.A...
...Yet in the fight against religious bigotry, non-Jewish characters also play an important role, often taking the lead in fighting antisemitism, at times more vigorously than Jewish characters...
...As one of the most widely-known, distinctive and ohserved Jewish rituals, the bar mitzvah is often seen on TV...
...Like Stuart Markowitz, Michael realizes, as a result of various circumstances, that being Jewish is "who he is...
...These Jews are frequently depicted as strong, independent characters...
...home views seven hours of television daily, and more than 95 million Americans tune in every night during primetime...
...Miles, whose Jewishness is often referred to in the series, succinctly made the case for Jewish identity at Christmastime, when he responded to a colleague's comment about his lack of Christmas spirit by saying: "I'm not required to have any—I'm Jewish...
...Last year, with his parents away in Israel and not wishing to observe Yom Kippur alone, he invited his non-Jewish colleagues to spend the holiday and break the fast with him...
...The TV bar mitzvah is almost always shown as a great moral milestone that reveals formerly-hidden truths and insights and leads in spiritual renewal, not only for the bar mitzvah boy, but—sometimes more importantly—for those around him...
...many "real life" Jews identify with these television Jews who are professional, successful and often intermarried...
...This message of social harmony and ecumenical cooperation is a theme of many programs that deal with Jewish issues...
...Television bat niitzvahs have been featured far less frequently, although oVie appeared—of all places—on "Archie Bunker's Place...
...An aging rabbi, on a recent episode of "L.A...
...They urge an initially reluctant Archie to join forces with them because he is a nonjew, and thus his solidarity with this cause lends another dimension of strength to the fight against antisemitism...
...Law" and the erstwhile "Chicken Soup" all feature assimilated Jewish men who are married to or seriously involved with non-Jewish women, as did past programs like the 1970s series "Bridget Loves Bernie," which depicted a marriage between a Jewish man and an Irish-Catholic woman...
...In the works at NBC are two made-for-TV movies about the Shoah...
...Recent examples include porno business profiteers bearing the names Murray Kaplan on episodes of "Hill St...
...In the recent highly-praised / episode of "The Wonder Years," a / youngster's bar mitzvah is depicted / as a well-spring of love, heritage and / family, that sends his non-Jewish / friend on a spiritual search fulfilled I only when he overcomes his insecur- I ities and jealousies to belatedly join § his friend at the bar mitzvah cer- m emony...
...A death in the family was the catalyst for a deeply committed, observant cantor to question God's attentiveness and mercy in an episode of the 1960s medical series "Ben Casey...
...What, then, is the primetime, popular television image of Jews and Judaism—what we call the "Jewish televimage"—that is transmitted to millions of viewers across the nation...
Vol. 15 • October 1990 • No. 5
