Via Roberta, I find this short (not very short) history of the portrayal of Jews on television on the wonderfully-named blog Jew Eat Yet?.
The author speaks my heart. My experience of Jews on television, for most of my life, was that Jews are okay as long as they are Woody Allen. A proper Jew is nebbishy, funny but vaguely unpleasant, and preferably short. A Jew must! Not! Be sexy!
And then along came thirtysomething.
A girl can get slammed pretty hard for admitting to thirtysomething love, but I’m brave. The first episode I ever saw was the season 4 opener. As soon as I saw the episode title, Prelude to a Bris, I knew I was in for something different.
As the show opens, Hope (Mel Harris) gives birth to baby Leo. Michael (Ken Olin) is Jewish, Hope is not.
Michael. Is. Jewish. He is tall, handsome, nice, doesn’t wear glasses, isn’t a nebbish, an accountant, or particularly funny. He’s a human being. I am, in short, stunned.
The episode revolves around Michael’s decision to circumcise Leo (the ceremony known as a bris). Michael barely practices Judaism and, like about 50% of American Jews, he has married outside of his religion. He wonders if it even makes sense to go through the ceremony, and he wonders if he can bear to forego it.
This is a real dilemma for many modern Jews, a poignant and complex one, but I had never seen it mentioned on television before. I had never seen drama speak dramatically about the experience of being a Jew.
In the final moments of the episode, Alan King, as Michael’s mother’s boyfriend, plays a role in the ceremony. He dons a prayer shawl as I have seen a hundred Jewish men don prayer shawls—but never on TV. I got a chill, I swear to God, seeing this secret, invisible world, the world of Jews-as-real-people, suddenly become visible.
Plus, y’know, it was brilliantly written and acted and filmed and I was totally hooked and Roberta had the past three seasons on video and I was home with a baby so I watched them until my eyes bled.
But that’s not the point.
The point is, Jews: They’re not just for comic relief anymore.
Yes.
And off the jew topic
A thing I don’t like about Grey’s Anatomy is the always new revelationary sweet bonding moments formed between two unlikelies.
Is everyone in that hospital just going to land in a big puppy pile?
1st season thirtysomething, Thanksgiving, Ellyn and Gary (the now executive producer of Grey’s) paired up to make stuffing (I believe it was). Hope’s and Michael’s respective oldest/bestest friends.
And they talk about how they don’t know each other that well, and don’t necessarily like each other that well. And it was brilliant, and uncomfortable (well, Ellyn could make any interaction uncomfortable), but it was authentic and in appropriate context.
On Friends, you know how they each met and who was officially closest, but ultimately, it was one big clusterfuck of good friends.
Friends. A sitcom. Excusable.
Grey’s Anatomy. A bit too maleable. (though I love it.)
thirtysomething. Priceless.
the end by rkl.
And when you mention things like that, small moments that weren’t really small, that’s when you realize how good that show was. All about the nuance of the small moment.
Like the very first episode, Hope pointing out what the gift for the baby really meant. I so lived that.
In Grey’s defense, all the interns met the same day, so they all started out on the same footing. Christina isn’t as warm with Izzy, although now it’s 3rd season, so it’s warmer. Burke & Shephard had that priceless first name moment with the bomb in the body cavity. So there’s some of it. But it ain’t thirtysomething.
I’m talking about whatshishead (the chief) now bonding with Callie. There is a lovely reason developed for each of these tender moments, and believe me, I get all squishy when they happen, but forfuxake.
I always had a joke that if I were on the enterprise (the real enterprise), I woud always be stunting… Oh look! I sprained my ankle right outside the bridge! Captain Picard, please pretend I’m not here while I’m propping up my foot up and resting in the cushy chair next to yours. (Captain Picard totally talked to me today! Troi is such a cock block!)
On Grey’s it all just happens. In real life none of these people would be giving a rat’s ass about who was sleeping with who(m).
Not that you don’t have a point (and by the way…no Jews on the Enterprise, no Jews in Seattle Grace either).
What kills me about the crowd at Grey’s is that none of them owns a phone. These people “stop by” more than daytime soaps! It’s whacky.
True dat.
Actualy there are no Jews on my T.V. just some books and a bit of dust.
[…] My sister, after reading the same piece, blogged a lot of my thoughts on the topic. […]
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