Comments on: Now for a little comic relief (?): Michael Richards

By: bugs

bugs — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 04:59:59 +0000

For some real cognitive dissonance, how about William Shatner?

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 00:12:31 +0000

Since I have been around Jewish people for much of my life, I also play the parlor game vis-a-vis celebrities, the one where you suddenly ask, “Is that person Jewish?” I don’t know how the game got started, but it’s a game that people play.

A Jewish friend of mine was disappointed to find out that Cecil B. DeMille was not Jewish. I was surprised to find out that Ray Bolger wasn’t.

Actually, it’s kind of a tedious game, because it easily descends into apologetics. For example, Karl Marx was often cited as Jewish, but I note that wikipedia says nothing about that in its profile. Of course, both of Marx’s parents were born Jewish, but converted to Christianity, and he was baptized at birth.

On the other hand, Felix Mendelssohn’s parents followed the exact same trajectory, and Felix was baptized at birth, but he is frequently mentioned as a Jewish composer, and he himself considered himself to be a Jew, albeit only in the ethnic sense (He was a devout Christian.)

But let’s ask the really important question. Is Ward Churchill really a Native American?

By: mizpants

mizpants — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 00:21:47 +0000

Funny — Kramer was the only Seinfeld character I DIDN’T take to be Jewish. His comedy was largely physical and there was nothing self-aware or analytical about him. He was very much out of the vein of humor I think of as quintessentially Jewish.
As far as Richards’ racist outburst is concerned, haven’t you noticed that roughly since 9/11, there’s been a reaction against PC pieties on the left? Racist invective has been one of the few ways left to be transgressive, and now that taboo has been breached, in the reflexive and automatic way that EVERY boundary is breached. I don’t think Richards’ outburst revealed much of anything about his true attitudes — though it did reveal a lot about him.
Even in his rage, he was just being fashionable.
The only PC taboo that remains, of course, is the taboo against pointing out what’s wrong with Islam.

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 00:23:53 +0000

Kramer was the only Seinfeld character I DIDN’T take to be Jewish. His comedy was largely physical and there was nothing self-aware or analytical about him. He was very much out of the vein of humor I think of as quintessentially Jewish.

Yes, thank you for reminding me of that Catholic comedy troupe, The Three Stooges …….

By: Ymarsakar

Ymarsakar — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 03:14:55 +0000

Very, very, dangerous talking to the shrinks, Neo ; )

Look how I turned out talking on this blog with you!

People who are urbane and liberal, are Jewish to me. Sourced from how many Jews vote Democrat world over.

By: mishu

mishu — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 04:18:53 +0000

I always thought Elaine was Catholic.

By: mishu

mishu — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 04:22:05 +0000

I just remembered one episode. Elaine had ’schicksappeal’.

By: mizpants

mizpants — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 05:30:24 +0000

Mishu: Yes, Elaine was a shiksa, and George Costanza was presumably not intended to be Jewish, but the general shtick of Seinfeld was so thoroughly Jewish that I never quite believed that they were anything but.

Except for Kramer, as I said above. And — pace Steve — it wasn’t just that his comedy was physical. It was also that he was a completely unselfconscious and unreflective character, a kind of magical simpleton.

Is it possible to be Jewish and all of the above? Of course, but it’s just plain intellectually dishonest to insist that any stereotyping is illegitimate. We all carry stereotypes in our heads and they make for useful shorthand and good screenwriting.

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 06:25:57 +0000

I liked Seinfeld, but I wouldn’t call it a monument to Jewish humor. In that respect, the prize still goes to the original “In Laws”.

By: Isaiah Hunahun

Isaiah Hunahun — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 07:37:16 +0000

I never liked that show. I could watch about a minutes of it at best. :

By: Isaiah Hunahun

Isaiah Hunahun — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 07:38:20 +0000

I’m not Jewish either — it’s was just a funny name I made up. :

By: Isaiah Hunahun

Isaiah Hunahun — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 07:39:10 +0000

I hate it when you can’t delete it :

By: Steve Rosenbach

Steve Rosenbach — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 20:30:47 +0000

This reminds me of that amazing sketch quite a long time ago on SNL, “Jew or Not A Jew.” I didn’t know whether to be insulted or burst out laughing. I finally burst out laughing… because “Jew or Not a Jew” is something we Jews do all the time when we socialize with each other! Sort of a Jewish version of Charades.

Michael Richards is not, despite what his agent says, Jewish - not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Elaine Benis? I never thought her character was supposed to be Jewish, although a lot of the humor is very New York City - which means a Jewish-style sort of humor even if the person involved is Italian or Puerto Rican…. Like “George Costanza.”

Julia Louis-Dreyfus is probably not Jewish, although her French paternal grandparents probably were. After all, “Julia Elizabeth Scarlett Louis-Dreyfus” is one and a half too many names for a Jew.

The whole “Cosmo Kramer” question is still up in the air, as far as I’m concerned. Like Elaine, I don’t think his character was supposed to be exlicitly Jewish, but I’m not sure.

Of course, the inspiration for Cosmo Kramer, Kenny Cramer is Jewish. (Kenny was Larry David’s across-the-hall neighbor when they both lived in the same apartment building in the West 40’s some years before the show.)

By: Victor Krueger

Victor Krueger — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 15:51:47 +0000

William Shatner is Canadian.

By: Ariel

Ariel — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 13:46:57 +0000

A Jewish Canadian.