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Jewish characters in soap |
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#1 |
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Jewish characters in soap
Out of interest do any of the soaps have any Jewish characters in them?
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#2 |
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There's quite a few in American soaps I believe. EastEnders' Dr Legg used to be Jewish, and EE also had a guest character called David(?) who Janine was going to marry/did marry(?) until he had a heart attack I believe (I remember he was Jewish because Pat shouted "she's [Janine] as Jewish as a bacon sandwich"
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#3 |
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does it matter?
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#4 |
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The only Jews I remember from a soap were Vanessa and Jodie Gold in EE.
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#5 |
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EE has had several Jewish characters over the years. Some have already been mentioned. There was also David, Dr Legg's nephew (I think) who was also a doctor, Felix the barber, Uncle the pawn broker and I'm sure many more.
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#6 |
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Quote:
There's quite a few in American soaps I believe. EastEnders' Dr Legg used to be Jewish, and EE also had a guest character called David(?) who Janine was going to marry/did marry(?) until he had a heart attack I believe (I remember he was Jewish because Pat shouted "she's [Janine] as Jewish as a bacon sandwich"
)
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#7 |
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Any thread about Jewish characters isn't a real thread until someone quotes Pat!
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#8 |
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One Life to Live had Jewish characters throughout most of its history, one of the shows families the Siegel family was Jewish, a first for a soap, in the 80's they had the Sanders family and from the 90's to the shows cancellation they had Nora Buchanan who was one of the shows most popular characters.
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#9 |
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Quote:
Any thread about Jewish characters isn't a real thread until someone quotes Pat!
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#10 |
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there is a jewish series, Friday Night Dinner, I believe it's called - quite funny - it features a.o. Tamsin Greig
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#11 |
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Quote:
The only Jews I remember from a soap were Vanessa and Jodie Gold in EE.
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#12 |
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Go on then.
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#13 |
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Quote:
does it matter?
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#14 |
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Lesley Joseph played Rachel Culgrin in 'Night and Day'. Can't recall if the character was Jewish or not but if Lesley played her, most likely.
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#15 |
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Lesley Joseph played Rachel Culgrin in 'Night and Day'. Can't recall if the character was Jewish or not but if Lesley played her, most likely.
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#16 |
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Quote:
One Life to Live had Jewish characters throughout most of its history, one of the shows families the Siegel family was Jewish, a first for a soap, in the 80's they had the Sanders family and from the 90's to the shows cancellation they had Nora Buchanan who was one of the shows most popular characters.
Dave, the father in The Siegel Family, was Jewish, but the story itself was centered around the fact that the family was interfaith, with his wife, Eileen Riley Siegel, being Irish Catholic. How they raised their twins, Julie and Tim, I can't recall, but I remember they celebrated both holidays. I think the point was these situations can work. Another one would be the retcon story of "Bradley Carlton" on Y&R. After decades of storyline, we heard that Brad's real name was actually "George Kaplan." When he was a teenager, his father and sister had been killed by Nazi Art Thieves who were after his mother because of her work during WWII. George had to flee and change his identity. Brad/George's family was Jewish, and when he was reunited with his mother, they celebrated one or more religious holidays. |
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#17 |
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Dr Levy in Holby City
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#18 |
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Pats quote is one of the best things ever. In the world.
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#19 |
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I can't recall any Mormons or Jehovah's Witnesses either, so what, how would it affect any story line?
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#20 |
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I think that this is a good question with regards to Coronation Street and EastEnders. Both are set in areas of London and Manchester that would in real life be relatively near to areas of large and concentrated Jewish populations (Broughton and Stamford Hill). These areas tend to be concentrated with Haredi Jews though, and somehow I can't see characters with black coats, hats and long beards propping up the Rovers Return or the Queen Vic with a pint of best. The vast majority of less religious Jews tend to have moved away from these inner-city areas towards the suburbs.
A further and wider aspect to this is the place of the minority character or family within the soap setting and how they are portrayed. I think they tend to be watered down and incredibly integrated (Sharmas in Emmerdale, Nazirs in Coronation Street) and usually come across as some kind of token or afterthought, whose own culture is downplayed as much as possible. Thinking back, one family who did come across as a realistic family were the Taverniers in EastEnders, but that was 25 years ago now. |
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#21 |
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Quote:
Out of interest do any of the soaps have any Jewish characters in them?
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#22 |
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Quote:
I think that this is a good question with regards to Coronation Street and EastEnders. Both are set in areas of London and Manchester that would in real life be relatively near to areas of large and concentrated Jewish populations (Broughton and Stamford Hill). These areas tend to be concentrated with Haredi Jews though, and somehow I can't see characters with black coats, hats and long beards propping up the Rovers Return or the Queen Vic with a pint of best.alistic family were the Taverniers in EastEnders, but that was 25 years ago now.
CS over-represents some groups and under-represents others. |
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#23 |
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Quote:
Dave, the father in The Siegel Family, was Jewish, but the story itself was centered around the fact that the family was interfaith, with his wife, Eileen Riley Siegel, being Irish Catholic. How they raised their twins, Julie and Tim, I can't recall, but I remember they celebrated both holidays. I think the point was these situations can work.
Another one would be the retcon story of "Bradley Carlton" on Y&R. After decades of storyline, we heard that Brad's real name was actually "George Kaplan." When he was a teenager, his father and sister had been killed by Nazi Art Thieves who were after his mother because of her work during WWII. George had to flee and change his identity. Brad/George's family was Jewish, and when he was reunited with his mother, they celebrated one or more religious holidays. |
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#24 |
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Join Date: Jun 2011
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Quote:
there is a jewish series, Friday Night Dinner, I believe it's called - quite funny - it features a.o. Tamsin Greig
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#25 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Sep 2016
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Quote:
There was Felix the barber in EE, later to be the crazed and brilliant Mr Morris in Friday Night Dinner.
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