Reflecting on the Academy Awards with Billy Crystal. There is clearly no problem with Billy being the emcee for the awards show and his comfortability addressing the audience in the theatre as well as the television audience – talking about African-American ethnicity and referencing Jewish ethnicity was not a problem. The fact that being Jewish is so accepted in this country is both amazing and also often overlooked by many Jews.
Quite often the “official” line is that there is a lot of anti-Semitism and that we must be vigilant. No question, anti-Semitism exists. Synagogues are still being defaced and bombings are planned, just as happened recently outside the New York City area in New Jersey.
But the freedom that exists here is both unprecedented and wondrous. The Jewish community should be overjoyed at what we have achieved over the last 200+ years in America. While in Philadelphia this weekend we went to the incredible American Jewish History Museum on Independence Mall. What a great experience! The accomplishments by Jews in this country from science to business to politics and of course to arts and culture not only are great because of the achievements, they are great because they strongly contributed to what has made America into America. And the ways Jews joined with other ethnicities to be creative is only something that could have happened in this country.
Jews have a lot to be proud of, but America does too. The fabric of this nation is to offer freedom, not only to do as we please as long as it doesn’t hurt others. The genius of this country is to be an incubator nation that stimulates ingenuity, cross-cultural exchanges, creative solutions, and artistic explorations that come from a deep sense of breaking new ground for fresh perspectives on identity and invention.
That is the greatness of America – that identity and invention can come together and social strata, prejudices, class, and whether one has wealth or not are not going to be obstacles. Of course I acknowledge the racism that is a deep part of America, issues of women’s rights, and the ongoing homophobia that still is seeking a real just response. But as my teacher Elie Wiesel would always say -- and yet….
Much has been achieved and cultures are seeking each other out for cross-fertilization. The opportunities today are greater than ever. I am so optimistic for this world and we must insist on being optimistic, keeping in mind realities and obstacles. The world is closer together than ever before and the Jewish world as well as the world-at-large must embrace it or there will be no survival.
5 comments:
I hate to be a "Debbie Downer" after reading your inspiring post, BUT: as the public laughs at Billy Crystal's jokes, so, too, did they enjoy entertainment by talented African-American musicians, dancers, etc., without wanting to accept them on an equal social footing. An artist friend of mine who lives in a tiny town in Indiana tells me that her neighbors don't know the difference between a Muslim and a Jew, and are generally distrustful of all non-Christians. I think there's a great deal of anti-Muslim sentiment in this country, and fear of "the other" in general. As we appreciate the civil liberties we enjoy in this country, we must be ever-vigilant to fight anything that erodes them be it so-called "anti-terrorist" policing that side-steps due process, or hate speech that has become commonplace in the mouths of Santorum and Gingrich.
Totally agree about the climate in this country towards Muslims and immigrants in general and physical safety has to be of utmost importance.
Yet from a cultural and arts perspective, what does it mean to live in a post-racial society and still explore our interconnectedness and different identities?
A friend and colleague responded on FB to me that many in the African-American community were offended at Billy's rendition of his old saw impression of Sammy Davis Jr as well as some of his other jokes. This is difficult one because memory can be raw and I do believe in sensitivity.
At the same time Jews have been in blackface and African-Americans have sung Jewish composer's songs; men have often portrayed women and Glen Close brilliantly portrays Alfred Nobbs. Context is shifting and we need to encourage identity and invention.
This past Sunday morning I showed a documentary to my 10th grade Hebrew School class about the history of Jewish contributions to the American music scene. My students could not "get" the blackface clips. In general, growing up in the affluent suburbs of Chicago they do not "get" anti-semitism, they don't see Jews in any public role as remarkable, it doesn't surprise them to see Jews on TV.
I am going to bring this blog and comments to class and get their reactions.
It is a difficult concept to grasp. Yet we don masks all the time in performance. That is what the Greek word for actor is "hypocrite." That is what Purim is about "h'ester panim" hiding the face or in other words wearing the mask. The connection to Queen Esther in the Purim megillah is from this phrase in Deuteronomy.
But context creates perspective. It is tricky. When Fagin is used by Dickens to create a negative portrayal of Jews what does that mean? When the Coen's portray Jews in their films what kind of Jew-face is that? And when Billy Crystal does his SDJ and Fred Armisen does Obama what kind of black-face is that?
Post a Comment