Esther Kustanowitz: December 2008 Archives

When I decided to do a list of top 10 Jewish movie characters, I got to #4 and then stopped. Jews and pop culture are my thing...why could I only come up with four, with one of them being Yentl?? You could also award a slot to Sir Ben Kingsley, your go-to for Jews. His portrayals of Jewish characters make a lasting impact onscreen, from "Schindler's List" to "Lucky Number Slevin." Still, 10 memorable characters?

I turned to my Facebook friends for help in jogging my memory.  They recommended many characters I hadn't thought of in movies I haven't seen: Masha in "Enemies: A Love Story," Harry Lime in "The Third Man," Arnold Friedman in "Capturing the Friedmans," and Vin Diesel's character in "Knockaround Guys."

Then came the cult faves: Eric Shoenstein in "Animal House," Baby Houseman in "Dirty Dancing," Feivel Mousekewitz in "American Tail," Virgil Starkwell in "Take the Money and Run" (but oddly, no votes for Alvy Singer from "Annie Hall"), and Tevye from "Fiddler on the Roof." Ben Stiller's character in "Keeping the Faith" gets a nod from one friend who says, "I would have loved to have a rabbi like him!"

"Does Dr. Zoidberg from 'Futurama' count?" one fanboy asks, while another inquires about Magneto and Kitty Pryde from the "X-Men" series. If we include television, then "Dr. Joel Fleischman of 'Northern Exposure,'" says one person. "Jesus, from the 'Last Temptation of Christ,'" says notherafriend who always tries to select the most controversial choice.

After much consideration, here's the final list. Feel free to disagree vociferously and say who you would have picked instead.

1. Mordechai Jefferson Hammer from "The Hebrew Hammer" (Adam Goldberg) - He gets the #1 position for being the most frequently referenced character in the myriad answers provided by mi amigos de Facebook. Also, it's funny that the actor's name is almost as Jewish as the character he plays, even though Goldberg is not Jewish.

George Clooney, one of the world's sexiest men, is apparently a huge whiner when he doesn't get his way. Does this make him any less sexy? View the following clip, featuring Richard Kind's account of Clooney as one of the more annoying house guests on record.

Is this a true or false Hollywood story? Is Kind just jealous of being knocked off (by Clooney) from the"sexiest" lists of different magazines? Why couldn't Clooney keep a small tree in his room? The Farmers Market in L.A. is very expensive.  Could the cost of those pies have fed a small family for a month? Most importantly, now that I've moved to L.A., what kind of impact does a story like this have on the imminent, future relationship between me and George?

Who knew celebrities were so emotional?

Sure, you could get your friends those page-a-day Dilbert desk calendars. Or you could get them one of the new faith-based calendars, bringing daily meditation to a place you've never been before.

Have you always thought Mormon men weren't worth ogling? Think again! The Mormons Exposed calendar exposes you to some of these Latter Day hotties. All in the name of Joseph Smith, as said six-packers are purportedly Mormon missionaries. Digging past the cheesecake, you can read bios of the missionaries, each of whom has chosen a charity to benefit from their proceeds of the calendar.

Matthew, for instance, "is working full-time building swimming pools. His involvement in the calendar is his first attempt at modeling after years of being pushed to do so by many of his peers. If modeling doesn't work out, he looks forward to finding another career. He also hopes to marry and start a family. For now, Matthew is "usually up for anything and having fun." But not all of the models/missionaries have the same motivations: Christopher decided to pose thinking it would be a good way for people to see him and the other models as "both members of the church and normal human beings." According to the site, the current BYU-Idaho student says, "We aren't weird although we are different in some ways."

I was only reading it for the articles, I swear. But an Idol Chatter editor brought this Playboy cover to my attention, featuring model Maria Florencia Onori posing as the Virgin Mary. She's not naked, but is instead wearing a suggestively draped white cloth.

The issue's release was timed for the day before Mexico's traditional Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe, a celebration of an apparition of the Virgin in the town, and the headline reads in Spanish: "We adore you, Mary."

As Playboy covers go, I don't think this is the most sordid or explicit one there's ever been. But since we're heading into Christmas, I thought it seemed like a good time to start a discussion about what the limits of art are when it comes to depicting religious iconography.

Even if Christmas doesn't represent an annual temptation for Jews, there's one area where Hanukkah can't hold a candle (sorry) to Christmas: Christmas music trumps "I Have a Little Dreidel" every time. Most Hanukkah songs sound like they were created by your grandmother on Long Island. (Sing the songs with a New York accent, and you'll see what I mean.) On the other hand, "Silent Night"? Gorgeous.

And then came Adam Sandler. He put on his yarmulke and celebrated Hanukkah with the owner of the Seattle Supersonica and hoped he'd get a harmonica as he drank his gin-and-tonica, and...well you know. Score one for Jewish holiday songs, but it was more about Sandler's comedic approach to Hanukkah than it was about creating evocative music.

This year, two Hanukkah songfests have emerged-- in two different media--to musically reinvigorate the festival of lights. (And, full disclosure, three of the featured artists are friends of mine.)