Esther Kustanowitz: April 2009 Archives

If you're a consumer of media and you've never met a Jew in real life, you're likely to think all Jewish women are superficial busybodies with New York accents or yiddishe mommas trying to match up their daughters with single Jewish doctors. But the MorningStar Commission, named after Herman Wouk's Marjorie, is trying to promote stronger, more diverse images of Jewish women in the media: from film and TV to stage and publishing. On Sunday, the Commission convened an event in LA titled "Inside the Hollywood Noggin," which featured several prominent Jewish women in entertainment, and provided audience members with an inside look at how Jewish women are written, cast, and what role they play in production.

The event kicked off with an introductory performance by Vanessa "the Hebrew Mamita" Hidary that asked "What does Jewish look like to you?" Vanessa's hip-hop spoken word performances have been featured on Russell Simmons' Def Poetry Jam, and she's also the director of "Monologues," an evening of solo performances exploring Jewish identity through anecdotes, stand-up comedy, hip-hop, and spoken word.

The day included breakout sessions with casting directors, producers and writers/showrunners. Jill Soloway, a writer/producer on shows like "Grey's Anatomy," "Dirty Sexy Money," and "Six Feet Under," and currently the showrunner for "United States of Tara," noted that the Jewish soul in her characters is what makes the audience empathize. She also spoke of showing "authentic, human moments" and noted that creating characters that were only positive was "anti-good-writing." Her main concern as showrunner is not about the ego of making the characters and plot go where she wants it to, but to "honor the show, which is in the middle of the room."

America loves Adam Lambert. As well they should, because the dude has serious stage presence and amazing vocal range and energy. But what many "Fanberts" (I'm coining that phrase now) might not have known is that he can also take a classic Israeli song and do a stellar job with the Hebrew, which isn't an easy language to begin with.

Lambert sang "Shir Lashalom" ("the song for peace") with Israeli-American singers Maya Haddi and Noa Dori at a 2005 tribute concert to slain Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. According to Wikipedia, "the song was sung at the rally where he was assassinated and is often associated with his assassination and its aftermath in Israeli culture. A copy of the song's lyrics was found on Rabin's body, soaked in his blood."

The question has emerged on Jewish blogs: is Lambert Jewish? On the JDub Records blog, Jaime Walman (Vice President, Strategic Planning and Development for the Jdub, a "not-for-profit dedicated to innovative Jewish music, community, and cross cultural dialogue") notes that "not many Idol divas rock out to Israeli peace anthems. I already liked Adam before, but now I feel some deeper sense of allegiance, some inexplicable bond (even though my husband thinks he's a musical theatre scenery-chewer in faux emo clothing)."

A few weeks ago, we shared the news that everyone's favorite prairie tomboy, Laura Ingalls--and her alter ego, Melissa Gilbert--were hitting the road with a touring company of "Little House on the Prairie: The Musical," a show of great nostalgic value to those of us who valued the stories of the simple, yet challenging, midwestern life. I idolized Laura--the brunette tomboy with an independent spirit--as much as I hated her nemesis, the blonde-ringleted and socially deadly Nellie Oleson.

Nellie was no shrinking violet, and apparently, neither is the actress who played her. No sooner had the Little House musical news been announced, when Nellie Oleson-- or should I say actress Alison Arngrim--announced some stage time of her own: while Melissa plays Ma in the musical, touring Minnesota and other stops, Alison's taking over West Bank Café on Mother's Day (take that, Ma Ingalls and Harriet Oleson!) May 10 in New York City for her show "Confessions of a Prairie Bitch."

This Wednesday night, Jews worldwide will sit down for the Passover seder, an organized meal with a set order of rituals and readings, which are compiled in the Haggadah. At our seders (Jews outside of Israel generally have two), I know we'll talk about Passover, what we're up to in our respective lives, and all the family stuff. But we also share a devotion to watching "Lost." As observant Jews, we won't watch TV during holidays and the Sabbath, so we'll DVR and watch it Saturday night. But that doesn't mean we won't think about what we're missing, and knowing us, we'll see more than one similarity between the holiday and our ritual TV watching.

1. Passover is a widely-celebrated ancient Jewish holiday with a deep mythology. "Lost" is a widely-watched TV show, with hordes of devoted fans always seeking to delve deeper into the increasingly intricate and eclectic mythology.

2. The narrative of the Haggadah (telling the Passover story) is a series of flashback episodes illuminating the backgrounds of Biblical characters. Jews observing Passover are commanded to "see ourselves as if we had been the ones to come out of Egypt." Best way to see yourself in your own history? Time travel. (Just watch out for the nosebleeds.)

3. Every year, Jewish families have to go down into the hatch-- only instead of a hatch, it's a basement, and instead of finding a Scotsman named Desmond, they find their boxes of Passover dishes.

4. Lost has the Dharma Initiative, a shadowy cabal that provides the island with an exclusive brand of food products. Passover has the Matzah Initiative, a shadowy cabal that provides kosher for Passover households with an exclusive kind of food products.

You've heard of reverse psychology? Telling someone not to do something you want them to do it, or to do something you don't want them to do, with the result that whatever you tell them, they do the opposite. Perhaps that's what's behind this new ad campaign for the Oakwood School, a private school in Hollywood, wherein celebs ranging from Jason Alexander to J.K. Simmons to Steve Carell and Nancy Walls beseech viewers with one message: "don't give."

Of course, any fundraising video has an ultimate message of "give," even if what they begin with is several minutes of celebrities telling viewers "don't." This is a community school, and perhaps some of these celebs are also parents or alumni of that school. But when I see celebrities shilling for a cause, no matter how worthy or universal, I think about how much I make and how much they probably make. How much could my pennies do, vs. their many Hollywood dollars?