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FAMILIES: STEREOTYPES AND ARCHETYPES
IMAGES OF JEWISH FATHERS
His
People (1925)
This superb silent film presents a learned, religious immigrant
father whose tradition and values are all but shattered by his encounter
with the New World and by his failure to understand the very different
paths taken by his son.
Goodbye,
Columbus (1969)
The movie version of Phillip Roth's biting and controversial look
at upwardly mobile Jewish life in the 1960s suburbs features a father
(Jack Klugman) devoted to his family as well as to material success.
Fiddler
on the Roof (1971)
The film adaptation of the musical based on Sholem Aleichem's stories
tells of Tevye, a poor milkman in a Russian shtetl and a strong
and sentimental father of five daughters, who struggles to preserve
Jewish tradition in the face of the persecutions and seductions
of the outside world.
The
Chosen (1982)
The story of two teenage boys in Brooklyn in 1944 who come to question
the world views of their fathers--one a charismatic Hasidic rabbi
and the other, a professor and ardent Zionist--and to appreciate
each other's way of life.
The
Imported Bridegroom (1989)
Based on a story by Abraham Cahan, the film tells of conflicting
needs, dreams, guilt, and regret in the household of a successful
turn-of-the-century immigrant, his ambitious daughter, and the Old
Country yeshiva bocher he arranges for her to marry.
Families
Introduction
Images
of Jewish Mothers
Discussion
Questions
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