Series for Film Group Discussions

Clash of Lifestyles

FAMILIES: STEREOTYPES AND ARCHETYPES

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

•What are the key characteristics of each family member? In what way do they seem to represent the "Jewish Mother," "Jewish Father," etc. ...?

•Do you think the characters accurately depict Jewish figures of the time in which the film was made? Are they exaggerated, for humorous or dramatic effect? Do you see positive and negative traits?

•In what ways do you find the characters particularly Jewish, and in what ways more generally American, or universal?

•How would you characterize relations among the family members? Do you find anything specifically Jewish in the family dynamics? Do you think the director meant to convey something Jewish, or general?

•Do you find these stereotypes related to the immigrant generation that arrived in the U.S. during the growth of the film industry? How were certain characteristics and family dynamics unique to this time period and this country? What were some of the historical realities that created certain stereotypes?

•How do you find the images compare with those in fiction? On television (for films made in the television era)? In your own experience?

•What might we learn about Jewish American life from the film? About the director's view of Jewish American life? Which stereotypes of Jewish family members have been most consistent and vivid?

•How have stereotypes changed over the years? Have older ones been superseded by new ones, or have portrayals become more diverse and less stereotypical?

•Has the Jewish family become part of the American popular culture, or is there still a sense of separate ethnicity? How have the two intermingled, and where are the distinctions preserved?

Families Introduction

Images of Jewish Mothers

Images of Jewish Fathers

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