Comments on: Kill Adolf

By: Lmorus

Lmorus — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 01:44:15 +0000

Great article, though I must say it lacks some historical perspective : the appearance of “tough jew” movie characters is more or less directly related to the rise of a militaristic culture in Israel after WWII. It actually was one of Ben Gourion’s interest in creating a military national force, that it would reshape the collective culture of Jewish israelis into one with less of a victim attitude, and more of a “tough” one. As a result of this, since almost everyone serves for several years (2 for women, 3 for men), the “jewish soldier” stereotype started to appear in general israeli culture, which then appeared in entertainment.

By: paul l

paul l — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:29:29 +0000

just saw the movie

amazing article – this rabbi rocks!

By: Talia

Talia — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:05:16 +0000

I will say that the Hebrew Hammer was not my favorite and my mind went to the thought of “Jewsplotaion” films as being the next big thing… I hope not.

By: John Donaghy

John Donaghy — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 20:59:06 +0000

I recommend listening to Dan Bern’s song “God said NO” as an antidote to the movie.

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 03:49:07 +0000

First off, I really enjoy the Rabbi’s take on pop culture and his analysis of male Jewish stereotypes in film is great…

While Tarantino knows how to make clever, ultra-violent genre-bending movies with excellent soundtracks, in the end, we’re left with is revenge fantasy porn to appease our primal urge for justice that we can never have.

Nicole and Brian have made a good point: it’s the glorification of violence. If Tarantino is going to claim “irony” this time, he’s going to have a tough time explaining it. In a time where we are looking at the ugly truth of violence in Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan and elsewhere, we look to history to fulfill our violent fantasies.

Historical films like these can separate themselves from the present. While I enjoyed Munich (and will probably end up watching Defiance and Basterds eventually), Roth’s “Kosher Porn” does not mesh well with 2009. A similar film depicting Israeli settlers getting revenge on Palestinian terrorists would be shocking to us – and a film with those roles reversed would be unthinkable in Western society. But will we be able to make an Israeli-Palestinian revenge fantasy film in 30 years? 60?

More importantly, how do we teach ourselves as a society to understand the dehumanizing effect of violence and understand why we crave it on film?

By: Brian

Brian — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:00:43 +0000

Courageous Men of Action, don’t have to be Action Heroes. It worries me that this tired stereotype assumes Men have to be violent and physically strong to be real men. I think that the strength that can transform our world into a place that respects all people has nothing to do with violence, and requries a lot more courage than it takes to be an action hero.

By: Nicole

Nicole — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:25:04 +0000

Revenge fantasies only perpetuate the cycle of violence in our communities. As someone who works with abused women, I understand that it is natural to feel anger after being victimized. However, as people of faith–Jew, Catholic, Muslim, etc–we are called to transform that anger, not into violence but into healing and peace.

By: Max Lindenman

Max Lindenman — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 23:15:21 +0000

Inglorious Bastards isn’t as far removed from reality as you might imagine. Toward the end of World War Two, Jews in the British Mandate persuaded the British army to incorporate them into an all-Jewish infantry brigade. (H.M.’s government proved a hard sell, not because it doubted that Jews would make good soldiers, but because it feared — with excellent reason — that the unit would serve as a nursery for future rebels, much as the Union army did for the old Fenian Brotherhood.) The unit saw relatively little action during the war itself, but shortly after V-E Day, a number of its members began hunting down and assassinating Nazi officials, much like the characters in the movie.

There’s a book on the subject, but doggone me if I can remember the title.

To your larger point: my friend, now that Israel’s won four major wars and survived two Intifadas, I doubt anyone who knows how to use a TV remote doubts Jews can fight as well as the Kentucky mountaineer whose ancestors came from the roughest lanes of Carrickfergus. The fact that we don’t set a whole lot of moral store by it is, I’ve always felt, a point in our favor. In the service of a good cause a little controlled belligerence is a good thing. Mindless belligerence for its own sake is high school stuff.

And before you knock the Yiddishe kup, bear in mind that Iran doesn’t want to challenge Israel to an arm-wrestle. She’s threatening to attack her with nuclear weapons. You don’t learn to split the atom on the playing fields of Eton.

By: john p

john p — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 18:43:06 +0000

Love it rabbi! I will be seeing the movie this weekend and will be thinking about this when I watch.

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:29:28 +0000

Great article – this rabbi get straight to the core of things and pulls no punches.