Thinking on Jewish representation and Willow R.

[leela_cat]

Talking yesterday, one of the things that I joked about was that, if there's anyone on TV (past or present) who represents me, then Willow Rosenberg is as close as it gets. Except not so much

Comments

[gnomi]

I'm a Modern Orthodox woman. No character in any film or TV show I have seen has ever shown the reality of my practice.

[jonbaker]

And Willow disappointed me. The only Jewish thing she ever said that I saw, was that her father would have a fit that his daughter was hanging a cross in her room, as vamp protection. No menorah on the bookshelf (like Rugrats, even before they introduced Boris & Minka), no mezuzah on the door, no mention of "I'm not going to be in school tomorrow, it's Yom Kippur", nothing.

And then she goes and becomes Wiccan.

I'm sure that's the reality of plenty of Jews, but does the only point of comment have to be about keeping a cross?

[kali921]

This reminds me of something that I liked about the early Anita Blake books, before they became a sucking Stygian vortex of nonstop porn: LKH pointed out in the books more than once that any religious or spiritual symbol charged with the wielder's faith would work against vampires and demons.

[jonbaker]

I saw a Doctor Who years ago (I think with Peter Davison, or maybe Tom Baker) that made exactly the same point. There were these sea-vampires (sort of Lovecraftian now that I think about it, but I hadn't yet read Lovecraft in high school). The old Anglican priest who had lost his faith, his bible and cross didn't protect him. The Soviet soldiers marching around, their Communist stars did protect them, because they really believed in the Communist system.

Which leads me to wonder - what would be the equivalent symbol for Jews? For a man, probably tefillin. For a woman (since most women don't use tefillin), what? The "Jewish star" is not really such an old symbol. A menorah?

[elynross]

I think the priest in Stephen King's Salem's Lot has a similar problem in using signs of his faith when his own faith no longer sustains him, and I know that in Fright Night, the vampire walks up and crushes the cross the priest is holding, saying "You have to believe."

In terms of pop culture portrayals of Jews and vampires, in Uncanny X-Men #159, the team go up against Dracula, and Kitty Pryde uses her Star of David necklace to repel him. She wore it often, so I always assumed that for her it was a strong symbol of her faith. This page says that in the graphic novel Batman/Houdini: The Devil's Workshop (2003), Houdini also uses a Star of David necklace to repel a vampire (Howard Chaykin was one of the authors on this).

If it's a matter of the individual's faith, then I would think whatever served as a focus for them, as a sign of their faith, would potentially work/be plausible.

[kali921]

There are also instances of Buddhist, Taoist, and Hindu comic book characters using appropriate symbols to fight off demons and whatnot. And let's not forget Dr. Fate using the Amulet of Anubis, and Hawkman using the Claw of Horus to banish evildoers.

[miriam_heddy]

Despite Richard Benjamin's attempts at using the Star of David, I always assumed that the faith had to be on the vampire's side of things, rather than the person holding the cross.

And given that Christians outnumber Jews, I figure I'd be fairly safe holding up a cross and having the vampire respond to it as a symbol of their faith (however estranged from it they are at present). The bigger problem is that I have no crosses in the house or on my person, though if fingers work...

[nyssa23]

Richard Benjamin's attempts at using the Star of David

OMG LOL! Sometimes I feel like the only person in the world who loves that movie. ^_^

Seriously though, I'd vote for/personally use either a mezuzah or a hamsa (both of which I happen to have at hand as pendants) to repel vampires.

[rydra_wong]

I adore Peter Watts's science fiction rationale (in the background of his novel Blindsight) in which there's nothing specifically vampire-repelling about crosses -- it's the intersecting perpendicular lines that cause them neurological processing problems. Which is obviously why there are far fewer vampires around in the modern era.

[rydra_wong]

... I'm now wondering what would work for atheists and agnostics, and cracking up.

Can I fend off vampires by brandishing Spinoza's Ethics at them?

[lavendertook]

Well, for us agnostics, a big silver question mark works well.

[elynross]

HEE! Maybe Darwin! Or the Darwin fish!

A schmear, of course.

[kali921]

Me? I'd use a silver charm depicting lox and bagels, OF COURSE. Or, better yet, a charm bracelet with an entire schmear. Never underestimate the role of a good schmear in shaping Jewish faith! I'd have to add in some soda bread and potatoes for my dad being Irish, though.

[lavendertook]

Her Jewishness came up a couple of more times on the show. See, as an agnostic Jew who would probably go with paganism if I got religion, Willow undoubtedly sits better with me as a representation of a Jew. She only disappoints in that I wanted her Jewishness to come up more often in any form: culturally, or religiously, or as an issue of difference from the Christian majority.

[31504]

Well, that was my reality, when I was in high school. Yes, I kinda knew I had Jewish heritage, but my parents crapped out on the religious practice when I was 7, and we were out of touch with that side of the family, so it was largely theoretical. I didn't bat an eye at Willow - I tended to forget she was Jewish, but then, I tended to forget I was, too. :-) My main reminder was the kids in school making antisemitic comments, and being the token dreidel in the holiday show.

[rydra_wong]

Are there any characters in other media (books, maybe?) who do feel representative of your practice? Or is it something that doesn't get depicted at all?

(Er, sorry if that sounds intrusive or weird; I'm fascinated by how we're all finding -- or not finding -- representations of our various kinds of Jewishness.)