Writing, Editing & Creative Media Consulting
Posts tagged pop culture
December 1, TVGoneJewy @ American Jewish University
03 years ago
by Esther
in Uncategorized
Click link to register.
Join me for a special Hannukah/Hanukkah/Chanukah/?? edition of my session delving into Jewish identity on the small screen. We’ll see how many examples we can get through in 60 minutes!
Wednesday, 12/1/2021 @ 12pm-1pm PST – register in advance and the Zoom invitation will be emailed to you 7 days prior.
More about TVGoneJewy: From unscripted bingeworthy shows to nuanced dramas, Jewish writers and content creators are reclaiming and reshaping Jewish identity on-screen, and audiences are reacting to the increased Jewish representation with enthusiasm and worry, alternating between celebration and condemnation. What do we expect from on-screen Jewish representations of secular and religious Jews and their identities? Why is this happening now? How are creators hitting or missing the mark?
Going Long with TVGoneJewy at Limmud Bay Area Festival
05 years ago
Getting started at #TVGoneJewy at Limmud Bay Area Festival
I arrived at Sonoma State University for the Limmud Bay Area Festival, excited about presenting three sessions to the attendees. But there was one lurking worry: that my first presentation was too long.
I had 70 minutes to cover “TV Gone Jewy” – the exploration of various scenes from contemporary television that mentions Jewish things or talks extensively about Jewish identity. But I definitely had more than 70 minutes of material. I went through the presentation and trimmed – starting clips when the Jewy things happened instead of at their start to provide context, cutting slides here and there. I had also built in about ten minutes at the end for conversation. I could do it in 70 minutes, I thought.
As we met that Friday afternoon as the Jewish conference/festival, gathering several hundred community learners interested in unfiltered or unaffiliated Jewish learning, began, I looked out at the room, about 40 attendees of all ages, Jewish identities and backgrounds and breathed. Here we go.
I spoke quickly, in tribute to my east coast roots, and before I knew it we were at 60 minutes.
“How are we doing on time?” I asked the crowd. “Have a few more minutes?”
Audience members enjoying #TVGoneJewy at Limmud Bay Area Festival
“Keep going!” the crowd urged.
“OK,” I said, “but if you need to leave to go to another session, or for whatever reason, we can officially end the session and if people want to stay, you’re welcome but not required. I’ll keep going for whoever stays!”
About five people walked out, waving, smiling and saying thank you. The rest of us continued…for another hour. About 25 people stayed to the very end.
That was just the beginning.
November and December: Idol Chatterin’
014 years ago
When it comes to the intersection between pop culture and spirituality (which sometimes means Judaism, specifically), my posts at Idol Chatter on Beliefnet run the gamut: from TV to music, from books to movies, from the Holocaust to the Family Guy to ABBA. Seriously.
After my making a case in October for Don Draper being a vampire, November brought a slew of varied stories. Ian McKellen started ripping pages out of hotel Bibles, Comedy Central expanded to Abu Dhabi, and that “Family Guy” live special offended lots of people. Reading and watching movies about Anne Frank – and presenting on Jewish pop culture at a local high school – led to both reviews and contemplations of what constitutes teen theology. The Macaroons, a new kids’ band, brought catchy rock hooks to Jewish subjects, just in time for Hanukkah.
In December, ABBA was named to the list of future inductees for the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame, leading people to say, “um, is ABBA really rock?” But forget Swedish pop music and senatorial musical submissions: what’s new with Jewish music this Hanukkah? The NY Times did a short piece, but I had a few suggestions of my own. Also, in the wake of Orrin Hatch’s musical Hanukkah present to the Jews, Conan’s Jewish cast member – Max Weinberg – sang back with a Christmas song for Mormons set to “I Have a Little Dreidel.” Meantime, those creative folks over at G-dcast created a special animated episode for Hanukkah.
And just yesterday, Roy Disney died, reminding everyone how much of an impact Disney has had on the cultural landscape.
Celebrity Obituaries: John Hughes, Patrick Swayze
015 years ago
Over the past few months, pop culturistas like me lost pieces of our cultural childhoods one at a time, each one adding to the devastation: no sooner were we moving past Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson, that we lost writer/director John Hughes and dancer/actor/not putting Baby in a cornerer Patrick Swayze. Hughes and Swayze, were two linchpins of my cultural adolescence, sculpting the landscape of expectation for me and countless others in my generation, as we moved forward into an uncertain future.
John Hughes went first, in August, and I thought in movie quotes for days. “Demented and sad, but social.” “Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?” And of course, every single line from my beloved mantra of a movie, “Sixteen Candles.” (“Jake Ryan? But he’s a senior, and he’s taken…I mean, REALLY taken.”) But I felt I had to write about him: this post at Beliefnet’s Idol Chatter is the result.
Then we lost Swayze, and I didn’t have the energy to plumb my own depths for reactions: instead, I went to social media, relying on Facebook status updates and Twitter messages to express the collective sense of mourning.
These pieces were sad to write, but as a writer, I appreciate the opportunity to mourn with thousands of others, virtually, through words, over the internet, because together, we are a community of the affected – in our union over a career’s end, we celebrate the work of the artists and their undeniable impact.