HIVEMIND ALERT

We were talking last night and BF and a friend, both Jewish, were saying there are no positive portrayals of American Jews in films in the last 10 years. And by positive, they meant not nerdy neurotic guy. I can think of plenty in television, but none in film off the top of my head. I think films have been blanding out in all kinds of ways, and making leading men as non-specific as possible is one sign of that deplorable trend. In the '70s the top three male stars were Hoffman, DeNiro, and Pacino. Now we have Pitt, Hanks, and Cruise.

Any film titles with American Jewish Leads come to mind?

I've got nothing, but my movie knowlege is pretty much non-existant.

The Human Stain, but the film version? Kind of blech. And what about Ben Stiller? Nobody would ever believe him as anything else very often although I think like the cast of Seinfeld, he does not say he's Jewish except for "Leap of Faith"(?) where he's a rabbi.

Wasn't Zach Braff's character in Garden State Jewish?

t edit Wait. Do you mean movies/characters, or the actors who portray them?

Apparently God wants Katherine Harris to run for congress in Florida, even if the Republicans aren't keen on the idea.

[link]

Robin, I haven't seen it, but School Ties comes to mind. The basic idea is "Gentleman's Agreement in a prep school." So the lead character (played by a young Brendan Fraser) is Jewish, but the theme is anti-Semitism. Since I haven't seen the movie, I can't guarantee that Fraser's character is portrayed positively.

It also goes back a little more than a decade (1992).

Keeping the Faith I think, erika, and I was thinking of that one too.

Right, so. On Friday, I took my car in for some work. Oil change, new brake pads, la la la. Everything was just fine, right up to the point where they crashed my car.

Yeah.

I need lunch. I wonder how weird it would look if I walked up to a drive-up ATM?

he does not say he's Jewish except for "Leap of Faith"(?) where he's a rabbi.

Are there that many films where the leading male actor declares his religion?

From Gudanov's link:

Katherine Harris told hundreds of conservative Christians Saturday that she is "a work in progress."

She's a piece of work, all right....