Watch this Jewish surf band rock the new 'Gong Show'

Took me a while to work through this, but it’s not their culture.

Imagine if black Americans faked bad Jamaican accents to mock it. It’s one form of black culture, but not the black Americans’ culture.

We have the same thing here.

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Wow, what a “shtick”! Stereotypes of religious Jews, a Chop Suey hebrew looking font in their logo, everything short of lazy Catskills joke routines mocking shtetl relatives.

Ha ha ha! Lets all laugh at the Jews! Its OK because its (mostly) Jews doing it!

Some chasidim may have negative view on Reform (not reformed) Judaism but we don’t make a point of going on national TV with the stereotypes.

Hilarious! :frowning_face:

Somehow its “newsworthy” when haredi/chasidic Jews do well at something secular. Not to take away from Gal’s achievements at all.

Eddy Murphy used to do this regularly for laughs on SNL

Nowadays his musical comeback is reggae as well.

Back in the day SNL also had Belushi in a skit series about a Samurai deli. That doesn’t mean it was okay.

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Yes, but thats kind of a different point. Here in this OP we have Jews stereotyping other Jews, Eddy Murphy was stereotyping other Black people. Belushi was white stereotyping the Japanese.

I’m a big fan of his job on Amazing Grace.

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accordians and amps, yes.

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Samurai Deli was a (possibly too subtle) send up of racism in a comedic program with a limited troupe of members. It’s traditional theater to take on a role when no-one in the troupe even comes close to fitting the bill. You can at least assume they were going for satire there, even if they fell flat in your eyes.

Mr Yunioshi, who was a comedic character played in full yellow-face, might be a better example of what you refer to? That wasn’t okay or necessary.

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I think if you’re going to make strict rules about who can or can’t poke fun at your particular group then you’re basically setting yourself up as above reproach, which means you’re guaranteeing someone will poke fun at you, be they Jews or gentiles.

Honest curiosity: do you have examples of jokes chasidim tell among themselves that poke fun at themselves?

That “Chassidisco Fever” LP was made by Riki Gal, and was pressed in Israel. Do you have a right not to be offended that outweighs her right to “remix” her own culture, and does that LP harm the orthodox community or help familiarize it to those that might consider it strange and alien?

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Far be it from me to set such rules. I can’t even say I’m even offended by these antics, its far too passe.

But here and with the Riki Gal example, its kind of a minstrel show.

And as for familiarizing people with the orthodox community, I can’t see how that idea makes any sense whatsoever.

We have been having a very pleasant discussion, so please don’t take it the wrong way when I point out what a racist generalization you just made.

Black American culture is not the same thing as black African culture is not the same thing as black Jamaican culture.

Your assumption about pan-Jewish culture is similarly flawed.

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I understand why you might assume that. OTOH I’ve spent years of my life around Jamaicans and indeed their diaspora culture is different than in the US. Many Jamaicans I’ve known are not comfortable with humor routines like that one or other routines stereotyping all Jamaicans as “rasta men” and so on. Eddie also had another SNL routines about Jamaicans in the US having all having 27 jobs or the like. Again, not well received by the Jamaicans I’ve known.

I certainly don’t pretend to represent the voices of all Jamaicans. Maybe that bit of context above isn’t all that commonly known and maybe your assumption of me might be different had I clarified that before.

As for the Jewish diaspora, Ashkenazi is not the default setting around the world. Still unfortunately amongst many American Jews, that does seem to be the assumption. And within that world, there is still this idea that this sort of minstrel show is OK.

Regarding the Jewish diaspora I’ve been extremely fortunate with my community here in Tokyo where we have an Ethiopian Jew, Afghani Jew, a number of mizrachi Jews and some asian Jews. About the only major group we don’t have represented are the Indian Jews. Again, I’ve been extremely fortunate to have this variety of people around me to go beyond any book learning regarding the diaspora of my people.

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a lot of talk about the rights and wrongs of stereotyping and parodying jewish culture…but not a word here on the cultural appropriation of surf culture.

it seems surf culture is all just some point break/fast times at ridgemont high “dudism” that everyone can have a laugh at. next time someone steals your wallet (and girlfriend), that’s the ghost of mikki dora, getting you back for laughing at the fake surf band.

A Jewish surf band?

I was expecting Inglourious Basterds on the Beach.

(I liked it. Reminds me of Shadowy Men.)

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that’s not half s good as skeet surfing

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