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Is Fajo an ugly Jewish Stereotype?

G

Gary Sebben

Lieutenant Commander
Red Shirt
Sorry for all the posts tonight, but I'm watching a lot of TNG.

I love "The Most Toys". Great Data episode. But, Fajo... kind of an old timey Jew character. Greedy, cruel, materilistic. Played by an actual Jewish actor in a very very "nebbishy" way. Like if Shylock was combined with Woody Allen. And then there's the whole poisoning the water supply which is a major accusation European villagers used to levy against Jews before wiping them all out of the area.

It's a little much to ignore. Have at it.
 
You're the one making the connection between a Jewish actor and the greedy and materialistic stereotypes, whereas most people would just see the latter on its own.
 
Definitely never made that connection before.

I always just thought he was kind of a jackass.
 
Kross said:
You're the one making the connection between a Jewish actor and the greedy and materialistic stereotypes, whereas most people would just see the latter on its own.
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Dude's even wearing a kind of yarmulke as part of his costume.

Listen, nothing exists in a vacuum and to say that stereotypes never enter into fiction is a bit naive. But I'm just presenting an observation. To me, with stereotypes, 1+1 doesn't always equal 2, but 1+1+1+1 certainly equals 4, if you know what I mean.
 
Gary Sebben said:
Kross said:
You're the one making the connection between a Jewish actor and the greedy and materialistic stereotypes, whereas most people would just see the latter on its own.
Click to expand...

Dude's even wearing a kind of yarmulke as part of his costume.

Listen, nothing exists in a vacuum and to say that stereotypes never enter into fiction is a bit naive. But I'm just presenting an observation. To me, with stereotypes, 1+1 doesn't always equal 2, but 1+1+1+1 certainly equals 4, if you know what I mean.
Click to expand...

What?

Kross said:
You're the one making the connection between a Jewish actor and the greedy and materialistic stereotypes, whereas most people would just see the latter on its own.
Click to expand...

Where did I say that stereotypes didn't exist in fiction? I know I'm nearsighted, but I didn't think it was that bad. Right, I didn't. Hmm.

You're the one drawing conclusions from unconnected things. You're the one trying to write the overly materialistic and greedy alien dude + Ethnicity of actor playing alien dude = Stereotypes!!! equation.

Your math is silly. :)
 
RoJoHen said:
Definitely never made that connection before.

I always just thought he was kind of a jackass.
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My sentiments also. I never thought he was Jewish or any reasonable facsimile thereof.


J.
 
Gary Sebben said:
Sorry for all the posts tonight, but I'm watching a lot of TNG.

I love "The Most Toys". Great Data episode. But, Fajo... kind of an old timey Jew character. Greedy, cruel, materilistic. Played by an actual Jewish actor in a very very "nebbishy" way. Like if Shylock was combined with Woody Allen. And then there's the whole poisoning the water supply which is a major accusation European villagers used to levy against Jews before wiping them all out of the area.

It's a little much to ignore. Have at it.
Click to expand...

I did not draw the same conclusion that you did - not when it first aired nor now - but as it seems that we cannot discuss anything these days without "identity politics" being front and centre, then there's not much one can say to dissauade you from your view.
 
I don’t remember seeing it that way, but it has been a very long time since I saw the episode.

It’s a sure bet that Saul Rubinek would not have participated in it if he had seen it that way. He’s the son of Holocaust survivors, actually born in a refugee camp. He has written a book and produced a documentary about the Holocaust. It’s safe to say he’s somewhat sensitive to issues of antisemitism.
 
Never struck me that way. Saul is just a great performer. Loved him in SG1 and Frasier, too, and every other chance we get to see him.

Fajo's basic character seemed more foppish than nebbish to me, if this sentence actually means anything.

But I would like to have seen say, Woody Allen in the role: "Let me just say one thing and that's I would never collect a baseball card with the scent of real bubblegum. It would bring back too many traumatic memories of my weekend in little league."
 
Life's too short and the world's now too small to worry about cosmetic racial and petty cultural differences. My dark and twisted sense of humour went too far about the gobblin like Ferengi, so it seems highly erroneous to apply real examples of people or national/religious/ethnic groups too closely to fictional races, characters, and organizations.
 
I never even knew he was jewish and wouldn't have made the connection if I had known. Conversely, is it also supporting a stereotype if you never cast an actor of a particular race in a role just because somebody somewhere might think it supports a particular stereotype?? :cardie::cardie:
 
I've never heard this argument before. Honestly, if you look hard enough at anything, you will always find what you're looking for.

Honestly, the Ferengi could be considered far worse stereotypes than Fajo would ever be.
 
Gary Sebben said:
Sorry for all the posts tonight, but I'm watching a lot of TNG.

I love "The Most Toys". Great Data episode. But, Fajo... kind of an old timey Jew character. Greedy, cruel, materilistic. Played by an actual Jewish actor in a very very "nebbishy" way. Like if Shylock was combined with Woody Allen. And then there's the whole poisoning the water supply which is a major accusation European villagers used to levy against Jews before wiping them all out of the area.

It's a little much to ignore. Have at it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, when I watched it the first time, I noticed that Fajo looked and talked somewhat like a Jewish merchant stereotype. But then a lot of Jews have fun playing the stereotypical Jew, so I never gave it much thought.
 
That never crossed my mind. I do remember thinking he was irratating as hell! Don't know why, maybe because the episode overall was CRAP!
 
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