Fiddler On The Roof Stereotypes

different people with very different beliefs. The cinema has a way of being able to portray different beliefs, traditions, or memories in a way that is appreciated by so many when done right. This week I chose to watch Fiddler on the Roof, directed by Norman Jewison in 1971. Through this essay I’m going to be looking specifically at the correlation between Judaism and its effects on the cinema. I’ll take a look at three of the different representations Jews attained during 1920’s cinema, and I will also look at the involvement of Judaism in the romantic comedy genre of film.
As we begin reading the text we see that Zimmerman lays out the three main archetypes of Jews that were represented in film during the late 1920’s. Antiemetic caricature, Old Jew, and Modern Jew are the three main archetypes that he lists. Being the Antiemetic caricature means that you’re in the business of exploiting others. In “The Fiddler on the Roof,” the antiemetic characters would be the Russian Orthodox Christians. They are the ones that forced the Russian Jews to leave their homes and their belongings, because they were no longer welcome there. The second type of Jew repeatedly shown in the cinema was the Old Jew. The old Jew is considered to be traditional in both attitude and
By incorporating religion into films/movies, we become more aware of other religions and traditions that we might not have been as familiar with beforehand. We see that Judaism in film has different ways of being interpreted, depending on the way that you yourself view religion. Through this essay we see that the three main archetypes that represented Jews in film; Antiemetic caricature, Old Jew, and Modern Jew. We also see that Romantic comedies were a genre of film were Judaism became well known for it’s romantic and religious struggle. Therefore, Judaism in film has thrived over the many years and has made an impact within the film