Ambiguously Jewish: Difference between revisions

Line 19:

== Anime ==

* Spike Spiegel on ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'' is considered Jewish by some fans because he has a Yiddish family name, a stereotypically Jewish haircut, and carries an Israeli-made Jericho 941 pistol. Obviously he is not played by a Jewish actor, since he is an animated character, and his Japanese voice actor isn't either. ([[Steve Blum|His American voice-actor]], on the other hand...) When asked, the series creators said he was modeled after actor [[wikipedia:Yusaku Matsuda|Yusaku]] [http://i.imgur.com/nf8cQ.jpg Matsuda], and they just thought the name sounded cool.

* The ''[[Gundam]]'' metaseries has a few characters with Jewish-sounding names (which might merely be [[Foreign Sounding Gibberish|German names]]) whose background is never really elaborated on. Notable examples include ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 0080 War in ~~The~~ Pocket|0080]]'''s Bernie Wiseman, ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory|0083]]'''s Deitrov Kosel and Anavel Gato, ''[[Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam]]'''s Jamitov Hyman, and ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam SEED]]'''s Seigal Klein. What's particularly strange about these examples is that all of them, with the possible exception of Klein, come from factions that had an unfortunate tendency toward [[Putting on the Reich]]. Sure, it's a political divide, not ethnic, but it's still odd to see possibly-[[Ambiguously Jewish]] characters goose-stepping.

* The ''[[Gundam]]'' metaseries has a few characters with Jewish-sounding names (which might merely be [[Foreign Sounding Gibberish|German names]]) whose background is never really elaborated on. Notable examples include ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket|0080]]'''s Bernie Wiseman, ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory|0083]]'''s Deitrov Kosel and Anavel Gato, ''[[Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam]]'''s Jamitov Hyman, and ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam SEED]]'''s Seigal Klein. What's particularly strange about these examples is that all of them, with the possible exception of Klein, come from factions that had an unfortunate tendency toward [[Putting on the Reich]]. Sure, it's a political divide, not ethnic, but it's still odd to see possibly-[[Ambiguously Jewish]] characters goose-stepping.

** In some circles of Gundam fandom, hero Amuro Ray and Captain Bright may or may not be Jewish.

** Speaking of Gundam, presumably Louise Halevy of ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00]]'' has Jewish ancestry, as Halevy is a generally Sephardic Jewish surname and Louise's family is from Spain.

Line 183:

* The main family on '' [[Birdz]]'' has the last name Storkowitz. They also have huge noses/beaks, which are even referenced as such more than once.

* The Belchers on ''[[Bob's Burgers]]'' are voiced mostly by Jewish actors (Kristen Schaal being the odd woman out) and their dialect has a Yiddish-y cadence to it. On the other hand, mother Linda has referred to her First Communion, and the restaurant is pretty far from Kosher.

* On ''[[Hey Arnold]],'' [[Dumb Muscle|Harold]] came off this way before it was confirmed by a Bar Mitzvah episode. Also, [[Born Unlucky|Eugene]] has the last name "Horowitz" and [[Geek|Sheena]] can at least recognize Hebrew at a glance.

* On ''[[Hey Arnold!]],'' [[Dumb Muscle|Harold]] came off this way before it was confirmed by a Bar Mitzvah episode. Also, [[Born Unlucky|Eugene]] has the last name "Horowitz" and [[Geek|Sheena]] can at least recognize Hebrew at a glance.

* Many ''[[Daria]]'' fans think that the title character's surname, "Morgendorffer," sounds Jewish, though [[Word of God]] says that that isn't intentional. The same is true of Tiffany Blum-Deckler, who is Asian despite her commonly-Jewish last names.