Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2012 February 23

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February 23

Is being Jewish that notable?

For instance this article talks a lot about Jon Stewart being Jewish. It’s impossible to watch The Daily Show without quickly divining that Stewart is Jewish. I've seen a lot of Daily Shows and it never occurred to me he was (and I couldn't care less about the fact itself btw). What's so special about Jews that "the American Public" (I guess) can't watch a show "without divining someone is Jewish"? He doesn't wear a Kippah and most of his lines must have been written by others. Joepnl (talk) 02:22, 23 February 2012 (UTC)

I wouldn't say notable so much as distinct. It's not quite as distinct as it used to be (especially due to gentile comedians adopting mannerisms and techniques introduced by Jewish comedians), but he's clearly not a Scottish Baptist or Irish Catholic. Ian.thomson (talk) 02:28, 23 February 2012 (UTC)

It may be even more notable when a comedian is not Jewish. StuRat (talk) 02:32, 23 February 2012 (UTC)

Most comedians in The Netherlands are not Jewish (but maybe I should start checking that). What's a typical Jewish mannerism or technique? I really haven't got a clue, it sounds as if Jews obviously ride bikes completely different than non-Jews. Joepnl (talk) 02:38, 23 February 2012 (UTC)

Well, there's putting everything into the form of a question, using Yiddish-derived words like klutz, and acting neurotic (like Woody Allen) or abused (like Rodney Dangerfield). StuRat (talk) 02:56, 23 February 2012 (UTC)

Using Yiddish of course is, but the "Dutch Yiddish" is probably different from the US version. Most Dutch would probably recognize Yiddish words like "jatten", "gein", "bajes", but I've never heard of the "US Yiddish" word "klutz" so that wouldn't make me divine him being Jewish. But that's pretty minor compared to putting things into the form a question, or acting neurotic or abused as a Jewish thing. Maybe Jews in The Netherlands would recognize that as being typical Jewish but I certainly wouldn't. Joepnl (talk) 03:33, 26 February 2012 (UTC)

I'd like to point out that a Jew is Jewish with or without wearing a Kippah. But I agree with you that nothing about him seems Jewish. I never would have guessed he was Jewish. I must be an exception to the American public. That fact doesn't surprise me. Bus stop (talk) 02:43, 23 February 2012 (UTC)

The quote is about Jon Stewart and not Jews in general. He often mentions he is Jewish or makes it fairly clear by talking about Jewish family, his observance or non-observance of Jewish traditions, using Yiddish words, and so on. I'm surprised you haven't noticed this if you have seen a lot of shows. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:56, 23 February 2012 (UTC)

Yes, I've only looked at it intermittently. I must have missed the more obvious references. You make a good point that the quote was only about Jon Stewart. The point is well-taken. I'm sorry if I was being strident. Bus stop (talk) 03:06, 23 February 2012 (UTC)

I was replying to the OP who said "I've seen a lot of Daily Shows". PrimeHunter (talk) 03:38, 23 February 2012 (UTC)

(edit conflict)For most of the 20th century, the American comedy scene was dominated by Jewish comedians. Here's an article by a Jewish comedy writer who discusses the sociological reasons for it. Basically, being a white minority gives them a different view of the world and causes some tension. Not always a bad tension in comparison to other parts of the world, but still a discomfort from being somewhat accepted but not fully integrated into Western society. Jewish theology places a special emphasis on retaining Jewish culture, but encourages trying to make the world a better place, so comedy is preferable to extremism.

In addition to that, Jewish culture historically encouraged study where Western culture encouraged brawn (be it warfare in the dark ages, or athletics in the modern era).

But again, it can be harder to spot these days since a number of non-Jewish comedians have been influenced by Jewish comedians, whether they want to or not. Even though I have never seen a Woody Allen movie, a teacher I had for a theatre class concluded my neurotic and nervous performance was based on Woody Allen.

Ah, and I see we have an article on Jewish humour. Ian.thomson (talk) 02:59, 23 February 2012 (UTC)

Being Jewish in comedy is one of those things that is partially coincidental; there are lots of ethnic groups that become associated with certain industries (American Greeks in food service, for example). The connection is drawn through New York City. For whatever reason (and it is purely a "whatever" reason, this is purely coincidental) Jewish people happened to settle in a large concentration in New York City (they could have, I suppose, settled in Minneapolis or Chicago or Detroit, or in rural areas, and they did, but the large portion of them settled in New York) and New York has long been a center of entertainment in the U.S. Also vital to the development of the Jewish comedy scene was the Borscht Belt, where many such comedians developed. After a while, it becomes a self-fufilling legacy: The first generations of Jewish comedians (the Marx Brothers, the Three Stooges) which grew up in New York theatres and vaudeville led to the second generation (Borscht Belt stand-up comedians like Henny Youngman, Jackie Mason, and Rodney Dangerfield). The next few generations had role models and a style to emulate and play off of. The root "cause" if we can call it one, isn't necessarily that there's anything in Jewishness which makes it more likely for Jewish people to be in comedy, but that Jewish people settled in New York, mostly because other Jewish people had settled there first, and New York had an industry that those early settlers got into. Who knows, had the first major wave of Jewish immigration occured into Wisconsin, we may associate Jewishness with dairy farming and cheesemaking. --Jayron32 13:39, 23 February 2012 (UTC)

There have been rural Jewish communities; my grandfather came from one. However, traditional Jewish laws tend to encourage Jews to live in proximity, so it was not terribly surprising that Jews settled in New York (as did my grandfather, although I don't remember him as having much of a sense of humor).--Wehwalt (talk) 13:45, 23 February 2012 (UTC)

You'll see that when I said, and I quote, "they could have, I suppose, settled in Minneapolis or Chicago or Detroit, or in rural areas, and they did". What I meant by that was, they did. --Jayron32 23:33, 23 February 2012 (UTC)

As you say, it's partially coincidental; the nagging question (for some) is how much of the answer is not coincidental. (The deeper question of whether it's even possible to answer is a bit harder). Yes, a lot of Jews coming to the US ended up settling in New York. From there they eventually ended up contributing disproportionately to the comedy scene, and also the nascent cheap magazine and comic industry, the garment industry, and various other things. The question is: why those things and not others? New York was also a prime settlement for non-Jewish eastern Europeans as well, not to mention huge numbers of Italians and Irish (and of course lots of other people). Why did comedy seemingly become a Jewish thing, rather than, say, an Italian thing? I don't know the answer to that; I don't know if there even is an answer; it could be entirely a coincidental thing. If a lot of funny Irish had shown up a hundred years ago, maybe we'd be debating why the folks from Eire are intrinsically funny. The fact that sometimes there are reasons can make us want everything to have reasons. Why did Jews dominate the early cheap magazine and comic trade? Well, the fact that they ran their own presses to print Hebrew-lettered newspapers is a reasonable start. There was plenty to print but not enough to completely occupy all the presses and owners found themselves able to try out all kinds of weird niche markets for printing. Next thing you know: there's Superman. But is there a similar story for comedy? I don't know. Maybe it's like athletics, where some people these days like to say that black people are "intrinsically" better at running and jumping; of course, a hundred years ago, those people would have said the Irish were intrinsically better at those things and a hundred years before that, it would have been some other group or nationality. Matt Deres (talk) 23:15, 24 February 2012 (UTC)

I would agree with those people who say that black people are better at running than white people, as any marathon is obviously dominated by black people. It might very well be that Jews have cultivated humor more than other cultures, leaving the art of cooking to the Italians. I can imagine tribes that don't even have a word for "joke".Joepnl (talk) 04:03, 26 February 2012 (UTC)

Trying to identify a soundtrack snippet

I will be surprised if anybody can help me with this, but it's driving me crazy! I just heard a snippet of a soundtrack from a film (or possibly a TV show, but it's definitely a soundtrack to something), which I just can't place; I know I know it, but I can't think what it is. Unfortunately, it's instrumental, so I can't just google the lyrics. It's a slow tune, quite empty, kind of creepy and sinister, and the main feature is a strings (probably) sequence. It starts on one note and slides down; then after a beat does the same thing, but lower and possibly also in a minor? Then it does the first bit again, then after a bit it goes on a higher note and slides up. So it's slidedown-lowerslidedown-slidedown-higherslideup. I can almost, almost picture the credits of the thing that goes with it, but not quite! I know it's something I know well, it may be a horror film, or something crime related. If anybody can figure out what I mean by that and identify it, then I will worship you as a god! MorganaFiolett (talk) 13:29, 23 February 2012 (UTC)

Get a microphone, head to Midomi and hum. It actually works! LukeSurl ^{t c} 14:23, 23 February 2012 (UTC)

Not the end of In the House, in a Heartbeat, from 28 Days Later? 131.111.255.9 (talk) 15:43, 23 February 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for trying - I was at work so I couldn't hum into a microphone, but it came to me later - it's the "Blood Theme" from Dexter. Hooray, I'm not crazy any more! MorganaFiolett (talk) 09:17, 24 February 2012 (UTC)

John McLaughlin's accent

What accent would best describe that of McLaughlin Group host John McLaughlin? His article says he was born in Rhode Island. Do most people from there sound like him? His accent seems like a mixture of Elmer Fudd and Mr. Howell from Gilligan's Island, spoken loud and booming.20.137.18.53 (talk) 14:45, 23 February 2012 (UTC)

McLaughlin's accent is typical RI, with maybe a little Massachusetts overlay. We don't all have that Fuddian quality, though. He went to high school with my father -- talk about original research! Catrionak (talk)

Pitbull's song "I Know You Want Me" question

A while back, I was looking for different English translations for the Spanish sections of Pitbull's song, "I know you want me". There's a certain part of the Spanish chorus that still has me a bit confused. In the song, is Pitbull really talking about fellatio or about something else whenever in his song he says this in Spanish:

"Si es verdad que tu eres guapa.

Yo te voy a poner gozar

Tu tienes la boca grande

Dale ponte a jugar, como?"

Just in case, I'm sorry for asking. I'm just curious. So far, I haven't heard about any controversy or complaints about this song. Thank you in advance for yor help. Willminator (talk) 16:59, 23 February 2012 (UTC)

You might want to try the Languages desk. LukeSurl ^{t c} 23:20, 23 February 2012 (UTC)

Ok, I will like you told me to, but I asked here because I thought that my question was related to music, which is part of the entertainment category. Willminator (talk) 00:11, 24 February 2012 (UTC)

Your question is not really about music, it's about words. And on the Language desk there are more folks who concentrate on language. There is some crossover, of course. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 00:38, 24 February 2012 (UTC)

Ok, I just put the question on the Language Desk. Thank you. Willminator (talk) 01:51, 24 February 2012 (UTC)

Carlos Santana "Smooth" - what UK tv programme used this music in its titles?

I've searched the internet but cannot find an answer to this question. Many thanks if you can help me. I think the show was broadcast in the past couple of years. Mark. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.169.193.120 (talk) 23:48, 23 February 2012 (UTC)