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RELATED LINKS In the past decade, discussions of Jews and entertainment media have emerged in a new mass medium — the internet. Dozens of websites function as venues for conversations that previously only took place in movie theater lobbies, around the workplace water cooler, or over the telephone after watching a favorite TV program. The internet encourages these conversations to expand into the public sphere — allowing, for example, fans of a particular star from around the world to chat with one another. The search capacity of computer databases enables compilers of media trivia to extend their collections ad infinitum. The following are but a sample of the websites devoted to American Jewish performers and performances in film and television. "Obsessed with Jews" http://www.planetkrulik.com/obsessed.htm Filmmaker Jeff Krulik's site Planet Krulik features his short films, including this 2000 portrait of Neil Keller, who has created a personal archive on Jewish celebrities. The Irreverent Guide to Barbra Streisand: The Obsession Page http://www.kingweb.net/bs_obs.htm This site, dating back to 1998, does not concern the star per se, but rather her devotees: It is "dedicated to the virtually psychotic form of obsession Streisand fans seem to frequently develop." Monk's Café and the Making of Seinfeld http://www.movingimage.us/site/seinfeld/ For three years, the set of Monk's Café — the hang-out in the situation comedy Seinfeld — was on display at the American Museum of the Moving Image as part of the exhibition Behind the Screen, along with costumes worn by the characters Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer. Even after the set was dismantled, it continues in cyberspace. The Really Unofficial Nanny Home Page http://www.frognet.net/~ritchie/nanny.htm Not to be confused with The Unofficial Fran Drescher Home Page or Lexi's Unofficial Nanny Home Page, this site is dedicated to the now-syndicated CBS situation comedy. Some twenty-five other sites are similarly devoted to The Nanny or its star, Fran Drescher. Nearly half are in foreign languages, including German, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Swedish, and Danish. "Groucho: A Marxist?" http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/groucho1.shtml University of California professor Jon Wiener used the Freedom of Information Act to excavate Groucho Marx's FBI file. Excerpts from this 1953 document were subsequently posted on The Smoking Gun, a site that archives material similarly obtained from government and law enforcement sources, as well as court records. Adam Sandler, "The Chanukah Song" http://www.asandler.com/ Sandler's series of Hanukkah songs inventories Jewish celebrities-mostly entertainers-as solace to Jews facing the marginalizing challenge of Christmas. Telling statements about identity politics in America at the turn of the millennium, these songs both imitate and parody public celebrations of ethnic pride. Barbra Streisand Museum Tour http://student.santarosa.edu/~pdistel/barbra.index/tours.index/index.html Although this homage to Streisand, once located in the Castro district of San Francisco, recently closed its doors, it continues to attract visitors in virtual reality on the Internet. Fans can view the museum's displays and also purchase Steisand merchandise. I've Never Watched Seinfeld http://daryllang.com/seinfeld/main.html Alongside various sites for Seinfeld fans is this one, offering communal support for those who, like the Web site's creator, feel like social "outcasts" because they have never watched this widely popular and much discussed situation comedy. Kenny Kramer's Home Page http://www.kennykramer.com/ Kenny Kramer, the inspiration for the character Cosmo Kramer on Seinfeld, offers a three-hour "reality tour" of Manhattan landmarks that figure in the creation of the popular situation comedy. This "romp through what's factual and fantasy in the world of Seinfeld" extends and complicates the series' blurring of the boundaries between actuality and fiction. Coffee Talk http://snltranscripts.jt.org/91/91ncoffeetalk.phtml A transcript of the Saturday Night Live sketch in which talk show hostess and Barbra Streisand fanatic Linda Richman (portrayed by Mike Myers) experiences the apotheosis of a cameo appearance of Streisand herself. Seinfeld Sermon http://www.cbiboca.org/rda/980515.html Occassioned by Seinfeld's final episode, airing in 1998, Rabbi Richard D. Agler's sermon contemplates parallels between Jewish teaching and the sensibility of the popular situation comedy. Yiddish Radio Project http://www.yiddishradioproject.org This site provides documentation and audio samples of the wealth of American Yiddish radio programming that once aired in cities across the United States in the middle decades of the twentieth century. | |
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