Beverly Hills, 90-Jew-10

It's no secret that I'm a bit of a 90210 fanatic. I watched all 10 seasons growing up (remember waking up to the reruns every summer?). Thanks to SoapNet, I've been able to rewatch the West Bev gang's antics and have been surprised to realize just how outspoken the writers were when it came to antisemitism. They don't just address the topic in one "very special" episode. It pops up over the years, including:

While Kelly and Dylan are making out behind Brenda's back, Brandon dates a blond girl with an affinity for rollerblading at the beach and saying that Andrea Zuckerman must be loaded 'cause you know, Jews, money, etc. Brandon dumps her.

Before Andrea gets pregnant with Jesse's baby her freshman year of college, she pledges a sorority. One of the sisters advises her to hide her religious identity. Meanwhile, Andrea's spandex-bike-shorts-wearing Jewish boyfriend scoffs at the idea that any house other than maybe AEPhi would take her. (Spoiler Alert -- They let her in the sorority anyways.)

Later at CalU, a prominent African-American leader is invited to speak on campus, despite previously making antisemitic statements. (Jesse Jackson much?) Hillel opposes it. Some kids graffiti swastikas. Really good discussion of whether he should be allowed to speak.

Fresh out of college, (Jewish) David Silver manages an up-and-coming rock band. An agent (also Jewish) wants to sign them. But wait--turns out they have some antisemitic and racist lyrics! The agent wants to sign them anyways and cash in, but after a pep talk from Donna, David does the right thing and throws the band out of the Peach Pit After Dark.

And I forget what season, but at one point after graduating, Donna Martin confronts her mom about not wanting David and her to be together because he's Jewish.

Watching these episodes today makes me ask:

How is Judaism treated in the teen soaps of today? (Um, which I still watch, of course.)

The obvious case study would be the new 90210 spin-off. It's only halfway into its first season, but so far, it's decidedly less Jewish.

First off, there are fewer obviously Jewish characters. I'm assuming Navid is Jewish, but I think if I hadn't gone to NYU and met a lot of Persian Jews (and heard friends talk about how there's a huge Persian Jewish community in LA), I wouldn't realize that he is.

David Silver's little (half) sister Erin is a character on the show, but that raises the question--Is she Jewish or not? Her dad, Mel, is, but her mom isn't. Did Mel and Jackie throw Erin a bat mitzvah? It hasn't been addressed yet.

So if there are Jewish characters, the writers have been a lot more quiet about it.

The other obvious show to examine is, of course, Gossip Girl. It's all about the twists and turns in life on the Upper East Side of New York. I'm pretty sure every person I've met so far who grew up on the UES has at least one Jewish parent. But for a show that's so wink-and-nod New York, there's a surprising lack of Jewish characters or references in general. In fact, I think last night's episode had the first straight up Jewish reference--Serena buys Aaron a "Hanukkah" present. Aaron's an auxiliary character--Serena's poseur hipster boyfriend--and his dad (Wallace Shawn!!!) is gonna be Blair's new stepdaddy.

I'm not sure that this trend is a reluctance to talk about Judaism and antisemitism specifically or more of an overall shift in teen soaps towards more salacious topics. Race, religion, gender--none of these topics are explored much today. As unrealistic as the old 90210 was, the main characters dealt with racists and anti-Semites, only periodically drank, and not everyone got laid in high school.

As for the new 90210, the producers of the show have said recently that they're going to try to have upcoming episodes revolve around real issues, similar to the way that early episodes of the original 90210 did.

I love Gossip Girl, but it does revolve around a cringe-worthy Victorian concept of status tied to wealth and social divisions based upon it. A tug of war between the Rich and the Super Rich. Money is the uncredited cast member. Since all its conflict really has money at the center, in the Gossip Girl world, race and religion are relegated to the background. There's no discussion of how the latter two might influence the former.

The teen show that defined the '90s talked bluntly about bigotry. The ones of the early naughties, not so much. A talking point that came out of the recent elections is how we like to gloss of issues like racism and sexism in our national discourse and pretend they're are ancient problems that have since been solved. The coverage of the candidates got people talking again. Maybe the new dialogue will extend into the programs aimed at teens (in between the cute clothes and boyfriend-stealing and steamy make out sessions behind the bleachers and all the other things we tune in for.)