H1: Jews in Hollywood

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Ice Breakers

1. People shout out Jewish film stars. You write them on the board.

2. Is so-and-so Jewish? Challenge them on Debra Winger, Dustin Hoffman, Amy Irving, I think they all are. Not so sure about: Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Yul Brynner . Others...

3. Show a relevant, powerful, short film clip.

4. Describe a classic film scene that is relevant to the subject.

Jews in Hollywood

- Try and explain how it came to be that so many Jews were involved in the film industry.

- Compare pride and open-Jewishness in Britain and the USA Which is more healthy? Which is more dangerous? Can they be compared or are the societies just totally different?

Goodbye Jewishness

- Describe what happened to the movie moguls.

- Discussion: Could they have been more positively Jewish? Why did they hide their Jewishness?

- Sometimes their Jewishness would come out in the films they made but not in their personal lives, why do you think that is?

- Does money and power always corrupt?

Los Angeles

- Has anyone in the group stayed/visited there?

- Discuss what are Jews and Judaism like there.

- Do people want to visit because of the glamour of the place?

Hollywood Lifestyle

- Talk about the Hollywood People series. What do the group think of it? Are the people in the programmes immoral?

- Does anyone in the group want to live in Hollywood? Can they justify that lifestyle?

- For a bit of fun, suggest the idea of Hollywood Jews and see what kind of TV programming ideas the group can come up with.

What's in a name?

- Run a little quiz. Read out the Jewish names only and let them guess the star. Could be made into a multiple choice quiz. (Some to add to your list: Robert Zimmerman became Bob Dylan, Joan Molinsky became Joan Rivers and Elliot Goldstein became Elliot Gould)

- Discussion: Why do people change their names? Are names related to personality? Is there something special about a Jewish name?

- Talk a bit about why names were changed in Hollywood - image.

- Find out if anyone knows if this has happened in their family.

Judaism and Hollywood

- What is beauty? Is there one definition? Does TV and cinema have a big effect in telling us what beauty is? What is the difference between looking beautiful and looking sexy? Is Hollywood defining these issues for today's society?

- Talk about the Bible characters with good looks and money. Discuss why we often don't see them in this light.

- Discuss Judaism's argument with the Hollywood lifestyle. Are they in anyway compatible?

- Why does Hollywood bring out the worst in people? Is it a lot to do with the industry itself?

- Hollywood dreams verses Jewish reality - Explain the difference in the two approaches.

Multiplexes and Multimedia

- Talk about the incredible potential of these things.

- Discussion: How much does cinema going affect our society? Does society influence the making of films or do films influence changes in society?

Judaism on the screen

- Ask whether the group likes watching Jews on TV? film. Is it embarrassing? Do they feel proud? Are they conscious of what others think?

- Are Jews portrayed well on TV and in the cinema?

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