Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on July 19, 2024

Growing up in the early aughts, I loved watching Braceface. It was an animated TV show that found a special place in my heart and one that my parents appreciated too because it was, according to them, wise. The protagonist, Sharon Spitz, was more relatable to me than any other fictional teenage girl in popular culture. Sharon didnt have superpowers or an appearance befitting a supermodel rather than a junior high student. Her joys and struggles were familiar. She was real, and that realness felt comforting to me as a tween. But it wasnt until I revisited the show in my late 20s that I truly grasped its trailblazing role in portraying diversity and challenging the conventional Jewish tropes.

The show begins when Sharon Spitzs life becomes suddenly complicated by braces with extraordinary electromagnetic powers! The magical element of the show isnt the part I am most interested in revisiting, though Im more concerned about the breakthrough moments of her adolescent life as she experiences puberty, her teenage problems revolving around relationships and striving for independence and of course, the way the show portrayed her Jewish identity.

Sharon is an empathetic junior high student concerned about social issues and animal rights, with dreams of becoming a vet one day. Sharon is the middle child. She lives with her two brothers Adam and Josh and their mother, Helen, while their father, Richard, is usually out of town pursuing a career as a musician. Richard and Helen divorced when the siblings were little. Through their father, Adam, Sharon and Josh are Jewish.

The show peppers its episodes with Jewish moments throughout the series, more than Id ever seen on a mainstream show at the time it was airing live. The Christmas episode Angels Among Us introduces The Spitz siblings ethnicity. Sharon loves Christmas and Christmas-related customs. Shes disappointed when her family doesnt participate in Christmas preparations like they used to do. Everyone is busy except for Josh, who chooses to dive into the familys Jewishness and celebrate Hanukkah instead.

Its clear that actively celebrating Judaism is something brand new at the Spitz house. Joshs disastrous attempt to cook latkes leaves Sharon palpably startled. Since when do you celebrate anything other than Christmas? she asks dismissively. So? We are fifty percent Jewish, Josh replies. We should at least make an effort to see what that sides about. Sharon gets even more upset when Josh proudly proclaims he will abstain from partaking in Christmas-related customs in honor of his new beliefs, causing the two to end up in a heated argument.

In search of the perfect Christmas, Sharon visits her best friend, half-Chinese and half-Italian Maria, whose family combines Chinese and Italian traditions to celebrate together. Much to Sharons surprise, she comes home to her family preparing for Christmukkah. Josh apparently misses Christmas caroling and eagerly joins in when Sharon improvises an impromptu Hanukkah carol: On the first day of Hanukkah my bubbe gave to me, sings Sharon, and Josh concludes: two spinning dreidels and a bagel with cream cheese. Helen is in the kitchen baking Christmas dishes, apologizing for not prioritizing family over work. The family then reunites in the backyard to honor everyones traditions. Josh lights the menorah with help from Helens cousin and recites the blessing encouraged by all gathered around the table.

The show also dives deeper into some of the harder parts of being Jewish. In the episode Grey Matters, Sharon is confronted with her sense of Jewish identity for the first time when her maternal grandfather pays a visit and begins to drop tone-deaf remarks about Sharons friends based on their ethnic backgrounds. After Maria calls Sharon out on her acceptance of his prejudiced jokes toward Maria and her boyfriend Mohammed, Sharon worries that her grandfather may be racist and wonders if growing up as his grandchild made her insensitive to prejudice. Since Sharons Jewish background is no secret, and her friend group is a diverse cast of characters, her friend Dion a gay boy dismisses her suspicions: Youre half-Jewish, half-WASP, your best friends a Chinese-Italian mix, Brocks Black and Im adorable. If you were racist, dont you think youd have a problem with all that variety in your life?

Tensions rise when Sharon confronts her grandfather about his judgmental views about others. My family came from England 300 years ago, and I let your mother marry a rock drummer, he says before adding, and a Jew no less. Sharon is hurt on a personal level. By this point in the series, the show has made it clear to the viewer that while she might not be the most vocal about her Jewish background, Sharon is very grounded in who she is. Helen tries to defend her father, explaining to an angry Sharon that her grandfather has nothing against Jewish people, but coming from a small town, he didnt have contact with other Jews and didnt know what to expect when he met Sharons father. Sharons not satisfied with Helens response. By the end of the episode, Sharon realizes that in spite of her grandfathers big heart, he struggles to approach what he perceives to be a changing world in an appropriate way. Meanwhile, Sharon is accustomed to that world its the only one shes ever known.

Throughout the series, Sharon and her brothers break the popular tropes about what it means to look Jewish. The three siblings inherited different features from both parents. None of them has a stereotypically prominent nose or curly hair their Jewish father is actually blonde and blue-eyed but it doesnt make them less secure about their Jewish identity.

Although Richards connection to Judaism and Jewish tradition is inconspicuous, it plays a somewhat important, yet hard-to-identify, role in his and his familys life. Whenever Sharon gets into trouble, Helen calls her by her full name: Sharon Esther Spitz. The series never clarifies after whom Sharon got her middle name (beloved Bubbe?), but its Jewishness clearly stands out among the familys overall tendency to lean towards WASP culture. Diasporic families often give a common first name to facilitate blending in with the majority, while the middle name highlights the cultural identity, allowing switching between the two when needed. Its never explained why Helen kept Richards great-grandmas Hanukkah menorah. Perhaps Richard didnt want his children to forget their Jewish roots despite the divorce, or maybe Helen, a therapist always concerned about everyones mental health, considered it crucial for the siblings to be able to explore their Jewish heritage.

The show deftly features the challenges of navigating differences in an interfaith family, which the Spitz family handles exceptionally well. Each sibling has a different approach regarding their Jewish ancestry. Josh wants to explore his Jewishness. The siblings patrilineal descent is never raised as an argument as to why he shouldnt, and throughout the series, its never pointed out as less valid. Sharon seems to share Adams indifference to Jewish descent until she feels personally attacked by her grandfathers comments. In a subtle way, it shows that regardless of her observance, Sharon perceives being Jewish as part of her identity.

There are other Jewish easter eggs in the series. One of the Spitz cats is called Moishe. Sharons high school teacher is Mr. Melamed, which translates literally to teacher in Hebrew. Adam has a friend named Isaac Rosenberg. Sharon is voiced by Jewish actress and one of the shows producers Alicia Silverstone. The two share a striking resemblance: both are green-eyed blondes with Jewish fathers (though, unlike Helen, Alicias mother has converted).

Braceface showcased and celebrated underrepresented groups in the early aughts, when diversity in popular culture was close to non-existent. The Spitzs inconspicuous yet unapologetic Jewishness questions the cliches about Jews, reaching out to those who feel less Jewish due to their appearance, patrilineal descent, complex family backgrounds or lost connection to Judaism. The show illustrates that Jewishness comes in all shapes and sizes, and that identity is for nobody but us to define.

Late Takeis a series on Hey Alma where we revisit Jewish pop culture of the past for no reason, other than the fact that we cant stop thinking about it??If you have a pitch for this column, please e-mailsubmissions@heyalma.comwith Late Take in the subject line.

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This 2001 Animated TV Show Quietly Celebrated Judaism and Diversity - Alma

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