Currently Browsing: Sean Alexander 6 articles
The Jewishness of ‘Scanners’
Sean Alexander unpicks the Jewish undercurrents to the film Scanners which was released forty years ago on this day. Probably best known to David Cronenberg fans as ‘the one with the exploding head’, Scanners (1981) has proven to be one of the Canadian’s most remembered and entertaining of early studio features. Following the parasitical excesses […]
Roald Dahl’s Antisemitic Legacy
Sean Alexander takes a deeper look at Roald Dahl’s antisemitism. There is a trait in the Jewish character that does provoke animosity, maybe it’s a kind of generosity towards non-Jews. I mean, there’s always a reason why anti-anything crops up anywhere; even a stinker like Hitler didn’t just pick on them for no reason. I […]
Borat Sequel is a Modern Jewish Fairy-tale
Sean Alexander offers another view on the Borat sequel. Fourteen years have lapsed since Kazakhstani reporter Borat Sagdiyev first came to global attention in the hands of Sacha Baron Cohen’s fearless, audacious and at times cringe-inducing reporter. The world at large – and specifically for Borat – have not been kind since 2006: while right-wing politics […]
David Cronenberg: Jewish King of the Venereal
While one famous Canadian Jew has been in the news recently, another has been overlooked: David Cronenberg. His first feature, Shivers, opened 45 years ago this October, soon making him the nascent new horror’s ‘Baron of Blood’ and ‘King of the Venereal’. It also established many of the Jewish themes and characteristics that would become staple elements of all his […]
Ben Cross: Non-Jewish Actor Who Excelled at Playing Jewish Roles
Sean Alexander reflects on the Jewish roles of Ben Cross who passed away on August 18th. Inevitably, the obituaries for actor, Ben Cross, who died yesterday aged 72 following a short illness, started with his starring (and arguably name-making) role in 1981’s Chariots of Fire, in which Cross played the real-life Jewish athlete Harold Abrahams. He and Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson) portrayed Jewish and Christian runners both competing for […]
Joker: A Jewish Stain
As Joker streams in the UK, Sean Alexander considers his Jewish origins. DC Comics, like its rival Marvel, has long been acknowledged for its rich Jewish heritage in terms of the creation of its most iconic characters. While Batman himself was the co-creation of Jews Bob Kane and Bill Finger, it was another Jew – Jerry Robinson […]