“Do You Even Understand What Off The Rack Means?” - Americanization and Jewish Identities in the Television Series Friends

This paper analyzes American Jewish identities in mega popular television series Friends. The story of the show is centered on six friends: three American Christians, and three American Jews. While the series present American Jews as a normal social reality, there are still problems in terms of their representation. This paper analyzes representation of American Jewish identities in terms of Jewish values and worldviews, and representation of Jewish faith and tradition. A qualitative content analysis of all 10 seasons of the popular show has been conducted. The conclusion of the paper is that the media are enforcing Americanization by creating a cast of Jewish Americans in the American popular culture where Jews are portrayed as Americanized in a sense they embrace Christianity as part of their tradition.

https://www.novapublishers.com/catalog/product_inf...