These three films involve characters that work to morph themselves into the person they feel they should be. But family and their cultural and traditional values hold back their dreams of transformation. These characters all have problems with identify. Traditional Jew or blackface jazz singer? Jewish immigrant or American resident? What these individuals do not understand is that in becoming their ideal selves it is not always necessary to let go of who they once were.
In Ellis Island the immigrants come to America looking for a new life. They must assimilate to the almighty American culture to succeed in their new home. The clips I viewed were at times very artsy and strange, very similar to a performance I viewed, Supernatural Wife a remake Euripides’ play “Alscestis.” I wasn’t very sure about the entire meaning of Ellis Island. But there was a certain scene of women putting their fingers through their hair and making motions as if they were washing it. Which quickly led me to think that they were washing themselves of their past, leaving their former selves on the docks of Ellis Island.
Hester Street is about a Jewish immigrant, Gitl, who moves to New York City to find a new life. As he assimilates into the American culture, his traditional values no longer have a hold on him and he becomes Jake. Completely disrespecting his wife, he begins to have an affair with a dancer, Mamie. Jake leaves his wife to marry her, only to separate from Mamie afterwards. Which came to show that in attaining a new identity it is not necessary to completely let go of your old values.
In The Jazz Singer, Jakie, the main character has to make a huge sacrifice in order to go for his dreams of becoming a jazz singer. Jakie’s father is extremely traditional and is therefore reluctant to let his child sing “the devil’s music.” In order for Jakie to do what he really loves, he lets go of his former identity. What Jakie didn’t understand was that in becoming a new person, he didn’t need to let go of who he once was. He finally learns that in the end, through the death of his father.
While getting ready for the rehearsal of his big debut, Jakie has his face all made up in blackface. His girlfriend comes to check on him and physically he is ready to go, but emotionally he is unprepared. When Jakie looks in the mirror, he doesn’t see his painted face. Instead he sees a service at his old temple, which symbolizes the religious traditions he used to value as a child. His past is staring him in the face and he’s not sure what to do. Finally, Jakie’s mother comes to see him, she says that his father is dying and his last wish was to have Jakie sing a prayer at temple. Jakie skips his rehearsal to do just that and at the end of the film he is in blackface performing for a large audience.
The ending of The Jazz Singer meant to be a good one, but during the end of the film I couldn’t help but feel a little insulted. I know society was much different in the late 1920s, but I could not take Jakie seriously in his ridiculous “blackface” getup. I searched the phrase ‘blackface’ on the web and the more I learned the more upset I became. To me Jakie’s blackface drew on the crude archetype people have of blacks and African-Americans, and though some may say that Jakie’s blackface during the film was simply part of his identify crisis, but to me it is evident through the last scene that Jakie’s blackface was not meant to be seen as a problem but just another part of the film.
