Upon watching the films entitled Ellis Island, The Jazz Singer, and Hester Street, the costumes of the main characters really caught my eye. I believe that the costumes of the principal characters were used to communicate the idea that individuals, especially those living in the diverse population of America, are too complex to be placed in a single category.
In Ellis Island, The costumes of the immigrants and those of the visitors were very different. The immigrants were portrayed in black and white, making their drab clothing varying shades of grey. Alternately, the visitors were wearing brightly colored shirts, pants, and skirts. This alone could be seen to indicate that the immigrants and visitors were clearly completely different and unconnected, however, within the context of the rest of the film, their vastly different costumes only emphasized the fact that they had many similarities. Both groups were depicted as passing through Ellis Island, portraying the fact that the two groups were connected by history and often ancestry as well. While it seems that the immigrants alone are being detained by guards and treated as less than human, being measured and checked for ailments like livestock, the visitors too are being herded through the facility by tour guides. These aspects of the film clearly show that the two seemingly disparate groups shared many similarities. This fact makes the overstated costumes of the immigrants and visitors a way of stating that their respective apparel are simply different costumes covering similar individuals.
The overstated costumes worn by Jackie Rabinowitz in The Jazz Singer, also serve to emphasize the fact that individuals cannot be labeled or defined by a single aspect of their characters. Jakie finds himself torn between his Jewish heritage and his desire to be a Jazz singer. He feels he must choose between them however, one can tell by the costumes he wears throughout the film, he does not belong solely in one category. Upon choosing to say Kol Nidre instead of perform Jazz, Jakie puts on the ceremonial robes of a cantor that, though natural looking on his father, seem out of place on him. However, when Jakie performs Jazz, he dresses up in Blackface, which is also not his natural appearance. This is clearly meant to express that he cannot be defined strictly as either a Jew or a Jazz singer for he does not strictly belong in either category.
Lastly, in Hester Street, one can tell by the costumes Jack wears that he can never truly abandon his Jewish heritage for that of a gentile. Jack usually dresses in the casual apparel of a gentile but does not truly feel comfortable in this clothing. For example when the residents of his apartment venture to the park, Jack feels the need to reassure himself that he looks like a gentile by asking Mr. Bernstein and Gitle to confirm it. He obviously does not feel like he really belongs in those clothes. However, he looks decidedly unnatural wearing the tallis when mourning his father. Even in his final attempt to leave his heritage behind by divorcing Gitle, one can see he is not successful in that he is forced to acknowledge the Jewish side of himself by divorcing her as Yankele, not Jack.
An individuals identity cannot be determined solely by either their past or present cultural or religious affiliations.
