The ethnic flood of immigrants the swept the banks of New York during the late 19th and early 20th century became paramount in shaping the cultural identity of New York. Waves of new tradition, religion and race came into clash with the already existing customs present in America. Out of this continuous dialectic the cultural foundation of our city was gradually concretized.
The individual immigrants that resided in New York City faced the same conflict their city did; they were forced to adapt to their new situation, either by assimilating into the already existing culture or clinging tight to their old-world traditions. This identity crisis is clearly illustrated through the tales of Jewish immigrants in The Jazz Singer (1927) and Hester Street (1975), two films that juxtapose the strict, reserved traditions of Orthodox Judaism with the surrounding contemporary culture of America.
The Jazz Singer pits Jackie Rabinowitz against his conservative Jewish father in the pursuit of his dream career as a jazz singer. The only problem: Cantor Rabinowitz fiercely opposes the application of “God’s gift” of voice to jazz, convinced his son will become a Cantor like his forefathers before him. Jazz music had its roots in African American culture, and apart from diverging from his religious expectations; a career in Jazz would mean crossing ethno cultural boundaries unfamiliar to old-world Jewish immigrants. The pressure of his identity crisis is summed up through the choice he must make at the end of the movie: perform at what may be his only chance to make it big or sing the Kol Nidre for his father’s sake. I personally did not appreciate the unrealistic ending, in which Jackie was able to attend both events.
Hester Street focused on the newly arrived Jewish immigrants, primarily from Eastern Europe that settled on the Lower East Side. Jake, we gather, was an observant Jew from Eastern Europe, who, upon arriving in America, denounced the highly religious customs of the motherland. The movie makes his separation from these old ways apparent, contrasting his language, appearance, name and attitude with that of his orthodox wife. In fact, she is the one faced with the identity crisis in this movie. She is forced, pressured by her husband, to choose between following the orthodox customs she was raised under and dropping them in favor of the American life style. According to Jake, people in America are educated; in his opinion, his wife’s wig and kerchief are absurd. It is clear to Gitl that America has changed her husband. She suffers as a result of his oppressive pressure for change. More to my liking, she makes a clear-cut decision; she chooses to divorce and ends up with someone she can identify herself with, without having to change who she is.
Both movies capture the struggle immigrants must go through upon arrival to New York City, illustrating the difficult crisis of identity newcomers must come to terms with. The Jewish tradition and the orthodox identity, the focus of these two movies, contrasts heavily with the contemporary culture of the time, and acts as a perfect example of the adjustment many immigrants have to make in order to assimilate to their new environment.
