Please turn on your radios and tune in on station 366.15 for Ebrahim’s Weekly Blogcast, “Talking Films with Ebby.”
Greetings Ladies and Gents!
Happy Spring to all and to all a happy Wednesday. If you’re just tuning in, today we’re going to talk about the film Radio Days by the director Woody Allen. Now last week we saw the intense film Goodfellas. One wouldn’t think an Italian mafia film and a Jewish family who loves the radio film would have anything in common. Well one would be wrong! The two come together through the motif of family. Although family plays a thematic role in both films that doesn’t necessarily mean they use or portray it in the same fashion. Quite the contrary, in Goodfellas the family doesn’t work as a collective group, a united family. Instead it consists of a string of selfish mafia dudes. There is betrayal, murder, etc. all within the family. Now, Radio Days also has some violence within the family and disagreements but they are closer and united compared to Goodfellas. Interestingly, in both films the culture and more importantly, food, bring the family together. In Goodfellas they are always going from one restaurant to another eating yummy spaghetti and meatballs. In Radio Days there were a few scenes of the family sitting together enjoying a meal together. And then there’s Uncle Abe Stole My Name who’s obsessed about fish even though there is the profound rule that fish are friends not food. Then again Uncle Stole My Name hasn’t seen Finding Nemo.
The radio is a magical and powerful device. Don’t believe me? Re-watch this film! Everyone in Joe’s family has their own favorite radio station. It allows them to connect with something, to live another life, to fantasize, to dream, etc. Moreover, as Woody (not the toy cowboy but the narrator) tells us stories about the stars of the radio, it is evident that the radio is also a vessel for the American dream. Miss Sally went from a cigarette vendor to a cigarette buyer (and with way better diction)! In terms of ethnicity and culture, classic Woody Allen doesn’t show that much diversity throughout the film. However, the radio allows Joe and his Jewish family to connect with the ethnic identity of white people as the powerful, elite, and rich.
Lastly, I know this film came out two years before Do The Right Thing but the whole time I kept on wishing Radio Raheem would make a cameo:
This is Ebby A and thank you for listening (ok reading) to “Talking Films with Ebby.” Tune in next week as we talk about my favorite street….Hester Sesame Street!
