POP! CULTURE REVOLUTIONS

Their Heroes and what they tell us about ourselves

What are we going to talk about?

• Revolutions in Popular culture pioneered by Jewish artists in the 20th century.

• The heroes these revolutions created.

• The values and messages underlying them.

This presentation is meant for Educational purposes only. Images used under fair use. Any other use subject to trademark by the respective copyright holders.

Comics: from ascending Art form to…

Winsor McCay

Bob Kane & Bill Finger

Beginning of the 20th Century

Winsor McCay

Beginning of the 20th Century

George Herriman

The 1st Revolution: The Super Hero!

• First written and drawn in 1934

• Published in Comic book format in 1938

• The creators: Two teenage Jewish 2nd

generation immigrants from Ohio:– Joe Shuster

– Jerry Siegel

Superman – the First Superhero

• In the last 15 years, many different publications have touted Superman as a “Jewish Hero”

Superman – the First Superhero

• In the last 15 years, many different publications have touted Superman as a “Jewish Hero”

• Not only that – Superman is just the first of many many Superheroes created by Jews: Batman, Spiderman, Captain America, The fantastic Four, The Hulk, Thor…

• So - Are they ALL “Jewish Heroes”?

A bit of Folklore analysis…

Superman’s Biography• Born to peril• Sent away from home• Adopted by strangers• Becomes a hero because he can be “Both”: a

Kryptonian with Human values

A bit of Folklore analysis…

Other Heroes…Same Biography

• Gilgamesh

• Hercules

• Oedipus

• Samuel

• Jesus

The Myth of the Birth of the HeroOtto Rank 1909

• A child of Nobility• Difficult or forbidden pregnancy• The birth threatens the father – there is an order to kill the child

from the father or a proxy.• The child is sent away – many times in an ark across an

ocean/sea/river.• The child is rescued and raised by animals or a poor family.• Upon reaching adulthood/adolescence discovers his origins and

reclaims his position – King usually.

The Myth of the Birth of the HeroOtto Rank 1909

• A child of Nobility• Difficult or forbidden pregnancy• The birth threatens the father – there is an order to kill the child

from the father or a proxy.

• The child is sent away – many times in an ark across an ocean/sea/river.

• The child is rescued and raised by animals or a poor family.• Upon reaching adulthood/adolescence discovers his origins

and reclaims his position – King usually.

He cannot reclaim his position – his world of origin is lost to him

The Myth of the Birth of the Hero

He cannot reclaim his position – his world of origin is lost to him

Superman is a hero…an Immigrant Hero

The split Identity of the Super-Hero

• One of the foundations of the Genre.

• The conflict: I want to be a part and contribute to society, but society does not want me on my terms

• The solution: Split your identity

“Be a man in the street and a Jew at home”Yehuda Leib Gordon, 1866

Action Comics #1

Action Comics #1, Shuster & Siegel, 1938

Action Comics #1, Shuster & Siegel, 1938

Action Comics #1

The First Adventures:

• Saves an innocent man from a death sentence (by breaking into the Governor’s mansion)

• Saves a woman from an abusive husband

• Saves Lois Lane from Gangsters

• The last story in the issue: Superman holds a corrupt senator over Capitol Hill in Washington

So…what?

• What are superman’s values?

• What sort of community created him?

• How can we use this type of hero now?

• What terms and values does he lend to a communal or pedagogical discussion?

The 2nd Cultural revolution: the Graphic Novel

• Will Eisner - A CONTRACT WITH GOD (1978)

• About Frimme Hersch, an immigrant Jew from Brooklyn

A Contract With God

• After renouncing his contract with god, Frimme goes on to embody each and every negative stereotype about Jews: a loan shark, corrupt man who maries a non-Jew

• Frimme dies while signing the new, and better! Contract with god

The 2nd First Graphic Novel

• MAUS by Art Spiegelman (periodically form 1981, in book format:1986,1991)

• Almost a decade after Eisner, it is this work that breaks the barriers of “Art” and “Literature” for the medium.

• Both creators: “To make comics something like a book, you need to leaf through”."

• MAUS is Valdek Spigelman’s testominy, from his days before the war, through Auschwitz to his immigration to the US.

The 2nd First Graphic Novel

• MAUS receives a special Pulitzer award, pushing Comics from the category of “POP culture” and defines the “Graphic Novel” genre.

The 2nd First Graphic Novel

• Translated to dozens of languages, and is taught all over the world (but not in Israel).

Both Graphic Novels

• Do not hide or split parts of the identity: Jewish immigrants

• ‘serious’ artworks

• Both deal with their Fathers’ generation

• The heroes are flawed: Vladek, the survivor, is a cheap, pedantic racist

At the same time (sort of)

So…what?

• What can we learn rom these works?

• What sort of community created them?

• Why go from Hero to anti-Hero?

So…what?

• What heroes do we want to create for our communities?

• Can we create heroes?

Thank you!