Being unemployed and spending my days searching for jobs leaves me a lot of time to ponder the deeper things in life. For example, it occurred to me that Eighties sitcom Alf was really an allegory for the cultural obsession with Asia during the 1970's. Kung-fu movies were gaining in popularity, sushi was discovered by the West and idiots everywhere ran their lives by what they found in fortune cookies. Despite all of his seemingly Asian features however, Alf is still clearly Jewish.
Alf rose to popularity as a thinly-veiled caricature of a typical Asian, representing several of the worst stereotypes about Asia. First and most obviously he's an alien. The creators didn't have to go literal with this but I applaud them for their courage. Having spent time in China I can say that they are a fairly alien people and that's why I love them.
The second argument is that Alf eats cats, a culinary practice commonly associated with the far east. This is not a totally unfair stereotype as there is documented proof of the consumption of cats in Asia. OF course Alf is never seen on camera eating a cat in its entirety but I seem to recall more than once seeing Alf with a cat tail hanging out of his mouth.
Even Alf's physical appearance is suspect. He is clearly very short, standing little more than four feet tall, a common belief about Asian people. I recall seeing people with a full range of heights but heels were as popular among men as they were among women.
As for his religion, I have three very strong arguments as to why Alf is Jewish. He has a big nose, a huge nose even. Combine the size of his honker with the amount of his body hair and his short stature and he couldn't look any more Jewish if he was wearing a yarmulke full-time. What really gave away his religion was the episode where he had a crisis cause someone told him that cats weren't Kosher.
Clearly Alf is the most offensive of all television characters. He offends equally the east and the west. I, for one, am thankful that Alf would not make it on TV with todays television watch groups. I am a member of one television watch group. Its myself, my wife and our dog. We meet on the couch and watch TV as a group. Betcha didn't think I'd end on such a weak pun?
No comments:
Post a Comment