Ah Roseanne
For those of us who reminisce about “Roseanne” the TV show as yet another one of those unspoken/unnamed (and yes there are many theories as to why it was unnamed, most notably that it was working-class) yet decidedly Jewish family comedies, let us relive the memories (and once again own that Darlene was a fabulous big ole queer and we loved it! talk about a genderqueer couple her and David–yes) as Roseanne breaks out once again, this time about having the bat-mitzvah she never had.
Ah Roseanne–what are we to do with you.
“Roseanne” was about a gentile family in small-town Illinois. How was it Jewish?
subtext. it’s all about subtext. meaning yes the family was not explicitly Jewish, but i have often heard people remark on how the subtext of the show felt very Jewish to them–that of course could mean a lot of things, but it’s worth mentioning
Like what!? I know that Roseanne herself is Jewish, but I can’t think of a single reference or example that gave the impression that the tv family was! Can you offer any? Thanks.
Funny. Being from Michigan, I thought of Roseanne as very Midwest, but not necessarily Jewish. But I’m a midwestern Jew, so maybe I mixed those two in my mind.
But yeah, Darlene being queer is hard to argue with!
I always thought Roseanne had a Jewish feel to it.
Actually, I always thought Jackie, the sister was a dyke. But yeah, Darlene too, come to think of it. But Jewish? Never. Can you explain?
One episode of the series — towards the end, I think — has Roseanne and Dan going to a bar mitzvah and being amazed at the event. A stereotypical JAP goes up to Roseanne and says somethins snotty. Roseanne turns to Dan and says, “These are my kind of people!”
the only good thing from Rosanne is Sarah Chalke from Scrubbs was on it. Scrubbs is my favorite show and Sarah is awesome on it.
I am blessed to be teaching a group of ages 36 to 70+ who are preparing for their Bar/Bat Mitzvah. They are way into it.
There was an episode where DJ gets into religion (Christian). Early in the episode he asks about the family’s religious background, and Roseanne says that her father was Jewish and her mother was Christian. So they got around making Roseanne actually Jewish while including a bit of Jewish flava.
Scrubbs is a great show! This thing about Rosanne being a Jewish-feeling show … never occurred to me and it never came up with anyone I know (up here in Toronto) but, hey, if you read your Jewishness into it, then why not!