Subscribe to Print Edition | Sat., August 23, 2008 Av 22, 5768 | | Israel Time: 01:21 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
  Back to Homepage
Rosner's Domain
Diplomacy
Defense Jewish World Opinion National
Print Edition
Car Rental
Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File
'90210' cast members Shenae Grimes, left, AnnaLynne McCord, center, and Jessica Stroup, pose together last month at the press tour before the series' launch. (AP)
Last update - 22:09 21/08/2008
Jews and Iranians among student body on new version of '90210'
By Rebecca Spence, The Forward
Tags: Jewish World 

LOS ANGELES - When the hit television series "Beverly Hills, 90210" premiered on the Fox network nearly two decades ago, many viewers pointed out that the show did not reflect the reality of Beverly Hills High School.

The real Beverly Hills High is both predominantly Jewish and heavily Iranian. While the original cast included two explicitly Jewish characters, the show was, nevertheless, far from an actual representation of the tony school, which was fictionalized in the iconic series as "West Beverly High." What's more, the sizable Iranian community, mostly made up of Jews, was absent.

But the television show now has a second chance. Come September 2, when the CW network premieres "90210," a new version of the original show, viewers will see - in addition to a half-Jewish character - an Iranian character.
Advertisement
"At least it's a nod to what the real storylines are at the school, and an attempt to deal with what is, in fact, a major part of life in the Beverly Hills area itself," said popular culture critic Josh Kun, an associate professor at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication.

Still, Kun noted, television is never - nor should it be, as far as he is concerned - a realistic take on life. "Part of the fun of '90210' is watching a show that's obviously about fantasy," he said.

While actual statistics are unavailable, Beverly Hills High School is, by all accounts, overwhelmingly Jewish. Joy Horowitz, author of the recent book "Parts Per Million: The Poisoning of Beverly Hills High School," an investigative foray into allegations that oil wells at the high school caused thousands of cancer cases, estimates that when she attended the high school in the late 1960s, its student body was about 90 percent Jewish. Since that time, the primary demographic shift has been the influx of Persians, who now constitute an estimated 40 percent to 50 percent of the total population. Shirley Eshaghian, a 21-year-old Iranian Jew who has been anticipating the new show, said that she is particularly interested in seeing how the series portrays its Iranian character, a student named Navid Shirazi, who produces the school's student-run TV station. "I just hope that they don't play on stereotypes," she said. "I hope people can maybe see into the culture."

Even with the addition of the Iranian character, "90210" is still far more fiction than reality. In fact, the real Beverly Hills High isn't even in the 90210 ZIP code. It's in 90212. And in a typical Hollywood casting decision, the actor playing Navid Shirazi, Michael Steger, is not actually Iranian. This is in keeping with Tinseltown tradition: Going back decades, most Jewish parts in American film and television have not been played by Jews. "

In fact, according to Gabrielle Carteris, a Jewish actress who portrayed the most explicitly Jewish character on the original "Beverly Hills 90210" - the brainy Andrea Zuckerman - the show's producers had no idea she was Jewish when they hired her to portray the school newspaper editor from the wrong side of the tracks.

And while several episodes addressed her character's religious background (in one, she learned about her Jewish family history from her grandmother, played by Lainie Kazan), her Jewish identity on the show had its limits.

When Carteris, who is now in her 40s, showed up on set wearing a Star of David around her neck, the network honchos balked. They called her into their office, she said, and asked her to remove the Jewish symbol. "The executives said that 'Middle America' really doesn't want to see it," Carteris said in an interview with the Forward. "'Middle America' is a phrase that is always used in this industry. I want to know, who is this 'Middle America'?"

Carteris, who is a member of Temple Beth Hillel, a Reform synagogue in Valley Village, Calif., refused to take off the Star of David unless the other cast members were asked to remove their crosses. As a result, the executives mandated that no religious jewelry could be worn. The irony? The executive who asked Carteris to remove the star was himself Jewish. Moreover, the creator of the original show was the prolific Aaron Spelling, a Jewish television and film producer who almost specialized in creating white-washed depictions of American reality (think "Charlie's Angels" and "Dynasty").

While the new show seems to embrace diversity in a far more explicit way than the original, which was roundly criticized for its all-white cast, there are no wholly Jewish characters this time around. The closest is a female character known as "Silver," who, according to a spokesman for the show, is half-Jewish. Silver is presumably a descendant of the original show's other Jewish character, David Silver, who dabbled in being a hip-hop DJ, as did the actor who played him, Brian Austin Green. Green is now a series regular on the Fox show "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles."

The executive story editor of the original "Beverly Hills 90210, Amy Spies, said that times have changed since she worked on the show in the 1990s. "Because of cable, there's been all kinds of diverse, ethnic shows," said Spies said, citing "The Sopranos" as an example. "It's much more the norm to have more accurate representations of their world.

By arrangement with the Forward.
Bookmark to del.icio.us  
 
Tears of joy
Shahar Zubari's bronze medal was Israel's first of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
'Germ of corruption'
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad repeats his prediction that Israel will be wiped off the map.
  1.   OK, maybe you`re taking this a little too seriously... 03:39  |  Aphemia 21/08/08
  2.   Andrea Zuckerman -Magen David or Sorority? 14:56  |  90210 Fan 21/08/08
  3.   Weird 16:34  |  Rob 21/08/08
  4.   lo siento 16:47  |  Di 21/08/08
  5.   A smear of both 01:41  |  W 22/08/08
  6.   Not Weird, Rob 19:55  |  Serge 22/08/08
  7.   Rob 00:11  |  Czarkazem13 23/08/08
 Read & React
Ma`aleh Adumim mayor to appeal new West Bank fence route
Responses: 62
Mofaz: Israel must show a tough stance against regional foes
Responses: 42
Livni: World pressure on Israel, PA could spark third intifada
Responses: 59
Israeli Arab charged with spying for Al-Qaida
Responses: 4
Karim Sadjadpour: Iran doesn't want to bomb Israel, just vote it out of existence
Responses: 36
Rosner's Domain
One State solution? Let the debate begin
What killed the campaign for Darfur?
Better chances for a Lieberman VP?
Poll: Who will be better as leader of the Kadima Party?


More Headlines
23:46 Israeli Arab charged over Al-Qaida terror plot
21:41 Lebanon lodges UN complaint over perceived 'Israeli threats'
00:36 Olmert eyes Russia trip 'to discover what they're planning to sell to Syria'
23:40 Russia says Georgia pullout complete, U.S. disagrees
00:35 Mofaz: Israel must show a tough stance against regional enemies
00:34 Democrats in Israel irate over Hikind's support for Huckabee
00:38 Police question Olmert for sixth time in corruption probe
20:16 Israel threatens protesters against sailing to Gaza
15:35 UN to scale back Lebanon cluster bomb cleanup over budget constraints
10:46 Ma`aleh Adumim mayor to appeal new West Bank fence route
18:18 In the business of peace - U.S. billionaire pursues his dream of Mideast peace
07:38 Study: Babies born just after Six-Day War more likely to have schizophrenia
14:45 Hero who saved thousands of Slovakian Jews from the Nazis turns 100
15:11 Israel reopens Gaza crossings after two-day closure
Previous Editions
Special Offers
Advertisement
Fattal Hotel Chain
Perfectly located hotels on best resorts of Israel.
Jewish Singles Personal Ads
Find the love of your life on JDate.com
MBA in Israel in English
APPLY NOW! Limited spaces available
Israel's Premier Real Estate Website
www. israel-property.com
Your vacation starts here
Israel Travel Center Guaranteed Lowest Rates
Hebrew Summer courses
From $39.95
ISRAEL BONDS Build Israel
Israel bonds - a multi-purpose way to celebrate Israel's 60th
Eldan Rent a Car
Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on all online reservations
Junkyard
Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt
Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Underground | Site rules |
Real Estate in Israel | Travel to Israel with Haaretz | Hotels Israel | Restaurants Israel | Tourist attractions Israel | Shops Israel
birthright Israel | Search engine marketing
Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved