The Chosen

Are Jews chosen and set aside by God? The statement has stirred controversy in religious quarters since time immemorial. Few concepts in religion exist that are more misunderstood and more emotional loaded. The idea of “a special people” feels rather uncomfortable to the jewish people themselves, perhaps an outdated, offensive, and /or a divisive claim of superiority.  Infact, it has supported the anti-Semitism campaign from the onset. Some senior Jewish scholars even suggested the removal of the phrase “Chosen” from the ancient community’s identity. The film, The Chosen, paints a rather powerful resonance of the Jewish religion and culture. It is produced and directed by Jeremy Kagan, and is based on the novel with the same title, but written by Chaim Potok in 1967. The movie strives to answer the question regarding whether the Jewish community are a special society set aside by God.

Readers of the novel The Chosen, can greatly benefit from viewing the movie version of the storyline. It offers an up close analysis of the lifestyle of the Hasidic Jews, including their religious rituals and how they dress. Though both the film version and the novel focus on various thematic concerns, the film version offers some minor variances, such as the hospitalization of Reuven after the soft ball game accident. There are also some slight differences when it comes to the treatment of women (Potok 13). Just like in the Muslim religion, the Jewish culture prohibits women from assuming full participation in societal roles, such as Imams/Rabbis, business ventures, and sundry.

The film brings out the peer relationship of two Jewish boys as they grow up in the city of Brooklyn just after the Second World War. It is presented through the first person narration. The narrator; Reuven Malter, is one of the two protagonists in the film, and is also an orthodox Jew. His father is called David Miller, a dedicated humanitarian and scholar. The other protagonist is Danny Saunders, a brilliant Hasid who has a deep passion for psychoanalysis and has a photographic memory.  His father; Reb Saunders,  is the rvered and pious had of the Hasidic dynasty. There are a total of 18 chapters, which are divided into 3 segments.  The storyline majorly focuses on the relationship of the two boys and shows the friction between the modern American culture and the classical Jewish and Islamic cultures. The film opens, as does the book, with an outdoor game (softball).

The conflict between the traditional Hasidic culture and American civilization is the main theme of the story. The majority of American-Jewish literature focuses on the tension between the contemporary culture and classical communal values. The tension is does not originate from the external environment, but is involves two conflicting paradigms within the Jewish religion. They include Reb Saunders’s conservatism and love for isolation and David Malter’s relatively open-minded perspective of the surrounding world. There is little mention of female characters, or better still, they assume passive roles with negligible contribution to the development of the story.

Danny is enthusiastic about his Jewish tradition and obligations. His Hasidic culture tie him to communal roles. Since he is a first born son, he is considered the rightful heir of his father’s wealth. When he goes to America, he finds a different set of social and cultural attitudes. For instance, there is no much difference between a boy child and a girl.

The film directly explores the issue of feminism through the moral, intellect, and psychological development of the two boys.  The author adopted a rather unusual approach by focusing on the growth of two characters, who develop along comparable lines. The characterization of the two boys enhances the themes of gender disparity in both the Jewish and Islamic cultures. In such communities, more emphasis is placed on the male child than on the female ones. Consequently, the men end up to be more educated, enlightened, independent, rational than their counterparts.

On a deeper analysis, the movie echoes the psychoanalytic framework constructed by Jacques Lacan, who was a French’s student of Freud and a psychoanalyst. His most notable contribution include the Mirror Stage. According to Lancan, it comprises the first stage of the human development, where, as children, we associate ourselves with an exterior image (such as a mirror image). Consequently, the sense of who we are is birthed from the reflection of ourself. Potok designed the parallels in the movie in the same fashion. The contrasts between males and females in the world are reflections the characters employ in developing their sense of themselves and the world at large. In the Jewish cultures, women are sidelined as the weaker sex. From childhood, they are not allowed to fully express themselves because of many restrictions that tie them down.

Conclusion

According to the Mirror Stage theory, social identities and perceptions form during childhood, when a human being adopts an external reflection to represent him or herself. According to The Chosen,  men are empowered and allowed to explore their own identities, females (in Muslims and Jewish cultures) are compelled to adopt a fixed mindset that defines who they are. As a result, they cannot participate in a handful of societal activities. The approach is responsible for the development of the feminist perception, who are considered better equipped to handle domestic affairs. The argument makes it easier to alienate themselves from nation  building activities and professional fulfillment. It explains why women cannot be allowed to be scholars and rabbis/ imams in both Jewish and Muslim cultures.

Works Cited

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Potok, Chaim. The Chosen. New York: Fawcett Crest, 1982. Print.

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