Is Scrouge a Jew? - The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) Discussion

[–] gareth-barsby 18 years ago

Why would he be? The reason he has no Christmas spirit is because he's a heartless miser, so that more or less makes him an atheist, and I would assume he converted to Christianity at the end due to all those Christ references in the story (like the bit where Cratchit says that Tim wanted to remind people in church 'who made lame beggars walk and blind men see'.)

reply

[–] hurricane (1967) a year ago

I never particularly saw it as Scrooge becoming a Christian particularly. Not that his faith was hugely important to the plot. But, to me, the message was to be kind to others rather than to be nice to people at Christmas, you have to be of a certain religious faith.

reply

[–] david-alston 18 years ago

of course not, your thinking of Fagan, from Oliver Twist also written by Gonzo, er I mean Charles Dickins

reply

[–] thekaiser90 18 years ago

Correct.

Scrooge was basically a lapsed Christian.

reply

[–] autumn_mobile 18 years ago

"Some people think that Ebenezer Scrooge is [Jewish]
Well he's not but you know who is?
All three Stooges!"
-Adam Sandler "The Chanukah Song"

reply

[–] teengirlsquad01 18 years ago

hehe, when I first read this post I was getting ready to post a reply saying "you've been listening to too much Adam Sandler"
such a great song
Adam Sandler rocks

Because nobody suspects the butterfly...

Proud Halepeño!

reply

[–] Link256 18 years ago

Always assumed that he was Enligh, seeing how the story is set in what appears to be part of Britian...

Also...I notice that most of the time...if not all of the time...the part is either played by English actor or actor who able to speak with English tone.... so...I would say that indicator that character...in all likely hood...is probably English...

reply

[–] Cinderling 18 years ago

Jewish is a religion not a nationality.

www.burnedparadise.co.uk
coconuts

reply

[–] pensivepoetbabblingbard 18 years ago

Judaism is actually kind of both a religion and a nationality.

reply

[–] smeiklej 18 years ago

What? No. Explain.

reply

[–] ColeMercury 17 years ago

Judaism is actually kind of both a religion and a nationality.

Being Jewish is a religion and/or ethnicity. Judaism is specifically a religion.

reply

[–] leonardlikesthispost 14 years ago

But there are English Jews.

I am not a Frankenstein. I'm a Fronkensteen.

reply

[–] sarah-103 15 years ago

I totally had the same thought when I read the OP. I think the line is, "Well he's not/but guess who is/All three stooges!" Not that it really matters. Adam Sandler rocks. All three versions of "The Chanukah Song" are modern holiday classics.

"Forget reality, give me a picture"-Remington Steele

reply

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7991) 5 years ago

"All 3 Stooges!"
When I read this I automatically thought of the episode of 3 stooges where Curly bites on a ham bone.

reply

[–] AckbarsRevenge (3800) 5 years ago

I guess that response came a little late

reply

[–] TimMC (9143) 5 years ago

Actually, all FIVE stooges were Jewish. FOUR of them brothers(Howard). Which one isn't a brother? Larry Fine.
I'll never forget it because I missed that question playing Jeopardy.

reply

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7991) 5 years ago

I never knew they were. Also I prefer Shemp to Curly.

reply

[–] Blueghost 18 years ago

No.

He's a man who doesn't like Christmas.

Why are you asking?

reply

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] hachmom-1 17 years ago

No Scrooge is not intended to be Jewish...or rest assured in would have come up somewhere along the way with Christmas Past...Also if Scrooge were a Jew then Fred would be one also..and yet Fred clearly celebrates Christmas...Scrooge is actually meant to be a grown up version of many of the sad young boys of Dickens books...most of them like Pip or Oliver find a way out...but if they dont they grow up to be like Scrooge....I think Scrooge's closest counterpart is probably Ralph Nickleby another "excellant man of business"but he never gets scrooges chance at redemption and winds up hanging himself...

It is not our abilities that make us who we are...it is our choices

reply

[–] Harvestmoonman13 16 years ago

I don't think Scrooge was intended to be a jew in that it is a christmas movie...but I have a feeling that Dickens had the sterotype of the miserly jewish banker in mind when he wrote scrooge.

reply

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] karana_geldar 16 years ago

Scrooge is Christian, but probably in a more secular way. He goes to church in the story.

You could argue though that Marley is a Jew though.

Obi-Wan is my hero!

reply

[–] velcronewsletter 16 years ago

'Judaism is actually kind of both a religion and a nationality.'

wrong. judaism is not a nationality in any way. thats how jews are citizens of every country they live in and still call themselves english if they live in england or french if they live in france. a religion and ethnicity, yes. a nationality, absolutely not

'You could argue though that Marley is a Jew though.'

how?

------------------------
'Little monkey down! LITTLE MONKEY DOWN!' (Julia Murney in Wicked)

reply

[–] live4coffee 16 years ago

Definitely not - if Scrooge was a Jew then he would not be expected to celebrate Christmas in the first place.

"The dead do not suffer the living to pass"
"You will suffer me"

reply

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] davidwoodall 16 years ago

I think greedy/miserly/vindictive/heartless (delete as appropriate) are fairly common character traits of many fictional financiers, regardless of religion or ethnicity.

There seems in some quarters tobe a peculiar conviction that just because a character is a miser they are supposed to be a stereotyical Jew; do Jews have some sort of monopoly on fictional penny-pinchers?! Why can't the poor man just be a stock miser without bringing subtexts into it!

reply

[–] velcronewsletter 11 years ago

blame it on the laws of christendom from the middle ages onwards up until the 20th century that banned jews from owning shops or land. by law, jews had to be merchants, gold/silver/jewel smiths and money lenders, making it easy for people to write about the greedy jews. shakespeare wrote 'the merchent of venice' and featured shylock, the typical money lending jew from the venetian ghetto. these attributes have always been given to jews for hundreds of years, used to the best advantage by the nazis, one of the last widespread incarnations of this stereotype. it's still not gone away, jews are still seen of as miserly and rich so the OP question doesn't surprise me at all

reply

[–] boll-weavil 15 years ago

Scrooge is not a Jew - he'd hardly be interested in celebrating Christmas if he was, whether past or present.
By the time Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol, he has already got his fingers burnt for making Fagin a nasty Jew in Oliver Twist. Dickens argued that Jews were simply around in London at that time and the fact that Fagin was Jewish was just a way of giving him a realistic background. It was irelevant to the plot. The charge of anti-semiticism never went away though and later he created a character simply called 'the good Jew' as a way of proving his innocence. Regarding Scrooge, it would, then, have been very unwise to create another bad Jew just a few years after Fagin, however realistic it might have been considered.

reply

[–] marktayloruk (2590) 2 years ago

Most likely Scottish by birth - had a Scottish - sounding name.

reply

[–] topher208 11 years ago

In the Disney version, he's Scottish, another group known for their thriftiness.

~Topher, Killer of Threads