As has been noted, there is no comparable culture of significant size. Adherents of other religious denominations nearly all come from a specific geographic area. Jews do not (at least, not in any meaningful sense), which makes them unique.
However, since you ask, Irish Catholics. About 12% of the population self-identifies as having Irish ancestry, and while Irish American culture is not really anything like Irish culture, it’s at least as visible as Jewish culture. Hell, they’ve got their own city.
I’d say Italian-Americans from New York and New Jersey get a fair bit of exposure, proportionally speaking (on preview, I see I was beaten to that point)
Other things the average American gets too much information on, relatively speaking:
how to hail a cab in NYC
forensic investigation procedures in Las Vegas, NYC and Miami
law enforcement and judicial system of NYC
medical procedures and hospital administrative structures in various major cities
emergency services (police, fire dept and ambulance) in various major cities - particularly NYC
the LA bar and club scene
Britney Spears’ divorce and custodial arrangement (and genital grooming preferences)
As a Canadian, I can tell it was downright eerie visiting NYC for the first time, because I’d seen the place in TV and film umpteen million times… it was like deja-vu every time I turned the corner.
Wow, I missed that part. So Mar would rather give her religion than say she’e a single woman making it on her own? Gosh, I hope we have come farthert than that.
True. Men also have pretty much of a lock on what it means to be “Jewish” in pop culture. But I don’t necessarily think it’s because of any Jewish male control of the industry, or because Jewish culture traditionally subjugated women (although in many ways it did, and Jewish women still have to confront limiting stereotypes).
In many ways it has to do with expected roles in drama and comedy. Men are usually x, women usually y, people of such and such background usually z, etc. In mixed marriages or couples in TV or the movies, the Jew probably has to be male because a. the male is expected to be the lead protagonist and be the exceptional partner of the two - ie: more interesting, intense, funny. And let’s face it, whether we’re Jewish or not, we all think of Jews as exceptional people.
Sarah Silverman (the character, as played by Sarah Silverman the comedian) is one of only a few TV characters who gets to be both Jewish and sexy - probably because she’s clearly not meant to be be taken seriously. Dr. Cuddy on House is another, and I think she only gets away with it because neither her Jewishness nor her sexiness is really key to the show - they’re subplot material.
I don’t understand this point, can you elaborate? For the purposes of this thread I don’t see what difference it makes if a culture is formed over a common language, religion, “old country”, etc. Yeah “culture” is not an exact term but I think we’ll loosely be able to agree if someone proposes an answer.
i would say that “too much” may not have been the best choice of words for the thread title, it’s not that we know too much about Jewish culture in the US, perhaps that we know too little about other cultures.
Roman Catholic rites and clerical costumes are much more distinctive than the Protestants'. There's also the dramatic usefullness of Confession as a plot device.
That’s not true. ISTR around 10 years ago, when I was friendly with a Chinese ex-pat, she took pride in pointing me towards a source (nytimes? ) that reported the discovery of a surviving Jewish community in Beijing.
Speaking of minority influence, how about Aaron Copland, a gay Jew from Brooklyn? His music is an integral part of American culture. Fanfare for the Common Man is part of many official ceremonial events, the last movement from his ballet Rodeo is the music for the “Beef, it’s what’s for dinner” commercials, etc.
Yep, he’s the poster child of undue influence by the small populations of gays and Jews.
