what nationality is George Costanza supposed to be? an Italian American? or a Jewish American? or an Italian American Jew? or none of the above?
George Costanza's Nationality
Jun 9, 2003, 12:53 AM ET25 posts by 17 postersalt.tv.seinfeld
❓ Question
25 posts
This is taken straight from the FAQ:
George's
religion is more difficult to pin-point. George converted to Latvian
Orthodox in "The Conversion", but really didn't take the religion. In
"The Fatigues" Kramer uses Frank Costanza's lodge for his Jewish
Single's
Night. It is called 'The Knights of Columbus" apparently a Catholic
affiliated organization. The question of Frank Costanza is a little
puzzling.
Logically, given the K of C affiliation he should be Catholic. Still,
because
of Jerry Stiller's interpretation, and the writing, little Yiddicisms
of
manner and experience creep into Frank's character constantly. As for
George, I can't picture him being brought up as anything. But, it
is extremely possible that his mother Estelle is supposed to be
Jewish, which would, technically, make him Jewish as well. Estelle is
less ambiguous than Frank, especially given Frank's remark [The Money")
that
he wanted to buy a Mercedes, but Estelle won't ride in a German car.
While
other reasons have been postulated for Estelle's aversion to German
cars in
this group, the only logical one in the context of this particular show
is
that Estelle is Jewish and won't have anything to do with German cars
etc.
Because of the Holocaust, a very common Jewish reaction. Another bit of
evidence
comes in the final scene of "The Serenity Now", Estelle can be seen
wearing a
"Chai" pendant. The little character that looks like an "H" is actually
a Chai,
which is a Hebrew letter. It symbolizes 'life', and you will rarely see
a non-Jewish
person wearing one.Didn't Frank have a cousin Carlo, who stayed behind in Italy? He had the reputation of being some sort of village idiot.
Bart
"Seinfeld10" schreef in bericht news:[email]...
Latvian
In
Catholic
little
Still,
Yiddicisms
for
Estelle is
Money")
car.
German
show
cars
bit of
seen
actually
rarely see
On 09 Jun 2003 05:49:08 GMT, [email] (Seinfeld10) wrote:
I'm not Jewish and I have the same aversion to buying German cars, so it's common to Jewish folks but not exclusive to them.
As for Frank Costanza, the FAQ forgets that Elaine returned from Italy with a picture of a Costanza store, and Frank thinks it is his old cousin from Italy. That is strong circumstantial evidence that at least a part of Frank Costanza is Italian. Add that to the Knights of Columbus reference, and I think its fair to say that Frank is at least part Italian, and has some ties the the Catholic Church.
Estelle is likely Jewish for the reasons mentioned in the FAQ. As for her national origin, it's hard to telll - not much to go on there.
Hitman of Las Vegas wrote in message news:...
To add to the confusion, in the finale, both of Jerry's parents and George's dad (but not his Mom) are listening to scripture/prayer from the rabbi.
Rerics
Hitman of Las Vegas wrote in message news:...
To add to the confusion, in the finale, both of Jerry's parents and George's dad (but not his Mom) are listening to scripture/prayer from the rabbi.
Rerics
Um, if you watched the end of that episode, you will see that he is NOT related to that guy.
ivy
"Seinfeld10" wrote in message news:[email]...
related
Yes, but he thought he was. So, it seems safe to assume that he believed he had Tuscan relatives. Why would he believe he had relatives from Italy if he was not of Italian extraction?
Dave
In fact he had them looking for his COUSIN CARLO!!!
Frank was not born in the USA, thats why he didn't vote, if he couldn't be president he wasn't interested, so where was he born, Italy.
"Seinfeld10" wrote in message news:[email]...
related
Correction. He was not related to the guy at the and (his name was Giuseppi). Frank Costanza saw his picture taken in Toscane, and thought this man was his cousin Carlo. He wasn't however. But that doesn't mean Frank Costanza didn't have a cousin Carlo. But in response to the original poster, the Costanza's came originally from Italy, so George is 50% Italian.
Bart
"Seinfeld10" schreef in bericht news:[email]...
related
"Bart Tijmensen" wrote in message news:...
I think you're all being too literal-minded. Didn't Jerry Stiller say somewhere that they were Jews in a witness protection program or something? All three actors are Jewish and George's character is based on Larry David, also Jewish. There are plenty of sly jokes and Yiddishisms as well. For example, George humming "If I Were A Rich Man" in The Limo or referring to the Latvian O priest in the Conversion as "faddah" (recalling Alan Sherman's "Camp Grenada" (aka "Hello muddah, hello faddah")).
Yes, his name is Costanza and, yes, late in the run they talked about relatives in Tuscany but the show got very silly with the later episodes and I think it's a mistake to take these things too seriously. The humor seems pretty Jewish.
Lloyd Braun OTOH..... not a Jew.
:-)
On 10 Jun 2003 17:26:40 -0700, [email] (steve horan) wrote:
(Not that theres anything wrong with that.)
There are many clues to George's parent's backgrounds.
We think Frank is Catholic - the clues are ... (1) He sold Christian religious objects. Jerry: He sold religious articles the statues of Jesus, the virgin Mary, that were manufactured in Korea.[The Understudy] (2) His was a member of The Knights of Columbus. [The Strike] Kramer: Yeah, Frank Costanza, he's getting me a room at his lodge. (not too many Jews are members of that lodge. ) (3) He bought a Christmas present for his son [The Strike] FRANK: Many Christmases ago, I went to buy a doll for my son.
=========
We think Estelle was Jewish. - the clues are (and if you are Jewish you understand them) (1) She cooks kasha. JERRY: How would you describe the smell in this (George's) house? ELAINE: (sniffing) Dandruff? JERRY: Yeah, that's part of it. (sniffs) Kasha? [The Cigar Store Indian] (2) Estelle plays Mah Jong (Estelle is playing Mahjongh with the ladies) [The Handicap Spot] (3) Estelle won't ride in a German car. ESTELLE: Your father wanted a Mercedes, but I won't ride in a German car. [The Money] (not many other people say they wouldn't "ride" in one)
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Christian Scientist
Or maybe just a Scientist?
"The News Guy(Mike)" wrote in message news:[email]...
on the other hand George did convert to the Latvian Orthodox faith.
rob
There is an interesting story in the Guardian about Jewish entertainers in the US. I think the comments in the quote are similar to what is going on with Seinfeld.
In "The Calzone", when George is at the Italian Resaurant and he is sucking up to the cashier, he claims to be Italian. He says something like, "My name's 'Costanza', it's Italian, we're some of the same people." That could just be good ol' desperate George, but I suspect otherwise.
-kaleks
In "The Pilot (2)," you can clearly see in the opening credits of "Jerry" that George's last name is spelled "Constanza". With an 'n'.
I heard the lecture with Peter Mehlman (Writer on Seinfeld) and I think he said George was half-Jewish/half-Greek: http://www.seinology.com/avmisc.shtml
I don't know when the lecture by Peter Mehlman was done, but overall, nothing said indicated that George was Jewish. The remark about German cars or German products in general from George's parents are also common from people of that generation who lived through WWII. There were also people who wouldn't buy Japanese cars either for a very long time. Jerry in Seinfeld is Jewish, because of a remark Jerry says that when people ask him which way is Israel, he doesn't get all bent out of shape about it. I think the confusion or people think George might be Jewish is because the actor is Jewish. I remember early on, he was interview on Bob Coastis(sp) show, Jason said that George was Jewish because he was Jewish. But I think that interview was after the first season or so. It was an interesting interview because Jason talked about how many people though the show was actually done in New York when it wasn't. He also talked about how in the Parking Garage, that was the same set where the coffee shop was.
On 17 Jun 2003 19:40:24 -0700, [email] (East Coast) wrote:
Greek? Surely you mean "Italian". Or more correctly, "Catholic".
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I listen to it again, Peter Mehlman said "...half-Greek". It is on the Seinology.com web site in the A/V misc section.
"The News Guy(Mike)" wrote in message news:...
East Coast:
With that surname? I think not.
[email] (East Coast) wrote in message news:...
Maybe he's Romanian. Costanza is a city in Romania.
Rerics
On 19 Jun 2003 01:30:15 -0700, [email] (East Coast) wrote:
Well, then Peter Mehlman never understood the show. Which may explain why he failed at "Its Like You Know". LOL!
I know he was a writer and later a co-producer of Seinfeld, but ... GREEK!?
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"The News Guy(Mike)" wrote in message news:...
I didn't say I agree with him or felt George was Greek at all, I'm just relating to what is a valid source to give us another data point which is a writer from the show saying it in his own words. So, "You better step-off, Dude!" :-)
He could have very well gotten those kind of notes from the writers file of the characters created even before the show was written. With nothing to tilt George in one direction or the other with respect to religion, his image of George being half-greek/half-jewish might have not changed.
I got the impression from Peter Mehlman's lecture you can hear on seinology.com, that he would not write in a room with Larry David or Jerry Seinfeld, but off on his own. He admitted that it was very hard to be funny in front of Larry David or Jerry Seinfeld. He said that Larry Charles (another writer) would go into a meeting with Larry David and act out a show off the top of his head and he was successful at presenting ideas that way. Peter Mehlman said he couldn't do that. He presented a script to Larry David and discussed it with him. It sounded like the only time he really talked with the other writers was during lunch when they talked about things like Abott and Costello routines, and other things they enjoyed.