There seems to be a recurring joke throughout the movie that Israelis are behind the times. Zohan has a 1980s hair catalog and thinks it's current, and all the Israels in the movie seem to be into disco music and still call it a disco rather than a night club.
Having never been to Israel before, is there any truth to this? Is it actually backwards? Where does the stereotype come from?
Yes and no. Disco is still popular even with younger people, especially in Mizrahi communities. Mizrahi Jews are of Middle Eastern heritage rather than European and, other than religion, are culturally more or less Arabs. For that reason, they're actually discriminated against in Israel quite a bit even though Mizrahi culture is more authentically Jewish.
The Middle East in general is very disco friendly, but the movie did exaggerate slightly.
I was in Israel a few years ago and some young guys my age kept talking about how much they were looking forward on saturday night to going to "The Disco." So, this part of the film is DEFINITELY ACCURATE!
sharewell i never went to Israel but there might be some truth to the whole disco thing....my parents are Croatian and in Croatia, they still use the word "disco" for "night club"
shareThat word is still in usage in India, though only by those who actually never go out to such places. And of course, the movie will exaggerate every part! Which part didn't seem exaggerated to you?! Maybe, the boner for Mariah Carey?! I just saw this on HBO India and I can't stop laughing!
shareWow, there are millions of people in your country dying of hunger each year and you're paying for HBO. By watching The Zohan you just killed about 5 people. Good on you.
sharethere are millions of people in your country dying of hunger each year
"Actually, no. But even if that WAS true, apparently you care about these people more than me, why don't you get over here and save these people?!"
Well it's not my country, for starters. And of course it's true. I've heard that in Calcutta alone there are millions of street kids - what do you think happens to them all? Maybe your country would solve some of it's problems if everyone there stopped paying for cable TV and started helping others.
What?! You care for humanity more than I do, does race/region matter to you?
shareWho said I care? It's not my country, therefore not my problem. I was just saying that it's rather hypocritical of you to be watching HBO while people around you are starving to death.
shareIf you don't care, then why do you care that I don't care? Get a life. And, yes, there are no people starving to death around me... we are past that stage because of all the jobs we have been stealing from USA. So, once again, thanks. Seriously, thanks.
The love of one's country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border? ~ Pablo Casals
Patriotism cannot be our final spiritual shelter; my refuge is humanity. I will not buy glass for the price of diamonds, and I will never allow patriotism to triumph over humanity as long as I live. "
— Rabindranath Tagore
The love of one's country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border? ~ Pablo CasalsVery well said!
HBO is free in India, so he isn't paying for it anyway...
Your complaint is invalid
Bull crap it's free. Nothing is free.
shareI don't think you understand. In India HBO is not a "paid cable channel" it's a network channel that actually runs commercials.
In India, HBO is like CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX and other networks in the United States.
You do not have to pay anything to watch network television; if you have a TV antenna and live close enough to a broadcast station you can tune into network TV with no subscription costs.
HBO broadcasts in India just like any other network does, for free and the shows are shown with commercial breaks just like NBC, CBS and others in the US do.
Network broadcast television has always been free (and continues to be free)
What you may be confused by is the option to get network broadcasts on cable TV; in which case you are paying for the service so you don't have to bother with the antenna and of course you get a bunch of cable networks (like USA, CNN, etc) that are only available on cable because they are not broadcast
And in the US, HBO is not just cable-only, it's also a premium station that you pay extra for, but it's also shown without commercials
So really, before you go calling bullcrap you might want to do some research; HBO is just another commercial TV station that broadcasts for free in India
Its not behind in time - for the only reason that its close to Europe and they get all their influence from them. Israel is more advanced than Canada if you ask me- as far as technology and communications. As far as the whole disco thing isnt truth either. Trance music is massive in Israel, the whole rave scene is pretty common, but hip-hop did crawl in in the past 5 years.
I dont know why Sandler decided to portrays Israelis from the 80's. Because they did look like that back then but not now.
I can tell you that it is DEFINITELY true that Israelis still call it "Disco" when they go to the pubs. I know this because I was in Israel recently and invited by some Israelis who called it the "disco." I don't think Sandler was portraying Israelis from the 80's, I think HIS character was behind the times, not necessarily everyone else.
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What a load of fuc@ing cr@p!
I'm actually offended as an Israeli..
You people are ignorant and shallow.
Israel has the highest number of university degrees per capita in the world.
On a per capita basis, Israel has the largest number of biotech startups.
Twenty four percent of Israel's workforce holds university degrees - ranking third in the industrialized world, after the United States and Holland - and 12 percent
hold advanced degrees.
Albert Einstein was Jewish.
over 1/3 of the 50 richest people on the forbes 400 are Jewish and -25% of the overall list.
I can go on and on and on...
And we're only 2 Fuc#ing percent of the world.
Now,do you still think we use the word 'Disco' here? I really,really hope not.
Now,do you still think we use the word 'Disco' here? I really,really hope not.So what? Smart people can't use the word 'disco'? share
Some countries seem a little behind popular trends. I don't know about Israel. And some PEOPLE are behind the times. I had a buddy who wore '80s clothes for about a decade after they were no longer in style.
shareHi! I am an Israeli, and I want to clear some stuff up. :D
Yes - some people call night clubs "Disco" in English because their English aint that great, so they dont know the word "night club" but are more familler with the word "disco" and confuse the two.
No (ish)- Israel is not behind the times on most part, but it wasnt always so, however in the last 10 years the gap is almost completly gone. 10 years ago we did get the new phones, and other electronics, and sometimes movies and tv a few weeks after europe, and some stuff are still like that because of the distance and making stuff in Hebrew take a lil bit of time I guess, but its hardly noticable.
However, I do recall that about 15 years ago, and probably before that Israel was pretty much bhiend the times by couple of months or even a year when it came to these type of stuff, and from records, if you go back 30-40 years, then some stuff took years longer to apear in Israel (such as Color telvision which only became mainstream in 1980 in Israel while it was already mainstream in europe by 1975, however it was caused because the goverment didnt want a huge social gap, so its banned color tv for a while)
yeah its great there , no vain hipsters and posers.
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