You Don't Mess With the Zohan/Headscratchers


 * The scene near the beginning where Zohan tells his parents he wants to be a hairdresser. I was literally at the fridge when I realized that no true Jewish parent would EVER mock their own child like that. I suppose it's a stupid thing to nitpick about, but it bugged me because a lot of the humour in the movie comes from Jewish and Arab stereotypes.
 * Holy shit you're right. Sure, Israel's a different culture, but no Jewish parent would make fun of their child for wanting to go into a respected profession (and no Israeli parent would make fun of their kid wanting to leave the army... it's an important job but being a soldier kind of sucks).
 * Zohan is different from everyone else, why would his parents not also be different!
 * You simply cannot say that "no one of group X would ever..." It's never, never true. There are jerks everywhere, among Jewish parents just as surely as everywhere else.
 * Sorry, poor choice of phrasing on my part; I was referring to stereotypes rather than how people act in Real Life. It just seemed weird that they'd poke fun at so many other stereotypes but leave out that one, since it's so prevalent.
 * The stereotype is that Jewish parents are nagging to the point of passive-aggressive about things they don't approve of in their children, taking real long guilt trips in the process.. so perhaps what we saw on screen was just how it feels.
 * Actually, this Jewish Israeli troper would have probably been drawn, quartered and staked if her parents even imagined her to want a profession that does not require a university degree (you either have a masters in something- preferably usefull, difficult and earning you a stable job with a great paycheck, or you're nothing). So in this respect, they had the parents down perfectly.
 * This troper is also Jewish Israeli and agrees completely. This troper study Psychology at the university and still getting crucified because this is "not practical enough". But at least it's an university...