An Exploration of Jewishness in the Works of Neil Simon Pt.1: The Odd Couple

The weird thing is - Felix and Oscar, they're gentiles, aren't they?

I'm not talking about the actors who played them. I'm talking about the characters themselves! Oscar Madison. Felix Leiter. These seem like goy names.

I admit, I haven't seen much of the tv series - great theme, though! I've seen episodes and snippets, of course, but mostly too long ago to remember, when I was too young to pick up on any of the subtle implications. For the purpose of our examination here, I'm more referring to the original versions than the tv adaptation - to the movie, and to the play upon which it was originally based. These I believe present a truer picture of the original characters, and of what Neil Simon was trying to say with them, and through them.

And while I haven't seen the movie or the play itself, the sense I get is that these two, Felix and Oscar, are not Jewish men. Which raises a potentially troubling and confusing point, because Neil Simon is Jewish, right? I mean, I think he is! I'm like ninety percent sure. Neil Simon is very much noted and celebrated for his deft explorations of the issues surrounding one's Jewishness in our culture. The challenges involved, the compromises and accommodations. The triumphs. I'm pretty sure that's him! And if it is, and he's not Jewish - well that'd be some cheek!

Now I want to be clear, here. It's not that I'm saying he can't write a play about a couple of gentiles and do justice to it - clearly he did do it justice, it's a hailed masterpiece - but I had never thought of these two dudes specifically in terms of their Jewishness, and then suddenly I thought about it and I said "hey!" "I don't think they even are Jewish!" But then the added wrinkle - if they are Jewish, but it turns out that Neil Simon isn't - after all this time thinking about him in a very definite way as Jewish! Well, that just adds new layers of complexity to the issue.

Anyway, that covers a cursory outline of the major points to be explored. Let's make this a part 1, then we can pick up on and develop the points, touching on other implications as we go, in later posts.