Blue carpet

November 24, 2008 - 6:53 PM by Harry · Leave a Comment
Filed under: General, Israeliness, Movies, Pop Culture

Hardcore Zionist: Marty the Zebra Israelis love their celebrities. When locally celebrated pop culture figures reach even just the cusp of major international recognition, these figures feel the need to defend themselves as not being proper divas (see Shiri Maimon). When a local unknown becomes a blip on the international pop culture radar, let the Israeli embracing begin (see Eden Harel or Yael Naim).

And when a local becomes a full-blown international sensation – whoo boy, watch out for the storm of disproportionate Israeli love (see Zohan Dvir – yes, yes, we know he’s fictional – and supermodel Bar Rafaeli).

It all stems from a nation that has been deliberately starved of international pop culture contact since its birth – that is, until globalization and cable TV made such isolationism an irrelevant impossibility. The ebb and flow of Israel’s celeb-isolationism can be tracked as a parallel story to the ebb and flow of the profile of international rock acts that perform on her shores.

Known Zionist and big-time studio mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg, on the other hand, is working hard to make Israel a standard destination for Hollywood’s elite – or at least for Hollywood’s elite comedic voice talents. Last year, he arranged for Jerry Seinfeld’s much-examined visit to Israel to promote his Bee Movie.

Now Katzenberg has arranged for a big-time Netanya premiere for Madagascar 2, with Ben Stiller, Chris Rock and Jada Pinkett Smith attending the screening yesterday. With the right red-carpet arrangements, apparently experiences like the Refaeli-DiCaprio debacle are avoidable. Yesterday, fans lined up, and autographed were signed.

The talent even joked about adoration here exceeding fan buzz back in the US. According to the Jerusalem Post, Stiller was quoted as saying, “This is better than any premiere we have had so far,” while Rock said of Israel, “It’s much better than Hollywood. They don’t like us in Hollywood, but here they love us.” Maybe that’s because American fans have been trained – to an extent, anyway – to ignore celebrities so as to not make them uncomfortable.

Referring to his Madagascar 2 character, Rock took the love to another level: “Marty the Zebra [pictured] loves Israel.”

So yes, Katzenberg, keep them coming. And keep this great land of ours in the international press for items that are happy and light.

Share with others