Two Members of Gen Z React to “Fiddler on the Roof”

For its gala opening night on Saturday, Feb. 4, the Charlotte Jewish Film Festival is screening “Fiddler’s Journey to the Big Screen” – a behind-the-scenes documentary of “Fiddler on the Roof.”  

My name is Hannah Jane Tracy, and I’m 20 years old, ethnically Jewish, and from Asheville, North Carolina. My friend Sev Allton is 19, Christian, and from Monument, Colorado. We’re both members of Generation Z, and we watched “Fiddler” last week to see how well it holds up after 60 years. We’re basically the grandchildren of the audience who first watched this show. 

Here’s what we found out. “Fiddler” occupies a much larger place in our identity than we realized. Maybe it’s a big part of everybody’s lives. It was launched on Broadway in 1964 and was the first musical to reach 3,000 performances. The film version won three Oscars in 1971 and made more money than any other movie that year. 

Sev wants to weigh in first. Since he’s younger than me, I’ll let him. 

Sev 

My family loves musicals. This is probably the fourth time I’ve watched Fiddler. This is one of my dad’s favorite movies along with “The Sound of Music” and “Les Misérables.” He quotes it all the time. When we get ready to watch the Super Bowl at my grandparents’ house, he sings “Tradition.” When he dreams about a home movie theater with a huge screen, recliner chairs and a popcorn machine, he sings “If I Were a Rich Man.” 

Hannah 

I watched this movie when I was 8 or so in Hebrew School. I didn’t really remember any of it. Once we started this movie, the thing that immediately resonated with me is the songs. I knew the tunes and the words but had no idea that this is where they came from. People know these songs, I know these songs, most of my non-Jewish friends know these songs. So much has carried over without people actually knowing where it comes from. 

Sev 

I can relate to Tevye, the father. He’s a lot like my father, who does a lot of goofy stuff. My sister is a couple of years older than me, and she’s very positive, like the sisters in the movie. 

Hannah 

My grandmother, who is also Jewish and a native New Yorker and Broadway musical fanatic,  loves to sing these songs. A favorite of hers is “If I Were a Rich Man.”  She sings it throughout the house, over the phone. She changes the lyrics a little bit. She usually sings “If I were a rich woman.” Also, the Yiddish terms and words in the movie were something I understood because my grandmother uses them all the time. 

Sev 

All the betrothal stuff was really interesting. My sister recently got engaged and my father and grandfather had a discussion with her fiance. They asked about his plans for the future. My parents will probably have a role in who I get married to. I’ve always cared about what my parents think about the people I bring into my life. Whenever the time comes, my mom will probably have a Mama Bear discussion with my fiance. But my sister and I are doing the choosing, not our parents. 

Hannah 

Despite this movie focusing on pre-Russian revolution times, the emphasis on tradition has carried over without much change to Judaic traditions today. Sabbath, also called Shabbat, is a big one. Although my family is reform, Shabbat is still very prevalent in our household. I have a fairly nontraditional household so we didn’t follow the exact laws of Sabbath. But Friday nights we had challah, we lit Shabbat candles and ate dinner together after saying prayers over the bread, candles and wine. We didn’t celebrate every Friday. But when we were home on Friday nights and not at soccer or another event we would celebrate Shabbat. 

Sev Allton

Reporter