What ethnicity were the JETS supposed to be?
-
PillowRock — 13 years ago(August 08, 2012 11:59 AM)
Rita Moreno was the only latin actor in the movie. Everyone else were "painted".
I don't know whether Chakiris was actually "painted" or not. He is of Greek descent, another "olive skinned" ethnicity. From the other things that I've seen, his complexion isn't all that much lighter than Moreno's. (You can spot Chakiris as one of the 4 dancers working with Rosemary Clooney during the "Love, You Didn't Do Right By Me" number in
White Christmas
. He also has a fair sized role in
Les Demoiselles de Rochefort
, though his dialog is all dubbed by a French actor.) -
bsharporflat — 13 years ago(August 15, 2012 10:21 AM)
Yeah, its safe to conclude the Jets were a mixed bag of European ethnicities. They are mostly lighter haired though. Even the one called "A-rab". Action does look Italian. Tony does not look Polish; one of several problems with casting Richard Beymer.
One of the gangs they defeated was "The Emeralds" so I always thought that was the Irish gang. -
friendoffilm — 10 years ago(March 02, 2016 05:55 AM)
Actually, however, when one stops to really think about it, there are different ways that people of different ethnic groups look.
Not all Irish or Polish are light-haired and fair-complexioned. There are people of Irish and Polish descent who are deeper-toned in complexion, and darker-haired as well. Ever head the term "black Irish"? That's where this term comes from.
Not all people of Italian extraction are dark complected and dark-haired, either. There are lighter-skinned and fairer haired people of Italian descent, as well.
Because there are so many different ethnicities here in the United States, and there's a long history of intermarriage between the various white Euro-American groups here in this country, that's where the differences in looks come from.
Hope I've been of some help here.
I also might add, however, that most of the Jets, including Riff, Ice, and Joyboy, had mousy-brown hair and average-looking complexions, if one gets the drift. -
marvelass — 13 years ago(November 01, 2012 12:46 AM)
(You can spot Chakiris as one of the 4 dancers working with Rosemary Clooney during the "Love, You Didn't Do Right By Me" number in White Christmas. He also has a fair sized role in Les Demoiselles de Rochefort, though his dialog is all dubbed by a French actor.)
He can also be spotted as one of Marilyn Monroe's suitors in her famous "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" rendition from the movie
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
. He's made up to look like an older gentlemen with the gray streaks, but he was only 19. haha
. -
TeOfLeDiKi — 13 years ago(October 09, 2012 05:39 AM)
i always interpreted that as sarcasm toward police officers in general, because historically so many NY cops (especially in the early 60s) were of Irish descent. What's interesting about Krupke is that the name itself is genealogicaly difficult to trace to a particular ethnicity.
-
TeOfLeDiKi — 13 years ago(October 09, 2012 04:50 AM)
One of the points that the playwright (and later the screenwriters) made clear in one of the scenes in Doc's store was that, although the Jets were all "white," they were all descended from different ethnicities. It was the fact that they were white that consolidated them against the Puerto Ricans.
-
leader-7 — 13 years ago(October 23, 2012 02:04 PM)
They're of mixed ethnicity and the WOP reference, to Italian heritage, is actually a slur coming from "WithOut Passport" meaning, the arrival of many italians (esp. from Sicily) who got to Ellis Island, without papers.
-
TeOfLeDiKi — 13 years ago(November 16, 2012 05:31 PM)
That's so interesting, leader-7! It's kind of strange that the origins for slurs for Italians are not so easy to determine as the origins for slurs against other ethnic groups. It wasn't until I read The Thorn Birds that I understood the origins of the terms "Eyeties" and "Dagos" (I - Ts and D'Agostinos). It's interesting (and kind of sad) how words can become so derogatory without anyone ever remembering where they came from.
-
Noel_MarquisDeMaynes — 9 years ago(April 28, 2016 04:58 AM)
Sorry, leader-7, you are wrong about the etymology of "wop." See
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wop
for more information. -
leader-7 — 9 years ago(April 28, 2016 05:56 AM)
Yes, but Urban Legend prevails.
Wop is a pejorative slur used to describe Italians, or people descended from Italians. According to Merriam-Webster its first known use was in the United States in 1908. The dictionary is unambiguous that it originates from a southern Italian dialect term guappo, meaning thug, derived from the Spanish term guapo, meaning handsome, via dialectical French, meaning ruffian or pimp. -
barryfleckmann — 12 years ago(June 10, 2013 10:52 AM)
"What ethnicity were the Jets supposed to be?"
WASP. White Anglo-Saxon Protestant. Bernardo, played by George Chakiris, looked fine to me. He deserved to win The Oscar.
NOTICE TO MITT ROMNEY: A BAD DAY FREELOADING, IS BETTER THAN A GOOD DAY AT WORK.