“A bird may love a fish, but where would they build a home together?”
The 2004 film “You Got Served” tells the story of two friends who overcome all obstacles to win a dance competition. The 1971 film “Fiddler on the Roof” tells the story of a bunch of Jews who can’t overcome any of their obstacles–pogroms, intermarriage, social change–and learn to drown their sorrows in joyous dancing.
You might think that these two movies are like a fish and a bird, with nothing in common, and nowhere to build a home. But a new YouTube mash-up combines the two films, dubbing audio clips from “Served” over the “Fiddler” scenes, creating a hilarious new short film.
“They were the best of friends,” the narrator says grimly. “Their crew was unstoppable.”
We see dancing, shots taken (both the drinking kind, and the kind that comes from guns), and Tevye the Milkman warning his daughter: “He’s playing you, Leah! Now stay away from him.”
It’s seamless and funny, but it’s also strangely moving. And, on a deeper level, it shows us that beneath two radically different cultures are similar joys, similar challenges…and similar dances.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
