‘Napoleon Dynamite’ Makes Fun of Birthright

By Ezra Glinter February 14, 2012

Apparently there’s been a “Napoleon Dynamite” animated TV show on Fox for a month now, and I had no idea. Well, my ignorance is justified. Writing shortly after the first episode aired on January 15, The New Yorker movies editor Richard Brody argued that “the results are just a pastiche; the cartoons take the characters from the Hesses’ movie… and embed them in hectic and absurd situations and endow them with more blatant jokes.”

Well, maybe one way to spice things up and get the struggling show some attention is to make fun of Birthright Israel. Or trips to Israel in general. In the latest episode, “Pedro vs. Deb,” which aired February 12, Napoleon pokes fun at a “girl who went to Israel and never shuts up about it.” As one YouTube commenter points out, it can’t technically be Birthright, since Birthright doesn’t offer trips to high school students, but it’s close enough. Does it hurt because it’s true?

Ezra Glinter is the critic-at-large of the Forward.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO