#nice jewish character showdown 2023

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REMINDER -- NICE in Nice Jewish Character Showdown is not an evaluation of personality, but in quality of representation! Who do you see yourself in more?

[Image description: a graphic showing Spock from Star Trek, Kermit the Frog, and the logo for Welcome to Night Vale (representative of Cecil Palmer), with text overlayed with a semitransparent background. The text reads "Nice Jewish Character Showdown 2023: Final Round" End ID.]

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REMINDER -- NICE in Nice Jewish Character Showdown is not an evaluation of personality, but in quality of representation! Who do you see yourself in more?

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Steady yourselves, jumblr. The bracket for round one of the Nice Jewish Character Showdown is live. Place your bets, pick your faves, and get ready for the first round of voting, which starts Saturday, Feb 11, 6pm EST. Image description under Read More.

Your Competitors:

The 9th Doctor (Doctor Who) VS James Wilson (House MD)

Christina Yang (Greys Anatomy) VS Susan Ivanova (Babylon 5)

Avigdor (Yentl) VS Tevye (Fiddler on the Roof)

Samwise Gamgee (LotR) VS Clark Kent/Superman

George Costanza (Seinfeld) VS Kermit (Muppets)

Rebecca Bunch (Crazy Ex Girlfriend) VS Schmidt (New Girl)

Lily Moscovitz (Princess Diaries) VS Cher Horowitz (Clueless)

Barbie VS Edna Mode (The Incredibles)

The Addams Family VS The Baudelaires (ASOUE)

Tommy Pickles (Rugrats) VS Francine (Arthur)

The Strilondes (Homestuck) VS Ferris Bueller

Frankenstein VS Magneto

Truman (The Truman Show) VS The Baker (Into The Woods)

Cecil Palmer (WtNV) VS Will Byers (Stranger Things)

The Lorax VS Wall-E

Data (TNG) VS Worf (TNG)

[Image description: a bracket of 32 competitors for the Nice Jewish Character Showdown. The left side has the 9th Doctor from Doctor Who against James Wilson from House MD, Christina Yang from Greys Anatomy against Susan Ivanova from Babylon 5, Avigdor from Yentl against Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof, Samwise Gamgee from Lord of the Rings against Clark Kent/Superman, George Costanza from Seinfeld vs Kermit the Frog, Rebecca Bunch from Crazy Ex Girlfriend against Schmidt from New Girl, Lily Moscovitz from The Princess Diaries vs Cher Horowitz from Clueless, and Barbie vs Edna Mode from The Incredibles. The right side has The Addams Family vs The Baudelaires from ASOUE, Tommy Pickles from Rugrats vs Francine from Arthur, The Strilondes from Homestuck against Ferris Bueller, Frankenstein vs Magneto, Truman from The Truman Show vs The Baker from Into The Woods, Cecil Palmer from Nightvale against Will Byers from Stranger Things, The Lorax vs Wall-E, and Data vs Worf, both from TNG. Text says Nice Jewish Character Showdown on top, and bottom text is Round One, followed by the @ for the account, @nicejewishcharactershowdown]

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The votes are in, and we have a winner for the 2023 Nice Jewish Character Showdown! Let's go through the results together (and make sure you read the whole post! There's some important stuff at the bottom):

Sorry CecilSweep fans! The mysterious narrator of Welcome to Night Vale placed third this year. Of note: he was the highest ranking textually canon Jewish character for 2023, and was personally responsible for eliminating Data (TNG) and The Addams Family, amongst others.

The somewhat unexpected juggernaut of the 2023 competition, Kermit the Frog was the highest scoring of the original competitors. He seemed unstoppable through the competition, knocking out plenty of crowd favorites, including George Costanza and Rebecca Bunch.

Making a return in our redemption round, the two time competitor and 2023 champion of the Nice Jewish Character Showdown is Spock, from Star Trek! After being defeated last year by Peter Parker in the semifinals, he was able to earn a spot in 2023 by beating Fran Fine, Steven Universe, and Rebecca Bunch directly. Oh, and here's the interview that quote is from!

Thank you to everyone who voted in the competition this year, and stay tuned, because this is an annual event! This competition WILL run again in 2024, and (while I'm making no promises), some characters will be eligible for re-nomination. I'll let you know when the bracket is being made. In the meantime, feel free to tag me in any content about these Jewish icons, send other Jewish tournaments my way, etc.! I know I fell behind on character analysis posts, those will come out eventually.

In the meantime, this is NJCS, signing off.

....

...

do you guys hear a school bus in the distance?

..........

no. it can't be.

FINAL ROUND: BOSS FIGHT

MS FRIZZLE VERSUS SPOCK

TOMORROW, WEDNESDAY MARCH 1ST, LIVE AT 10AM EST. 24H ONLY.

WHO WALKS AWAY WITH THE CROWN?

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[Image description: a graphic showing Kermit the Frog in a snazzy turtleneck outfit VS Rebecca Bunch from Crazy Ex Girlfriend in the middle of a musical number. The title of the matchup is oriented vertically on either side of the picture and reads "Nice Jewish Character Showdown, Round Two: There's No Business Like Show Business!" End ID.]

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Three will enter. One will leave.

Will it be: - Spock, the Original Space Jew, who brought 🖖🏻 to the wider cultural context? (Who also joined us late in the competition through the redemption round, having lost in the 2022 semifinals to Peter Parker?) - Cecil Palmer, the last Textually Canon Jew in the competition, the mystery man from the mystery sands? - or Kermit The Frog, entertainment industry icon with nerves of kugel, nominated as a representative of the Muppets as a whole and also because of the Great Frog Plague Debate?

Who is... the Nicest Jewish Character (2023)?

The final poll will go live TONIGHT, 6PM EST. It'll run for a week to give everyone a chance to vote.

Reminder, you can always tag this acct in Jewish content about these characters! I'd love to see it.

Running this tournament has been really fun, a good distraction from post-grad limbo, and (as it was last year), a good opportunity to promote a positive Jewish experience online, which we can always use more of. It's not just where we see our stories, it's where we see them done with quality, care, and kindness. That's what being a Nice Jewish Character means -- not necessarily nice as in kind, nice as in substantial. Nice as in "oh, I see myself in this narrative, that's pretty nice." These characters thrive off of the Jewish people behind the scenes who fought to make them authentic, and the fans who have pieced together the narrative threads, the people who have made media Jewish just by their consumption of it.

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[Image description: a graphic showing the Welcome to Night Vale illustration, representative of Cecil Palmer, versus Data from Star Trek The Next Generation. The title of the matchup is oriented vertically on either side of the picture and reads "Nice Jewish Character Showdown, Round Three: Best Uncle Award" End ID.]

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[Image description: a graphic showing the Addams family (1991 movie cast) versus Sir Ian McKellen as Magneto in the X-Men movie franchise. The title of the matchup is oriented vertically on either side of the picture and reads "Nice Jewish Character Showdown, Round Three: Weirdness Runs in Our Genes" End ID.]

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[Image description: a graphic showing the 9th Doctor from Doctor Who versus Clark Kent/Superman, as illustrated by Gabriel Picolo (@_picolo on IG). The title of the matchup is oriented vertically on either side of the picture and reads "Nice Jewish Character Showdown, Round Three: In Spite of Everything, I'm Alive" End ID.]

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And the winner of the NJCS Boss Battle is...

She won the 2022 competition, and as of right now, she continues to hold the record for Nicest Jewish Character!

NOTE: This does not invalidate Spock's win for 2023 <3

What makes Ms Frizzle Jewish?

physical traits that are often associated with Ashkenazi Judaism, like her nose and hair (fun fact -- there is a higher than average percentage of the Ashki population with red hair!)

her love for education, teaching her students to question everything

her core motto -- take chances, make mistakes, and get messy

Her Judaism may not be textually canon, but her undeniable presence in the hearts and minds of the voting populace is enough to prove that she's Jewish to us. And that's what this whole competition is about!