5 - The Hidden Legacies of Jewish Traditions and the Global Allure of Psychotherapy: A Case Study of the Israeli TV Series Betipul

Summary

More often than not, cinema's interest in psychotherapy seems to revolve around representations of the analyst. Given the Jewish origins of psychoanalysis, the preferred ethnicity of the psychoanalyst character for many filmmakers is Jewish. Freud's creation of the therapeutic setting, its framework, and basic rules laid the foundations for many of the psychotherapeutic practices that we presently see. The Israeli TV series Betipul is a prime example of an outstanding attempt to enter the reality of the psychotherapy practice. Given its wide popularity at home, I explore the symbolic significance of Betipul as an atypical mediation of a Jewish Israeli identity in crisis, and the function of and responses to this mediation among Israeli audiences. The popularity of the show abroad is also of unprecedented scale in the history of Israeli television. The many remakes of the original TV series in Europe and in the United States reveal significant cultural differences in the approach to psychotherapy. Nonetheless, underlying these differences is a global consensus on the representation of the therapist. I will argue that references to the Jewishness of the therapist, while subtle, are critical to the cinematic portrayals of the Israeli therapist abroad. In addition to considering responses of Jewish audiences to this character, I discuss its appeal to a non- Jewish and global viewer. In view of this goal I ask what Betipul adds to the representation of the Jewish psychotherapist in popular culture and how the Jewish aspects of this representation function when they leave Jewish contexts.

A Production for Israeli Jews that Goes Global

The TV series Betipul focuses on the professional and private personae of the Israeli psychologist Reuven Dagan, who is played by Assi Dayan, a beloved figure of Israeli cinema. Its formula is simple: we meet Dagan and his clients during the week, and at the end of each week we encounter him again, this time as a patient consulting with his supervisor, played by Gila Almagor. In each of the two seasons, consisting of 45 and 35 episodes, Dagan and his many patients come together in the same setting—the consultation room, which is in his own home.