Seder-Masochism

Seder-Masochism movie poster.

Seder-Masochism is a 2018 American animated musical biblical comedy-drama film that reinterprets the Book of Exodus, especially stories associated with the Passover Seder, such as the death of the Egyptian first-born, and Moses leading the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. The film depicts these events against a backdrop of widespread worship of the Great Mother Goddess, showing the rise of patriarchy. The film also features excerpts from an interview with Hiram Paley, Nina's father.

Directed and written by American artist Nina Paley.

Hiram Paley

"There are people who … want to understand all these little nuances about Judaism and things like that. And I figure, okay, fine. Just don't push it down my throat!" (Hiram Paley)

• This is what we did in Hebrew school: we learned these things by rote. And I could do everything, and then at the Seder, I would have a certain—you know, as the kid, the youngest male, I would have certain special roles, like asking the Four Questions, one of which is: "Why is this night …"—whatever.

• I mean, there are people who spend a lot of time. They are great religious scholars. They want to understand all these little nuances about Judaism and things like that. And I figure, okay, fine. Just don't push it down my throat!

Dialogue

"Let my people go!" ("Go Down Moses", Louis Armstrong)

"Everything that's born must die, and it isn't I who made the world that way." ("Spider Suite", The Duke of Uke and His Novelty Orchestra)

Hiram Paley: And, uh, you know, we all sat around the table, including Uncle Herzl. And Uncle Herzl rejected the part where you did a drop to signify the killing of the firstborn Egyptians. My uncle got infuriated with that. He didn't like that part.

Nina Paley: Why?

Hiram Paley: Well, who wants to kill people?

Nina Paley: What?

Hiram Paley: I mean, we don't want to go around killing people, right?

Nina Paley: But you shed the drop because—the idea is, you shed the drop because you're sympathizing. You're like, "Oh, this was a terrible thing." So you're going to spill some of the wine from your cup because it was such a bad thing.

Hiram Paley: Yeah, but I think literally, it was in celebration of the killing of the firstborn Egyptians, and my uncle didn't like it.

External links

• Seder-Masochism quotes at the Internet Movie Database
• Seder-Masochism at Rotten Tomatoes