The Role Of Avram In The Frisco Kid

Journeying across America from Philadelphia to San Francisco, Avram, a Polish rabbi, finds himself in the role of the hero in the 1979 Western parody, The Frisco Kid. As the film’s protagonist, he is tasked with leading a Jewish community over 6,000 miles away in San Francisco, continually acting in a manner consistent with irrationality due to his lack of knowledge of American cultural norms. As he travels across America, he continually finds himself in trouble with thieves, the law, and Native Americans, yet escapes each trial with unwavering persistence and a steady religious devotion. Set in the mid 1800’s, at the height of the American “Wild West” era, the film serves as a parody of the traditional Western hero, substituting an inexperienced,

yet cagey Jewish Rabbi for the usual hardened, gun-slinging cowboy. At each point along the journey it seems Avram has no place in an outlaw’s world, yet as he overcomes each trial, it soon becomes clear that he is the only hero for the job, serving as a comic deconstruction of the traditional Western hero.

The Frisco Kid depicts the journey of an ignorant outsider in an unfamiliar world, critiquing the traditional Western hero by placing great emphasis on his religious piety, indicating success is attained through blind faith rather than pragmatic action.
Avram’s success along his journey comes despite his general gullibility and cluelessness of American cultural norms. Although these traits may seem counterintuitive to achieving one’s goals along the western frontier, Avram asserts himself as an untraditional hero, proving these traits are requisites for his success. Tasked with leading a newly formed Jewish congregation in San Francisco, Avram must travel nearly 6,000 miles to find his new home. Having completed rabbinical school in Poland, he knows hardly anything about America, and aside from his ability to speak English, has no real skills to help him adapt to the new world he is thrown into. But, these are exactly the traits that allow him to accomplish his two goals of reaching San Francisco to lead his new congregation, and delivering the Torah (in a complete state) to said congregation. For

example, after he and Tommy are chased by Native Americans on horseback, Avram notices the Torah is missing from his rucksack (1:02:17). Having just asked Tommy “What did [the Native Americans] want?” (1:04:47), Avram demonstrates a lack of understanding of the general rivalry between Native Americans and the white man, ignorant of their general perception as “dangerous” in the west during the 1850’s. The archetypal Western hero of “rugged masculinity, and superhuman abilities” (Turner, 48) would resort to violence to retrieve his lost object, relying on his gun to make “peace” with the tribe. However, Avram, instead of turning to brutality, a quality he seems rather incapable of expressing, returns to retrieve it, riding his horse back toward the Native American camp, ignorant to the potential dangers. And, even though he and Tommy are initially captured by the Native Americans, Avram eventually gets the Torah back, facilitated by his ignorance and dedication. Similarly, Avram’s entire friendship with Tommy is based on his ignorance to Tommy’s bank robbing tendencies and outlaw status. Avram, a man of morals, would likely not associate with someone like Tommy if he was aware of his occupation, and he especially would never allow himself to serve as an accomplice to a robbery as occurs in the film (50:00). But, because he develops a friendship with Tommy, he is provided with food, is able to survive the frigid cold, and has an experienced guide to lead him through the west toward San Francisco. Without this friendship, Avram would have either starved, frozen to death, or gotten lost, lacking the survival and navigational skills that Tommy provides. Again, Avram is saved by his ignorance, unable to identify Tommy as a criminal, and therefore developing a close bond, a bond which turns out to be necessary for him to make it to his final destination. The film repeatedly depicts Avram as acting in a seemingly counterintuitive manner, but, in actuality, his perceived “foolish” choices are vital to his success along the trail.
In addition to his ignorance, Avram’s unflagging devotion to his religious beliefs often puts him in danger, but this stubbornness ultimately saves him.

As a devout Jew, Avram strictly abides by Jewish law, even when these practices are not convenient for him. For example, following Tommy’s bank robbery, as the two are chased by the townspeople, Avram refuses to ride his horse as it is the Sabbath, and would be unlawful for him to do so (59:45). Here, his innocence comes into play once again, as he is likely unaware of the hanging that awaits him if the mob catches up to him. But, even though he may not know the full extent of it, he knows there is danger if the crowd were to catch him, but places religious devotion over his own well being. Nowhere to be found is the classic “singing cowboy in the style of Gene Autry or Roy Rogers, portraying the “masculine image of the Western hero,” (49) the viewer only left with an inexperienced and stubborn rabbi to satisfy the role of hero. Later on, when Tommy peers of the cliff, and sees the search party nearing in the distance, he sprints back to Avram and the horses, urgent to ride on. Each man running with his horse, Tommy loudly questions “NOW?” pleading Avram to put his beliefs aside and ride on to safety. However, Avram stays strong as the camera jumps back and forth between the two men and the setting sun, representative of when Avram can ride his horse again. Once the sun is just barely visible over the crest of the mountain

ahead, the men stop, and wait for it to fully descend, before jumping on their horses and quickly speeding off. At this moment, the music changes to a more rapid, jaunty tune, signaling the danger is largely over and indicating excitement for the ride ahead. Riding off into the distance, a triumphant soundtrack playing, the scene evokes images of a classic Western, with the heroes victoriously riding off into the sunset. However, in this Western parody, Tommy mutters, “Longest damn day of my life,” the light humor working to minimize the serious trouble Avram’s inconvenient religious devotion almost got them both into, as a successful escape is observed. Such a tactic is identified by Turner in his characterization of the traditional Western parody: “The comedian can do this because comic discourse often masks serious critique as harmless frivolity.” (Turner, 3) Such again evidences the film’s critique of the Western hero through Avram’s role as a religious figure, demonstrating the near deadly outcome of not being to ride a horse, but then quickly brushing it off as if nothing ever happened with the inclusion of a simple joke as the scene’s close.
The decomposition of the archetypal Western through a religious figure as hero continues when Avram is tied to a stake by the Native American’s and questioned about what he would and wouldn’t do to get the Torah back (1:06:00). Fully devoted to his assignment to bring the Torah to San Francisco, as well as to the preservation of the Torah itself, Avram offers to give up literally everything he owns to ensuring the chief returns the Torah to him. Ropes lashed around his hands and arms, firmly tied to the wooden stake, Avram is alone, surrounded by a strange culture of individuals that he has never seen before. Tommy is the only familiar person near him, yet he is also tied up and can only mouth words and attempt to signal responses with head motions. Huddled around in a large circle, the Native Americans all quietly gaze upon Avram as he is questioned, their collective piercing glare isolating him even more than he already is. Despite facing death by fire, constrained by ropes, and undergoing questioning in front of a menacing crowd of strangers, Avram keeps his cool, even as the chief approaches him, asking the most intense question yet: “If I give you back Torah, will you purify your soul by fire?” Glancing first at Tommy in hopes of assurance of the correct answer, Avram quickly looks away, as he knows the correct answer inside. The camera zooms in for a tight-shot on his face, emphasizing his slow turn of the neck to view the burning flames below him. Immediately, the camera jump cuts to the flames, accompanied by the introduction of a quick tempo song, mirroring the excitement of the scene as Avram’s demise seems imminent. He responds with a calm, and simple “yes,” before being slowly lowered into the fire pit, putting up no resistance, in contrast to the fiery opposition that one would expect from a traditional Western hero. The flames crackling at his back, the chief asks yet another question: “If I let you go, will you give me Torah?” Without hesitation, Avram exclaims a loud “No!” even as he is lowered into the fiery bed. He continues to descend until he is pulled up right at the last second, preventing his death, the ritual called off by the chief after witnessing Avram’s amazing display of faith, willing to literally go down in flames for his faith holy literature. Avram acts a foil to the “the central Western figure [who often] remained somehow stronger, smarter, and faster than regular folk,” actually saved by his stubbornness and unrelenting piety, rather than his masculinity and wit. Because of his blind religious devotion, Avram doesn’t need these extraordinary abilities of the classic cowboy, only able to survive due to his strict moral code and tenacious perseverance. Here, the film clearly deconstructs the masculine Western hero, crafting a new hero with the qualities of an average man, possessing a strong sense of faith, and creating situations in which only this comedic foil could succeed. Avram’s willingness to die before relinquishing his possession of the Torah is representative of the blind faith he practices throughout the film, playing the role of the backwards Western hero as opposed to the traditional gallant gun slinger.
The Frisco Kid utilizes an eccentric, yet simple rabbi to dismantle the traditional, masculine Western hero. In each caper along his journey, Avram escapes danger due to his ignorance of social norms and his undying religious devotion, rather than his dueling skills or outdoor savvy. The film’s repetition of faith triumphing over action frames Avram as the ideal hero, successful in his journey because of his non-traditional characteristics.