Fictional representations of Roma

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Many fictional depictions of the Roma emphasize their supposed mystical powers or criminal nature. Roma often appear in fiction as stock villains, bucolic nomads, or a sort of supernatural Deus ex machina.

Literary representations include:

• Walter Scott's novel Guy Mannering
• Victor Hugo's novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame
• Miguel de Cervantes' novel La Gitanilla
• Georges Bizet's opera Carmen
• Prosper Mérimée's short story "Carmen"
• Ana Castillo's novel Peel My Love Like an Onion
• Dracula by Bram Stoker features a group of Gypsies working for the Count, as they were often retainers (or serf/slaves) of noble families.
• Gabriel García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude
• The Lyre of Orpheus and The Rebel Angels by Robertson Davies features major characters who maintain Gypsy traditions, including the care and repair of musical instruments, in modern Canada.
• Stephen King's novel Thinner includes the classic plot device of the gypsy's curse. It was also made into a movie.
• British author Brian Lumley made frequent use of the Roma in his Necroscope series of novels; in the books, they're known as the Szgany.
• Roma appear in several short stories by the great French writer Guy de Maupassant.
• Canadian contemporary fantasy author Charles de Lint's novel Mulengro presents a portrayal of the Rom and their cultural myths.
• Montoyas y Tarantos by Saura.
• British writer Enid Blyton was accused of having perpetuated negative stereotypes of the Roma in some of her popular children's books, set in the English countryside, a charge hotly denied by Blyton fans. (See [1], [2], [3].)
• The James Bond novel (and movie) From Russia with Love set in a gypsy encampment in Turkey, features a traditional fight to the death between two gypsy girls vying for the affection of the same man.
• The For Whom The Bell Tolls novel by Ernest Hemingway featured a gypsy named Rafael.

Treatments of Roma in other media include:

• In the 1937 film classic Heidi starring Shirley Temple, Gypsies appeared in the stereotypical villain role.
• Marlene Dietrich stars in Golden Earrings (1947) as a Gypsy whose clan aids British agent Ray Milland escape from the Nazis during WWII.
• In 1959 actress Carroll Baker starred in the Warner Bros. film The Miracle, co-starring a young Roger Moore. In the film a band of thieving Gypsies are joined by a wayward nun searching to find herself.
• Serbian director Emir Kusturica often used the Roma community as basis of his films.
• Gadjo dilo written and directed by Tony Gatlif. Stéphane, a young French man from Paris, travels to Romania. He is looking for the singer Nora Luca, he had heard on cassette, and whom his father had heard all the time before his death.
• Noa, of the movie Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa, is a Roma whom the main character befriends. She is persecuted because of her ethnic identity and clairvoyance abilities.
• Roma characters are frequently depicted in werewolf films, including Maleva the fortuneteller (Maria Ouspenskaya) in The Wolf Man and the Roma clan of female werewolves in Cry of the Werewolf.
• In one episode of The Norm Show, the character Norm Henderson (played by comedian Norm MacDonald) pretends to be a Roma in order to falsely accuse his boss of promoting ethnic stereotypes.
• Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy features a nomadic race called the Gyptians. Gyptians are roughly the equivalent of Gypsies in our universe, with the exception that they use narrowboats in place of caravans. Throughout the books they are portrayed as good and kindly people.
• In 2002 the WB television series Charmed aired the episode The Eyes Have It which explained Gypsies to be distant relatives to modern day witches. Much like the star witches in the series Gypsies possess supernatural powers and pass down family Books of Shadows.
• On the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, gypsies place a curse on the vampire Angelus to punish him for the murder of one of their tribe, by restoring his human soul (and by extension, his conscience) and forcing him to feel guilt for his crimes.
• British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's character Borat often mentions his work as a "Gypsy catcher" in his native country of Kazakhstan. While abroad, he often inquires as to the prevalence of Gypsies in the area. Further, he carries "a vial of Gypsy tears" to protect him from AIDS.