http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L06udJXhfK0&feature=related --or click on article title..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uY3znlUE4g
I saw this video on you tube featuring.....a news reporter's interview with New York City Soup Shop Owner , Al Yeganeh.
Not just any soup shop....but the one that was featured on Seinfeld in the 90s.
This was a famous episode where the real life soup shop and owner, Al Yeganeh, was portrayed on the Seinfeld show by an actor and termed as the " SOUP NAZI ".
The term NAZI .. . is used here in the "post modern" American convention as meaning ..." too strict and disciplined" for "normal" Americans.
The show came to be ... when the Seinfeld writers noticed the popualarity of the Soup shop in NYC and also the notoriety of the owner among the countless customers on NYC. Seinfled writers found the owners character as comedic material fitting for the show and put him an episode.
Al Yeganeh, founded the shop in New York City and developed the shop into a successfull business by making top quality soups. He was not informed that he and his shop would be represented on the show and basically riduculed for the American viewers to enjoy.
Al Yeganeh's character is represented as too strict for casual nature of the Americans who come to shop. Strict refers to the rules he has in the shop for customers who come in. The rules are otherwise normal rules requiring ordering correctly and precisely and being well mannered in the shop. Failure to follow the rules,,, would result in Al Yeganeh removing you from the shop.
On the TV show, Al Yeganeh is portrayed as unreasonable and the blunders of the careless Americans, inherent to the image of normalcy accepted in America., as mild and minor. SO when the Americans blunder and make a mistake, and break the rules...they are denied the soup and thrown out.
When I first saw the show... in the 90s... I thought that it was a fiction..
Then I found out it was based on real character... and thought it has to be an exaggeration...but after seeing this video clipon you tube.. I can see that it is accurate match between the character on the show and the original person.
The writers of Seinfeld , who represent the intellectual portion of the American population, as they are Harvard educated millionaires, interpret the behavior of the soup man in the same way as the regular Americans...which is extremely rigid to a ridiculous level..
This episode shows how far removed American culture is... throughout the segments of American population to any establsihed standard of discipline in any environment... in this case a restaurant....
This concept of Discipline is one of the landmark features of the culture Gap between todays America and all other culures ( Muslims,. Indian, and Chinese).
Here the original character is Al Yeganeh. He is an immigrant of Iran and represents the culture of Iran in his disapproval of American attitude of apathy, blundering , and casual outlook in the form of their behavior in the shop.
In real life, the displeased New york customers had given him the nick name of terrorist, relating his Irananian Muslim background.
I assume terrorist is more insulting to him than NAZI.. which is what the TV show used.
Even though it is used for humour...it shows how Americans perceive the basic wualities of Asian culture...and how they would even humour it with other wise controversial terms as NAZI...
Here .. even though the character is IRanian.. the same type of culture gap could have resulted from a Chinese or Indian owner...
I wonder what nickname would have come for each of those.
The Name .. NAZI.. is only works if the guy is atleast in appearance... close to European.. and close to the original Nazis....
Here is a link to the video from you tube. showing how Al Yeganeh made his repuation...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uY3znlUE4g
