(Hope this post is clear.)

I'm going back to the story concept of an Oliver Twist retelling. Only the concept I'm going back to is my original concept for that idea: a reimagining of Oliver Twist set in the US (not England) specifically New York City. Or to be exact, the setting is Brooklyn, which in the future of the story is a separate city from NYC, as it once was. So this isn't a new idea based on he older one but a return to the older idea. That said, thanks everyone who helped me on the other thread! :)

The story's time period is a hundred years after a nuclear war at the end of this century which means most of the world has regressed to 19th century living standards. The technology is powered by steam created though solar energy and antibiotic resistance means that deaths from diseases and infections which are curable in this century are once again common. Plus the huge popularity of both the novel and of stage versions of Oliver Twist in particular the character of Nancy, in the States (and in Britain too) as well as the fact that "world's worst slum" in the Victorian era/19th century, Five Points was located in New York, gave me the inspiration. Of course, because this is set in the future it has to be set in a different area as Five Points no longer exists as a neighbourhood.

So what's the point of this thread? (Just to be clear it's not to tell everyone about my story) I've had a lot of time to think since the other thread. In particular I've spent a lot of time thinking about how I could characterise Fagin and reading everything I could about Oliver Twist and its adaptations as well as Jewish and Black stereotypes (several important characters, including an original character and the protagonist (the Artful Dodger) are Black). I've also been thinking about that other thread as I did the research.

Just yesterday I found an interview/panel discussion with Ron Moody (who played Fagin), Mark Lester (who played Oliver) and Kenneth Cranham (who played Noah Claypole) on Youtube: Three cast members from the 1968 movie Oliver! talk about the movie and their memories. Ron Moody's discussion of how he characterised Fagin starting in the original West End production and ending in the 1968 movie and 1984 Broadway revival starts at 11.22.

My idea was and is to retell Oliver Twist as a sci-fi novel in order to explore questions about heredity and genetic inheritance (which the original touched on), classism, what role poverty and racial/ethnic/religious prejudice play in a person choosing to do illegal things to make a living and the effects of anti-Semitism and other religious, ethnic and racial (using that word the way most people think of it as referring to a person's common physical features such as natural skin colour) prejudices. Since Oliver Twist was intended to be social commentary and science fiction's often used as

So as a way of doing what Ron Moody and Lionel Bart did to "distract" (as Ron Moody says) audiences from the anti-Semitism of Dickens' original character and to humanise him, I'm looking at writing him along the lines of Ron Moody/Lionel Bart's characterisation: he genuinely cares about the kids he's taken in and loves them-- he cares for them as they recover from back-alley surgical procedures involving implants which are supposed to enhance them as thieves, shows them affection and gives them a home.

But he's still got a scary ruthless edge; he's a fence who makes use of kids to steal for him and earn him some much-needed money because he's living in poverty.
I think it's significant-- even though I don't know if it's positive or negative-- that a lot of people who've seen Oliver! have a different reaction to the Fagin in the musical to the Fagin in other adaptations or the original book because in a way they're two different characters with the only similarities being the name, ethnicity/religion (only implied through Bart's music-- I read about at least one klezmer group doing Pick A Pocket or-Two)   

I don't think anyone who considers Lionel Bart's musical light really knows what they're saying. Sure it's got a significantly lighter tone than the original novel and the David Lean film which was its main source but it's still not exactly happy. Have those reviewers forgotten these lines from "I'd Do Anything?":

Would you rob a shop?
Anything!

Would you risk the drop?
Anything!

Till your eyes go pop?
Anything!

And you come down plop!
Hang everything!
We'd risk life and limb
To keep you in the swing
Yes we'd do anything,
Anything for you.

Those lines are a reference to the fact that the original Dickens character sent boys to the gallows when they were a threat to him and his safety. Not exactly light and happy. So the point of this thread is to say that I think I've found a solution to the Fagin-as-stereotype problem at least in my own OT adaptation.

Note: the title's a bit misleading but it's the way it is because I couldn't call the thread "Oliver Twist, Lionel Bart's Oliver and how I'm handling the anti-Semitism in the character of Fagin in my own version of Oliver Twist."