Hollywood’s Second Class Jewish Chicks & “Two Lovers”
by Debbie SchlusselWhy is it that on the silver screen, the Jewish chick is always the undesirable one, the safe choice, the ugly/annoying one? Even women who are Jewish (or half) in real life play the “desirable gentile goddess” while the Jewish woman character is the second fiddle. It might have something to do with the self-hatred of many male Jews in Hollywood for whom the Jewish woman is exactly that stereotype; besides, many of them need to justify marrying outside of the faith. Or maybe it’s just the self-hatred.
I ask this because in “Two Lovers,” which hit nationwide release this week, Joaquin Phoenix plays a Jewish guy whose parents want him to date (and marry) the beautiful Jewish daughter (Vinessa Shaw), of the couple who are buying their business. But, instead, he prefers the hot blonde gentile woman (played by the half-Jewish Gwyneth Paltrow) who doesn’t want him. The Jewish woman as the safe, not-as-sexy-or-hot choice is nothing new in Hollywood. We’ve seen it in sooo many TV shows and flicks, like the 1972 incarnation of “The Heartbreak Kid” in which Elliott Gould Charles Grodin dumps the homely Jewish stereotype-ette for the hot (at that time) Cybill Shepherd.
Read my review of “Two Lovers” and note that this stereotype can also work if you reverse the roles of each sex. For example, in the far superior and much warmer “Crossing Delancey” (1988), Amy Irving (who was not Jewish, but reportedly converted to marry Steven Spielberg) plays a Jewish woman who was in love with the male version of the Gwyneth Paltrow character, an author who didn’t really love her back. At the urging of her grandmother, she dates (and falls in love with) the more nebbishe/geeky Peter Riegert.
“Delancey” was 21 years ago and I thought we’d advanced. But apparently, the same Jewish liberals who are embarrassed about the first of those two adjectives are still running the show. They just don’t like themselves any more. Plus, they’re still trying to get away from their mothers, apparently.
There are plenty of beautiful Jewish women (some even blonde) in Hollywood, including my cousin, actress Amelia Kingston (real name: Shannon Schlussel). Sad that Hollywood still wants you to think they’re the ugly, annoying caricatures in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
More sad that the ones doing the caricaturing are neither Muslims nor Nazis, but my own fellow co-religionists.
Note: This post has been updated. Both Vinessa Shaw and Joaquin Phoenix were incorrectly identified as not being Jewish. We regret the error and thank the readers who pointed this out.
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74 Comments
For my own part, I'll take the Jewish girl over the shiksa any day.
"More sad that the ones doing the caricaturing are neither Muslims nor Nazis, but my own fellow co-religionists."
The observations are valid. A very typical hollywood story has the nerdy jewish guy "winning" the acceptance of the blonde gentile. The stereotypical Jewish (looking) women always seem to take it on the chin in these stories. The common archetypes seem to always be the same.
One must ask the question, why are they perpetuating these stereotypes? Is it because as the author alludes, there is a degree of self hate? Or is it because from experience they know America is suffused with a "nordic" female standard of beauty and therefore a story has a better chance of commercial success when the heroine fits that description? The interesting flip side of that is that for many writers if there is a blonde blue eyed male in the story he is often the villain. The temptation is to suggest that in many Jewish writers views evil is always personified by the most Aryan or Germanic looking character.
That wasn't Elliot Gould in The Heartbreak Kid. It was Charles Grodin, I believe.
that is correct
Yeah but that girl in "Dirty Dancing" had it going on. Then she got a nose job and it hurt her career.
(Seriously, everyone got a huge boost from that – Patrick Swayze, Jerry Orbach, etc.)
Also, what about Barbra Sterisand in "The Way We Were?" She ended up being the one the guy really liked, so she was on the other end of it.
Oh well at least "Druish Princess" Daphne Zuniga got to be the star in _Spaceballs!_
The Carradine character "Caine" was from a mixed marriage (Western father, Chinese mother) who was abandoned because of this and so was taken in and raised by the Shaolin monks. In my younger, tom-cattin' days I had serious relationships with two Jewish girls and both were beee-aaay-utiful. Just sayin'.
IMHO, Debbie describes here only a part of a syndrome that has hurt movie attendance badly over the years.
As cliched and unappealing as she finds this particular trope, it is also downright foreign to much of the American population. I mean we've all seen Fiddler on the Roof and tradition is something we understand, but we are simply not Jewish enough to understand this romantic sub-genre on an emotional level. Or at least not in the way the writer or director might have intended. I mean, isn't the take-away from one of these movies something like "so, what's up with the Jewish guys always being hot for the Aryan babes." These stories aren't universal.
What is "Jewish" ? Is Jewish a race ?, or is it a religion ? If you don't go to temple and you reject the Jewish religious beliefs, are you Jewish ? I believe that no, you are not. You are someone of Jewish heritage who is secular. So, Gwenyth Paltrow cannot be "half-Jewish" in my opinion. It seems to me that alot of leftist use their Jewish heritage, despite the fact that they themselves are secular, as a weapon in the culture wars. A shield of victimhood. By claiming Jewishness, then they are not a rich privilaged, white, westerner, no they are a member of a victim class and thus worthy of the secular humanist protection and praise.
So Jack Black counted as Mexican for the recent Mexican wrestling movie? Didn't those guys hear about the rule?
I disagree.
The universal part is being confined by expectations and having to chose between conforming to expectations or breaking free. The situation offers built in conflict and tension.
The problem is that there are increasingly limited situations where there are strong cultural/family expectations to serve as that sort of plot driver.
I suspect that they heard about the rule, that's why the character explains that he's really half-Mexican and half-Swedish.
People of Italian heritage, Irish heritage, etc… don't call themesleves catholic (protestant etc…). If someone is of Russian heritage and they are russian orthodox or a christian denomination they call themselves russian; if they are of the jewish faith they call themselves jewish and do not refer to the russian heritage at all. It is a slippery slope when you define yourself be it by religion, skin color, ethnic background because once you do you have placed your self in a category. we love to say we are an enlightened society having elected a black man as president but how about just calling him a man; or a woman just being called a woman, not a jewish woman. If it is a story based around religion or enthicity they will exagerate the stereotype; sadly, that is the small mindedness of Hollywood.
We place ourselves in categories when we wish to be prideful yet lash out when we are categorized. Beauty is not resticted to any faith or race. ( see the wolrd or at least see all of the beautiful people in hollywood who changed their last names). The probelm you refer to dates back to centuries old stereotypes the likes of Dicken's Fagan etc…
I am of two minds regarding this:
One part of me sees the stereotypes and finds it irritating, and another part of me wants any actor, of any type, getting the casting they want, without any other kind of prejudice other than they don't quite fit the envisioned role.
On a personal note, I knew a Jewish girl that did not fit the caricature of Jew, was quite beautiful to me, a wonderful spirit, and I still miss her, almost thirty some years later. I hope she is well and things have worked out to her satisfaction in life.
Subject: Stimulus Package Explained (Q&A)
Sometime this year, taxpayers will receive an Economic Stimulus Payment. This is a very exciting new program that I will explain using the Q and A format:
Q. What is an Economic Stimulus Payment?
A. It is money that the federal government will send to taxpayers.
Q. Where will the government get this money?
A. From taxpayers.
Q. So the government is giving me back my own money?
A. No, they are borrowing it from China. Your children are expected to repay the Chinese.
Q. What is the purpose of this payment?
A. The plan is that you will use the money to purchase a high-definition TV set, thus stimulating the economy.
Q. But isn't that stimulating the economy of China ?
A. Shut up.
Below is some helpful advice on how to best help the US economy by spending your stimulus check wisely:
If you spend that money at Wal-Mart, all the money will go to China .
If you spend it on gasoline it will go to Hugo Chavez, the Arabs and Al Queda
If you purchase a computer it will go to Taiwan .
If you purchase fruit and vegetables it will go to Mexico , Honduras , and Guatemala (unless you buy local).
If you buy a car it will go to Japan and Korea .
If you purchase prescription drugs it will go to India
If you purchase heroin it will go to the Taliban in Afghanistan
If you give it to a charitable cause, it will go to Nigeria .
And none of it will help the American economy. We need to keep that money here in America . You can keep the money in America by spending it at yard sales, going to a baseball game, or spend it on prostitutes, beer (domestic only), or tattoos, since those are the only businesses still in the US.
(courtesy of Anita Thompson)
Sorry- wrong thread!
Debbie Schlussel is way too hung up on stereotypes herself but i guess she has to fill up a column.
In a recent American scientific study, researchers found that generally there was a preferance for blonde women and darker men – perhaps connotating purity and evil.
The root of the problem is that it is up to us individually to feel good about ourselves and not to apologize or go along with Dickensian or other ancient stereotyping.
Yes and it is true most of the producers, directors and casting agents in Hollywood are jewish (I've worked there) so it seems to be an in house problem.
Final note brunettes (and now lets get into the horror of female description by hair color) seem to be on the rise.
Actually, all the leads are Jewish except for Isabella Rossellini:
Q:You take great care to be authentic in your settings. Did you feel the need to be authentic in casting, too?
James Gray: It’s funny, some people have asked me, “Why didn’t you cast Jewish actors?” But Joaquin is Jewish. And Vinessa: I had wanted someone for the role who was like a young Claudia Cardinale, because it would have been a cliché to cast someone homely. I saw Vinessa in 3:10 to Yuma and thought she was lovely, but I wanted the actress to be Jewish. Then I met Vinessa and told her all this, and she said, “My real name is Schwartz.” The only one I went off the reservation with was Isabella Rossellini—but in fact she looks very much like my mother used to look, very earthy and humane. I didn’t want the Lainie Kazan kind of, “Lenn-id, pick up yuh duhty lawndry.” I love Lainie Kazan, but I didn’t want any suggestion of Borscht Belt humor. The film couldn’t be a negative, loveless portrait of these people—and Isabella was as far away from a stereotype as I could get.
http://www.nextbook.org/cultural/feature.html?id=...
Philip Roth goes into great detail concerning the male Jewish obsession with button-nosed gentiles in Portnoy's Complaint. Portnoy apparently didn't want to end up like his parents whose relationship closely resembles that of Frank and Estelle Costanza. (For those who don't know, this is THE DIRTIEST book ever written, so be warned)
I think some authenticity to the role would help. Perhaps Joaquin should have sported the new face squirrel for this shoot.
I do find it strange when Hollywood seems unable (or unwilling) to cast people of a particular ethnicity in the roles of characters sharing that ethnicity. I didn't realize there was such a shortage of actors that we have to keep recycling the same handful of White Anglo-Saxons. I mean, I understand the argument that you've got to have a Big Name in order for a movie to do well financially. I wish that weren't true and I'd very much *like* to believe that the quality of the film's story, writing, and acting will make the difference. But that aside, I'd really like to see more variety and diversity in casting.
Of course, I'm still waiting for Hollywood to recognize that not everyone thinks the standard blonde model look is the height of attractiveness. I usually find the "second fiddle" girls more attractive than the lead…
You're an arrogant fool, Alphonse. Who are YOU to decide who is more or less Jewish? And I love how you lump people who may not go to temple in with those reject Jewish beliefs as if they are always one in the same. Is it not possible for one to hold a religious belief to be a true and not attend temple or church or whatever house of worship that may be?
I've got news or you, Jews are OVERWHELMINGLY Liberal, and there is study after study that shows this to be true. And many of these same liberal Jews practice their religions by attending temple too. So what of those Jews, Al? Or, are the only two kinds in your mind, therefore it MUST be true?
Television vs. Movies has an interesting contrast. In CBS's "NUMB3RS" the two leads and their fathers are Jewish, the one a highly intellectual mathematician, and the other the highly intuitive macho-man FBI agent, who is portrayed as both overtly religious, and highly desireable. His nerdy brother dates a fellow hot Indian math scholar.
In NBC's "Chuck" the lead is a Jewish guy named Bartowski, who's sister is an uber-hot woman and doctor marrying a "perfect" guy, with an off/on/off romance with the beautiful and very gentile secret agent sent to protect him.
TV does an allright job portraying Jewish men as desirable.
For women, TV's Buffy, and her sister, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Michelle Trachtenberg respectively, are Jewish playing gentiles. Alyson Hannigan, also of Buffy, played the explicitly Jewish character of Willow as a hot but insecure "smart girl." Amanda Bynes is Jewish, but generally plays gentiles.
[It's interesting to note that the more "girl next door" types played by Hannigan, Trachtenberg, Gellar, Bynes, etc. tend to out-draw interest in the more overtly "bombshell" categories in ratings by so-called "Lad" magazines like Maxim, FHM, etc. suggesting that characterization, intelligence, and "niceness/approachability" make them more attractive than say, Megan Fox or Charlize Theron. It's also interesting that these actresses maintain a large female fan-base interested in seeing them, as much as men, and in contrast to the Gentile "bombshells"]
Because TV is short-term, ratings driven, and thus far less able to "coast" on earnings from big-budget blockbusters like Movies, the kind of "Everyman Plus" type actors defined as Jewish and shown on screen as desireable tend to do well. TV does less well with Jewish women on-screen, defined as explicitly Jewish, but seems improving vs. movies. Audiences tend to respond well on TV to non-stereotype roles for characters defined as Jewish for both sexes.
[Note: European novelists, painters, Opera composers, and the like from the 1700's to the early 1900's noted Jewish women for their beauty and intelligence, a common theme in paintings, novels, operas, etc. So this shift towards Jewish women as less desireable is a relatively recent, in terms of Western culture, development.]
Good on Debbie for this one!
You can add the 1982 comedy "Night Shift" to the list of movies following the pattern she describes. In it, Henry Winkler plays a nebbishy Jewish guy, stuck in a sterile relationship with a whiny Jewish girl, who breaks out of his shell when he falls for the glamorous gentile blond hooker-with-a-heart of-gold played by Shelley Long.
"Dirty Dancing" has similar tropes. The lead character feels stifled by her Jewish family and surroundings are only breaks out into freedom when she goes into the exciting gentile world of "dirty dancers" and falls for the rough but decent gentile Patrick Swayze.
So you see, there's a class-related "self-hatred" in these movies as well: the characters are unhappy with their upper-middle class backgrounds and long for the "authenticity" and excitement working class life.
One can be non-observant, or even an atheist and remain culturally Jewish. I have several friends who are just that. They are ethnically Polish and Russian, but self-identify as Jewish.
Did her Dad/family put the kibosh on the relationship?
Did we forget the Nanny, Drescher, jewish in the show, NCIS has Cote De Pablo playing a jewish hotie, and she kicks ass and looks good doing it!
Please, no more nonsense about race and ethnicity. you stupid liberals waste your entire lives with a chip on your shoulder regards this issue. Also, a reality alert. Movies are not real life. They are just a very poor imitation.
Sara Jessica Parker starred in one of the highest grossing films of last year. She's Jewish. She always gets her man (and then loses him and then gets him back).
Well, yes. Look at Larry David's "Curb Your Enthusiasm": a liberal secular Jew populates his show with the stereoptypical "NY Jews": whiney, self-absorbed, loud and vulgar. The only wise and thoughtful characters tended to be his Gentile wife and the PC black and Asian characters.
Hollywood's role playing switcheroo is historic. As a half-Asian kid growing up in the '60's, I loved the Charlie Chan movies. Imagine my chagrin when I found out in the '70's that "Charlie" was a cracker playing "Chinee eyes" through the magic of latex and yak hair! David Carridine was hardly a model of Kung Fu political correctness. And we had a lovely Chinese actress play the lead as a memorable "Geisha" just recently. And Sean Penn dashed in and out of the cinematic closet so fast that his thong was peeking out the top of his tux at the recent Academy Awards.
I personally thought his performance was more of a high functioning "I Am Sam" redux.
I don't have much of a problem with what the world of make believe uses to tell their misanthropic world view. We have to remember that it's just a movie and movies aren't, in most cases, "art" or a reflection of real life. They are just choices on the craft services table of culture.
The problem is that a lot of people forget that and gorge themselves between takes.
You had me until Gwyneth Paltrow. Now I know I'll wait for the DVD, if I watch it at all. I think the whole Jewish woman caricature may have started with Barbara Streisand and her movies from the 1970's. Remember Funny Girl? She always played the ugly duckling yet lovable characters. Can we blame Babs?
http://the100mostannoyingthings.blogspot.com/
Your question ("What is Jewish?"), is an interesting one (although grammatically challenged), one I have pondered for many years. Your conclusion seems a bit simplistic (perhaps because it supports your rather myopic view of Jews), and demonstrates a lack of understanding of the diversity of life experience among American Jews. I am Jewish (but no longer practice organized Judaism) and adhere to the shared values and mores that have characterized the Jewish community throughout it's history( Jew haters, please place stereotypes and insults here
). Growing up in the Eastchester projects(The Bronx) a predominantly non white community, I experienced a sort of existential cognitive dissonance. I struggled with the contradiction between the teachings of of my parents (emphasizing the value of education, aversion to violence, and the value of hard work) with the realities of the Bronx, and my black contemporaries who instinctively understood the concept of "might makes right" ,and, that as Hobbes proposed the "state of nature is a state of war".
It's interesting that non-Jews like Phoenix are still allowed to play Jews. A few years ago, during a casting meeting a producer told me we could not cast anyone but a Mexican for a Mexican role. Not that I'd suggested it, but she volunteered, "Those days are over. The only non-Mexican who can play Mexican today is Catherine Zeta-Jones and that's only if it's a sequel to ZORRO (which did happen) because she was cast as a Mexican before this rule went into effect."
You adapt, and behave appropriately based upon your surroundings. The media presented Jews as weak, and my generation was bombarded with images of passive European Jews walking to their deaths. Most of my male jewish contemporary's in the Bronx overcompensated in response to these images, particularly on the basketball court where we generally played blacks versus whites, and the games were symbolic race wars. The Jewish guys, regardless of talent level played with a life and death intensity. In this environment, academic success was considered effete, and while I excelled in school, it was not a reputation I desired. Yeah, I got my PHD, but worked as a busboy to pay my way through. With an obvious Jewish surname I encountered infrequent episodes of hate and threats ( some for being jewish, most for being white), and sometimes responded violently, most times I did not. As a general rule, the Jews I have met who have converted to other religions, appear to have found their new faith more out of a desire to be accepted by the majority, then out of any true religious epiphany ( I believe them to be cowards.)
What does this brief depiction of one Jew's life mean, it represents the complexity of being Jewish. if you confine yourself to the traditional archetypes of jew's then you will draw the assinine conclusions that Alphonso has. Personally I am an American first, and I am Jewish.While I generally don't discuss politics or religion, I would like to introduce Alphonse to the Jews that I grew up with. We have never been victims, we don't give a sh*t what you and your ilk thinks about jews, and we will protect ourselves thank you.
If you get in our faces prepare yourself for more than a philosphical discussion you supercillious ass. My guys from the Bronx ,if they are rich and successful ,didn't have any handouts from the government, and had to battle against affirmative action. Our parents worked like animals at menial jobs so their children could have a chance at a better life. And Alphonse, I will let you in on a little secret, my Bronx jews never talk about the Holocaust, don't care what non jews think about it, …for us "never again" is not a phrase intended be spoken to non-jews for any sympathy, or with the idea that we could engender support (we don't need it or want it); it is a reminder to us that when and if "you" come for us again, this time we will be certain to take as many of you with us to the morgue as we can. Chaio vendejo
If Jews make up less than 2% of the population then why do so many movies and tv shows feature so many of them starring, directing and producing (well above the 2%)? If we are to be politically correct we should review statistics and place the correct percentages of ethnics into each story. Problem solved. Oh, I forgot, movies are basically about superheroes and romance and nothing about good stories.
Andrew Sachs played a feeble minded Spaniard.
Can you find an example of a non-Jew who played a Jew in anything other than a sympathetic role?
Thank you.
I find it hilarious that the OP more-or-less admits a certain group runs Hollywood. Only certain people can "admit" this….
Strange comment since Debbie seems to be the one with a chip on her should and she's nobody's idea of a Liberal.
The dominant "Jewish" culture in Hollywood is only observant to the extent of not eating bacon. The rest is simply a particular cultural milieu and world view, having as much to do with modern "liberalism" as anything Jewish.
There needs to be affirmative action for the goyim in the entertainment industry. Also, Jews need to be less self involved. Stop talking about yourselves and your culture and your mothers and your looks. Over the last 20 years, there have been more songs, plays, movies, tv shows, blogs and websites about jews than all other ethnicity/religion/cultures combined. Nobody wants to hear it anymore. Oy Gavult!
Dad. But it was true about our youth; way too young for serious commitment. Still, a wonderful person.
"Why is it that on the silver screen, the Jewish chick is always the undesirable one, the safe choice, the ugly/annoying one?"
I've never really wondered about that.
I have however wondered why I have never seen a movie or TV show that had an overtly Jewish character as the bad guy.
Actually, I have wondered why I have never seen a movie or TV show that had an overtly Jewish character as the bad guy, a blue collar worker, unemployed, or anything else except a doctor, lawyer, entertainer, academic, or some other professional. I think on the whole, the very worst I have ever seen an overtly Jewish character portrayed as is a marginally shady lawyer or business man.
Compare that to the average overt Christian character on Law&Order.
Rachel, the Jewish siren and heartbreaker on Mad Men, comes off as beautiful, smart and strong. And she's not shy about her Jewishness.
"Sara Jessica Parker starred in one of the highest grossing films of last year. She's Jewish."
But the character she plays is not.
"If we are to be politically correct we should review statistics and place the correct percentages of ethnics into each story."
Are we to be politically correct? I think not. And again, there's a difference between talking about Jews working on movies and TV shows and Jewish characters being portrayed in those movies and shows.
I think there's been a glaring lack of what you might call "normal" Jewish characters in movies – people who resemble Jews you know from real life, rather than negative stereotypes or Holocaust victims. Why can't the likable protagonist of a movie be named Steve Goldstein for once, instead of Steve Johnson, especially if he's being played by a Jewish actor?
I'm actually a cute Jewish female, and that's literally tons of cute Jewish women out there. And don't even talk to me about Gwyneth Paltrow. There's way cuter Jewish women out there and I find Paltrow ugly as sin. And Schlussel is right about HW and Jewish stereotypes. BTW, there are tons of naturally BLONDE BLUE EYED, or LIGHT BROWN & BLUE EYED Jewish women out there. I should know, I'm one of them.
Could it possibly be because in real life Jewish American women are generally annoying and overbearing, and their heads are filled with nonsense? Certainly that's been my experience.
Even if that is the case, Hollywood films are not known for their accurate reflection of American life. On the other hand, Hollywood types — directors, actors, writers, producers — could be expected to understand and be more familiar with urban upper and middle class Jewish women than they are with the Amish or with Special Forces personnel. And of course, Jewish women in hollywood are much more annoying and overbearing than the average American Jewish woman, and definitely more likely to have their heads stuffed with nonsense.
On a somewhat tangential note, what percentage of Jewish American women voted for Barack Hussein Obama, friend of antisemitic terrorists and enemy of Israel? How about Jewish women in Hollywood? I think 100% is not realistic. Probably more like 99.9%. People that dumb do not get my sympathy.
[...] “Hollywood’s Second Class Jewish Chicks & Two Lovers”, Mzz Schussel complains that ”on the silver screen, the Jewish chick is [...]
The looks of Jewish women on screen I don't have a problem with. Surely it's the men who should be kept off-screen.
I'm a muslim w/ a beautiful jewish girlfriend. I get this sort of criticism from women in my own faith. Its nothing new. I think women have a tendency to feel insecure about themselves when they see men pursuing relationships outside of their own communities(faith/race/nationality).
Saul, that was hilarious and sadly profound. I liked the last bit about the only businesses still in the US.
Right on! Although perhaps the entire column is a satire in disguise of the petty ways we seem to find hurt or offense in the most innocent of things.
I had a Jewish girlfriend in college and she was the hottest thing I ever laid eyes on…just a volcano and gorgeous, too. Maybe she was atypical…I never thought about religion or ethnicity when picking my girlfriends. They did have to be smart…come to think of it, maybe that's why the majority of my girlfriends have been brunettes…heh heh…but let's face it, blondes get more attention, mostly of the wrong kind, I suspect.
What's all the fuss? Jewish chicks are hot. My cousin……Mmmmmmmmmmmm
I looked up the authors cousin and she is a beautiful woman, Jewish or otherwise. So why does she take a non-Jewish screen name (Kingston)? And what does that say about the way "Jewishness" is perceived in Hollywood? Otherwise, this is much ado about nothing.
Then there was the most breathtakingly beautiful girl to ever stand before a camera. Betty Perske aka Lauren Bacall
What you wrote I could've written myself. So I recognized the background w/o you saying. Her name was Ronit – "joy" in Hebrew.
Scary, huh? Dee in my case; they we're more in the 'reformed' category. Dee was more embracing of her religion when she was older. Mom was a little fruity, big abortion rights nut. I hope Dee went hard right conservative, preaches Dr. Laura back at her parents. Oh, the karma that would be re-balanced!
My second Uncle Simon Oakland, real name Simon Weiss played all types of roles, but in the old days of Hollywood, Jewish actors had to change their name to get work. Everybody in Hollywood knew who was Jewish, but they had to hide it because of antisemitism. Now concerning what Hollywood portrays and does't portray is because most of what it puts out. A friend of mine in Atlanta who passed in 1998 Bob Hanna had to play Southern males because of his accent(Prince of Tides). TO get upset about what Hollywood portrays when the industry is shooting itself in the foot(low Oscar ratings,who cares). I live my life period. I am a Conservative, gun owning Southern Jew with northern Jewish parents(Bronx&Phily). I just love all women period, and I figure g-d loves us all.
Hollywood is stuck between a vacuum that those of us who live outside of it really don't care about.
In real life, proportionally very few Jews are blue collar workers or unemployed, while they are way overrepresented in the professional fields. So if TV and movies reflect that that's good.
By the way, Seth Rogen's Jewish slacker characters in "The Forty Year Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up" go against your observations.
There is a long, and I think rather shameful, history of Jewish performers covering up their Jewishness with fake screen names that continues to this day. Some recent examples: the late Adrienne Shelley (born Levine) and the singer Taylor Dane (I forget her real name, but what a ridiculous, uber-Aryan handle she adopted!). Why indeed do these Jewish performers pretend to be gentiles? Obviously they regard their Jewishness as problematic in some way.
Actually, the story is far more sinister. Bruce Lee came up with the concept for "Kung-Fu." CBS decided that America wouldn't accept an Asian leading man. Instead, the character became biracial, played by a fully white man.
Lee said screw it and went to Hong Kong and started his film career.
We should be honest about the legacy of racism in our society and how it affected casting.
You lot are ridiculous. Being Jewish is tied to group identity related to the religion, language and group identity because there is no longer such a thing as a Jewish race. That means that the Jewish "banner" would include sub-groups from Eastern European, Ethiopian, Indian, etc. This diversity has not made the white Jewish people immune from the race and color prejudices that you find in the general white population of the USA. If Jewish people in the USA were to look the same as those Jews of 2000 years ago the Upper East side plastic surgeons of New York will be even more busy than they are now.
I understand how someone can be "half-Asian" (would that include someone whose father was American and mother was Iranian?) but how is someone "half-Jewish"? It's a religion. Can a person be "half-Buddhist" or "half-Mormon"? Can a woman be "half-pregnant"? Is a person "half-alcoholic" if one parent is? Can't we find something other than "half-Jewish" to describe people who aren't that religion, even if one parent was?
"Gee, why don't people get it? There are plenty of beautiful Jewish women (some even blonde) in Hollywood, including my cousin, actress Waspy Waspington (real name: Naomi Katzenstein). "
I think it's just because Shannon Schussle didn't want to be mistaken for a German. Or an Iriswhoman!
this post had identity politics written all over it. utterly petty, even in errors it originally made .sort of thing big hollywood can do without
I read the whole thing. Hobbes is correct, only man tries to modify the state of nature; the predator/prey paradigm. His only place in the rubric is, "am I predated on, or am I capable of defeating the predator."
I'll STFU now, since you have the sword in your own capable hands. Anyone tries to take your freedom or your defense of it, you know what to do.
Actually, there has been an interesting ebb and flow within it, although it was a poorly researched start. Lots of interesting angles and takes, and even the stupid stuff was less stupid in context.
This goy of Scots Irish descent discovered Jewish girls at university (in '70). Thumbs Up.
I come from an Irish Catholic background so Jewish women have always fascinated me (the Exotic Other, forbidden fruit, etc.). One movie you might want to look at is ANYTHING BUT LOVE (aka "Standard Time), a little known movie that I liked very much. Although the heroine is never identified as Jewish, her name and look suggests she is, and although not classically beautiful, I found her very attractive (well, of course, I would), and her warm, funny personality is contrasted with a yuppie WASP Ice Princess who is the fiancee of the guy she gets smitten with.. Of course, since the actress (Isabel Rose) who plays the protagonist also co-wrote and co-produced the movie, she may have tipped the scales a little in her favor.
Joaquin Phoenix is Jewish (well, at least by Jewish law since his mother is Jewish). Plenty of non-Jews have played Jews and there's nothing wrong with that, but Phoenix isn't one of them. And what Schlussel was talking about was Jewish characters, not Jewish actors whose characters aren't identified as anything.
[...] over at BigHo, Schlussel wrote: Hollywood’s Second Class Jewish Chicks & “Two [...]
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