The Coen Brothers: Self-Hating Jews?

I received a comment to my last post which incensed me, and after writing a long rebuttal comment I decided just to run it as a post. Here it is (read that comment first).

You say I think that Jews are not capable of 'Run of the mill buffoonery? Lust? Depression? Drug use? A penchant for petty thievery? Adultery?' Unfortunately, Jews are not immune from any of these sins you mentioned in your comment.

If what you got out of my post that was that Jews are always innocent of the above, you seriously misread it and missed my point entirely.

What I am averse to is not necessarily depicting Jews committing crimes (I say "necessarily" for a reason, which I will address in a moment); rather I am opposed to the Coen brothers pernicious depiction of Jews in the manner of classic Antisemitism and Antisemitic cartoons, as utilized (among others) by the Nazis.

In addition, they created an amalgam of nefarious and ridiculous characters which are exaggerated stereotypes, right down to the loud-mouthed Yente-type, wimpy, ingenuous shlemiel and ineffectual rabbis.

They also imbued in these characters a supposed knowledge of Jewish law and Hebrew words relating to such law which people such as these would probably not know, not use, not cherish as an important part of their lives, let alone be interested in bi'chlall.

Now, in light of the above, I have a real problem with the depiction of Jews as bad, sinful, stupid, self-centered, superficial or money-grubbing. Almost the entire world is against Israel and there is currently a huge resurgence of antisemitism globally. Thus, I don't think we need more public depiction of Jews in a sarcastic, negative light. There is unfortunately plenty of that already.

What we need is just the opposite. How about a movie showing Jews who are good people and likable people who are knowledgeable in their religion; who are humanitarian and do good in the world;, who have built a successful economy and society in a state surrounded by mortal enemies in a miraculous 60 years? Who have contributed to the world socially, scientifically, technologically and economically?

That is what we need to see in a movie about Jews, not the self-hating tripe that the Coen brothers produced.

Comments

Batya said…
Seraphic Secret is the address fro your request of a positive movie.
Lady-Light said…
Batya: I went there. What should I be looking for?
You write:

"Now, in light of the above, I have a real problem with the depiction of Jews as bad, sinful, stupid, self-centered, superficial"

You are right. We Jews are absolutely perfect. This is an implication that goes against the core of Judaism. We ask forgiveness on Yom Kippur, for what? For admitting we are not perfect.

"How about a movie showing Jews who are good people and likable people who are knowledgeable in their religion..."

Are you serious? This is a propaganda movie, like a sect who accepts just one model we all should comply with.
Anonymous said…
What you want is Hasbara : The Movie

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