Jewish women have strong thoughts on one of TV’s most popular shows right now

Last month, ahead of the release of the much-discussed and beloved Netflix romantic comedy series Nobody Wants This , stars Adam Brody and Kristen Bell appeared on the Armchair Experts podcast.

They got candid with hosts Dax Shepard (Bell’s husband) and Monica Padman about their chemistry, and That The shocking first kiss that inspired millions of memes — and the Brody kiss many of us have been waiting for sinceolympic committee”.

As it turned out, Brody was unhappy with the kiss scene: He felt it was unrealistic to have his character tell Bell to leave her purse on a Los Angeles sidewalk.

After watching this show, even the most germaphobic, wallet-toting city dwellers among us will be able to put to rest any doubts about this chemistry, That kiss.

But there’s something else about the show that doesn’t sit well with many obsessed viewers (myself included): its cartoonish depiction of Jewish women. Almost simultaneously with the rave reviews came criticism on sites like Time and Vulture, and of course X (formerly Twitter).

Freelance writer Miriam Handel said in an article, “Adam Brody was so fiery in Nobody Wants This that it made me miss the understated yet sinister ways in which the Jewish women on the show exist.”

A low-key devil indeed. “No one wants this” Inspired by the real life of creator Erin FosterThe experience of being a non-Jewish womano Falling in love with a JewBoo man. (Foster later converted to Judaism.)In the TV version, the stakes are higher: Brody plays a sexy rabbi named Noah, and Bell plays Joanne, who, as we’re reminded countless times, is a “shiksa.” This word comes from Yiddish, has historically been used (and often pejoratively) to describe a non-Jewish woman, usually blonde, who seduces an otherwise God-fearing man into straying from his religious marital expectations.

What the show conveys is that, as a society, we’ve been craving truly enjoyable romantic comedies with sharp dialogue and complex characters. I admit I cried when Joanne opened up about her fears about relationships, and when Noah improvised a “first Sabbath” for Joanne in the middle of the restaurant.

And, oh, I really, real Wish I could leave my review on this.

But from the opening scenes, it’s clear that there are two distinct groups of characters in the film: Jewish women and the people who tolerate them.

Bina – Noah’s overbearing mother, played by Tovah Feldshuh – gets angry whenever she sees Joanne during Friday night worship services. Only Noah’s sister-in-law Esther (played by Jackie Thorne) seems nervous and mean-spirited, and Bina steals the show.

“I was offended by the portrayal of Jewish women, especially Esther,” said Hannah Orenstein, a writer and editor who lives in New York. “She was overbearing, controlling, asexual, treated her husband like shit, and was rude to Joanne, in part because of who she was.”

Esther also happens to be the best friend of Rebecca, played by Emily Arook. Rebecca is Noah’s Jewish ex-girlfriend, who he broke up with after discovering that she managed to find an engagement ring in a locked drawer and started wearing it before anyone proposed. The implication here, as I see it, is that for Jewish women the goal is to get married at all costs, romance be damned. So, some of the cold shoulder toward Joanne does make sense.

“When Esther was rude to Joanne out of loyalty to Rebecca, I didn’t mind — that was a given to me,” Orenstein said. “If she was just one of them, that would be fine. But overall, it’s an overblown stereotype.

In contrast, Joanne and her sister Morgan (played by Justin Lupe) are, certainlyis portrayed as manic, but in a lovable, go-with-the-flow kind of way that his Jewish counterpart is not.

“I really don’t like to see Jewish women portrayed as nagging, unloving wives,” Orenstein said. “The show does tenderness so well. If they could bring out Esther and Sasha’s relationship, How about some warmth for her? asks, referring to Esther’s husband, played by Timothy Simmons.

my friend emma Former Huffington Post employee GrayThe same sentiment was expressed in her comments rich text communicationwrites, “Jewish women”No one wants this’ Existing only as antagonists are Joanne and Morgan, whose paper-thin renderings sour a show that contains so much deliciousness.

I’m tempted to laugh the whole thing off as pure comedy and question whether it’s even true That Importantly, I wondered whether I was building a Semitic mountain out of a Semitic molehill. This is partly because there are yes There’s some truth behind these cruel caricatures: I’ve been lovingly grilled on more than one occasion about my romantic life by my nosy grandmother.

But to me and others, the vitriol seen in the series just doesn’t ring true.

“I know some close-knit families who really want their children to marry Jewish,” Orenstein said. “It felt real to me. But what didn’t feel real was the intensity of their public hatred of Joanne. I know some people were upset because their children’s partners were not Jewish. But in public, the atmosphere was more More disappointment than apathy or aggression.

Lack of reality may be of the show The biggest problem. Satire satirizes its subject and can be very effective if used correctly. (look: “Curb your enthusiasm.) but most of the choices these characters make don’t feel like the actions of anyone in real life. Reducing a character to his least desirable traits without enough comic relief just ends up feeling despicable.

"I do not feel that their actions reflect the experiences of Jewish women in my community," said Ava Feldman (no relation to this article) in the San Francisco Bay Area. “The scene where Esther screams at Sasha in the car while he’s at the bar with Joanne and Noah is so painful.”

To its credit, the Los Angeles Times pointed out in an interview that “When she walked into the writers’ room, she said she intentionally surrounded herself with colleagues who were Jewish-born.” SecondHowever, when asked what she thought about critics calling Jewish characters “stereotypes,” her response left me wanting more. (She had not responded to a request for comment as of the time of publication).

“I think we need a positive Jewish story right now,” Foster told the Los Angeles Times. “I think it’s interesting when people focus on, ‘Oh, this is a Jewish stereotype,’ when you have a rabbi as a leader. A sexy, cool, young rabbi who smokes weed. It’s very different from that. People think the opposite about Jewish rabbis, right? If I had Jewish parents like two granola hippies on a farm, someone would write, “I’ve never seen a Jew like that before. You obviously don’t.” Know how to write about Jews, you have no idea what you’re doing and it doesn’t represent us well.

perhaps. I have no idea. I want a TV show like this Movies like The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel or You Were Not Invited to My Bar Mitzvah Feldman says “As a portrayal of modern Jewish family dynamics, it feels very authentic. “What I Want to Know”No one wants this” If it didn’t explore complex family relationships, it would be something like this Reinforce weakening and potentially damaging stereotypes.

Most people I’ve spoken to have finished the series with similar feelings: they all genuinely enjoyed it, but were disappointed – especially, in some cases, by the ending.

“I think Joanne has come to a very mature conclusion, and the idea of ​​someone giving up their entire career for someone they’ve been dating for less than three or four months feels very extreme,” Feldman said.

Orenstein echoed this sentiment. “Interfaith relations absolutely have a role to play,” she said. “But religion is Noah’s world, and no matter how Joanne takes it, I think she’s going to be miserable in the end. She must prioritize a value system that makes no sense to her.

Ultimately, we have to be willing to suspend disbelief when it comes to cheesy romantic comedies. of course They end up together, dream job be damned. certainly She placed her purse on the sidewalk.

But no one hopes (or at least I don’t) to dispel the suspicion that we are unable to portray ourselves as full, complex people in the media we consume. – Satire or otherwise.