Jew in the City Launches Hollywood Bureau for Jewish Representation: We Want to Be Seen as Individuals – Variety
Posted By admin on March 26, 2022
Through her organization Jew in the City (JITC), Allison Josephs has been advocating for accurate representations of the Jewish community in the media since 2007. Shes now opening an official Hollywood bureau to elevate JITCs efforts, something Josephs said she would have done earlier, but she had no idea such a thing even existed until last year.
We had been using social media, op-eds and relationships with reporters, Josephs said, until she learned about other minority Hollywood bureaus created by the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), NAACP and the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE). The bureau celebrated its launch on Monday, and Josephs said the scope of its efforts will go beyond just Orthodox stories, although those are often the most egregious.
We started off really with the idea that this would be about Orthodox depictions, so we could get a seat at the table when our stories are being told, said Josephs, who is an Orthodox Jew herself. As we started talking about this, all of these non-Orthodox Hollywood writers and producers started contacting us secretly and saying, Were also not happy with our depictions. Were also not happy how fellow Jews are depicting us, how some non-Jews are depicting us.
Currently, the bureau is still in its early stages, with no official Hollywood office or full-time staff yet. Josephs said JITC is currently in the process of organizing an official academic study to track Jewish representation, meeting with network executives at NBC and CBS and has plans to form writers labs and establish a network of creatives who will further the cause.
Recent TV shows like Unorthodox, My Unorthodox Life and Shtisel have brought Jewish stories into the spotlight, but Josephs said those shows either overplay the dysfunctionality of Orthodox families or are simply inaccurate, which can fuel real-life antisemitic biases and hate crimes, which are currently on the rise. For these stories, one of the questions she asks as part of her Josephs test is whether a character can self-actualize without leaving their Judaism behind.
What that makes it seem like is that leaving is the way that an Orthodox Jew sort of completes him or herself, Josephs said. Its not to say that a story like that cant be examined but we want to be able to be proud and happy, and so many of us are.
As Hollywood reckons with its depictions of numerous minority groups from people of color to the LGBTQ community and disabled people Jews, who make up about 0.2% of the global population, are still struggling to make their voices heard beyond stereotypical depictions and traumatic retellings of the Holocaust.
Jews played a major role in the founding of the Hollywood studio system, as documented in Neil Gablers 1988 book An Empire of Their Own. But that history is often erased, and it doesnt mean the film industry has wholeheartedly welcomed Jewish stories. Indeed, many writers rooms and networks include Jews among their ranks, but not all are religiously observant. Much of the Jewish representation on screen is either depicted by gentiles (see: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), or is one-dimensional, self-hating or, even worse, outright antisemitic, with offensive tropes at the forefront.
Jonathan Prince, a Jewish producer and screenwriter who is collaborating with JITC on a documentary about the history of Jewish depictions in media, said he hopes the new bureau will be a step towards including a wider range of Jewish identities in writers rooms and allowing Jews to tell their stories without fear of retaliation.
I remember coming of age as a writer, one older Jewish writer said to me jokingly, Write Yiddish, cast British, and it stuck with me, Prince said. There is an assumption among non-Jews that somehow were in charge or were in control, and nothing could be further from the truth. We operate from the same fears of prejudice and fear of being targeted as any other minority.
At the event, JITC premiered a 12-minute clip of the documentary, which features Josephs, People Love Dead Jews author Dana Horn, writer-producer Rob Kurtz and other Jewish industry players and experts. The clip lays out the groundwork of JITCs current efforts, and examines some of the most problematic depictions of Jews on screen, including many from Jews themselves, like Max Greenfield as his character Schmidt on New Girl joking that everybody hates the Jews in 2011.
We are a community that loves to laugh at ourselves, which is great, Kurtz says in the doc. But theres a big difference between laughing and ridicule.
Josephs said she has found solidarity among the other existing minority bureaus, which have helped her build a framework for JITCs current efforts. Her goals for the new bureau are vast, and she hopes it will allow JITC to address more nuanced issues, like problematic depictions that come from within her own community and the absence of representation for Jews of color, in addition to being an educational resource for networks and studios.
At the end of the day, we want to be seen as individuals and not as stereotypes, Josephs said. We want to be able to feel proud of what we see on the screen.
Go here to read the rest:
- 'I seek a kind person': the Guardian ad that saved my Jewish father from the Nazis - The Guardian [Last Updated On: May 8th, 2021] [Originally Added On: May 8th, 2021]
- Ritchie Boys: The secret U.S. unit bolstered by German-born Jews who helped the Allies beat Hitler - 60 Minutes - CBS News [Last Updated On: May 16th, 2021] [Originally Added On: May 16th, 2021]
- We are family: Jewish and Arab medical staff respond to ethnic tensions - The Jerusalem Post [Last Updated On: May 16th, 2021] [Originally Added On: May 16th, 2021]
- The most important Jewish holiday you've never heard of - Albany Times Union [Last Updated On: May 16th, 2021] [Originally Added On: May 16th, 2021]
- Jerusalem conflict: The history of Al-Aqsa Mosque on Temple Mount and the holiest Jewish temple that preceded it - OpIndia [Last Updated On: May 16th, 2021] [Originally Added On: May 16th, 2021]
- If you think American Jews should be angry with Biden over Israel, youre antisemitic - The Independent [Last Updated On: May 16th, 2021] [Originally Added On: May 16th, 2021]
- Dont just tweak antisemitic in style guides call it what it is: anti-Jewish - The Boston Globe [Last Updated On: May 16th, 2021] [Originally Added On: May 16th, 2021]
- Fear stalks streets of Israeli city where Jews and Arabs mixed freely - Reuters [Last Updated On: May 16th, 2021] [Originally Added On: May 16th, 2021]
- A Jew is a Jew is a Jew: What rising antisemitism is teaching the diaspor - The Jerusalem Post [Last Updated On: June 1st, 2021] [Originally Added On: June 1st, 2021]
- Debt owed to Jewish refugee art - Church Times - Church Times [Last Updated On: June 11th, 2021] [Originally Added On: June 11th, 2021]
- A violation of the Jewish spirit Analysis - Ynetnews [Last Updated On: June 11th, 2021] [Originally Added On: June 11th, 2021]
- LAUSD Teacher Resigns from Union Over Pro-BDS Motion: I Feel Unsafe As a Jew - Jewish Journal [Last Updated On: June 11th, 2021] [Originally Added On: June 11th, 2021]
- America must rethink its unique and contradictory advocacy of Israels Jewishness - Brookings Institution [Last Updated On: June 11th, 2021] [Originally Added On: June 11th, 2021]
- Bennett is an 'evil' and 'wicked' Reform Jew who will rot, say haredi MKs - The Jerusalem Post [Last Updated On: June 11th, 2021] [Originally Added On: June 11th, 2021]
- The Brooklyn Man Who Set Out to Track Every Jew Lost to Covid - The New York Times [Last Updated On: June 11th, 2021] [Originally Added On: June 11th, 2021]
- Tensions Remain in Mixed City of Arabs and Jews - VOA Learning English [Last Updated On: June 16th, 2021] [Originally Added On: June 16th, 2021]
- We Jews need a real reckoning with our role in American racism - Haaretz [Last Updated On: June 19th, 2021] [Originally Added On: June 19th, 2021]
- Moshe's Leadership, the Rebbe, and the Dilemma of the Modern Jew - Jewish Journal [Last Updated On: June 19th, 2021] [Originally Added On: June 19th, 2021]
- Too Jewish For Hollywood: As Antisemitism Soars, Hollywood Should Address Its Enduring Hypocrisy In Hyperbolic Caricatures of Jews - Variety [Last Updated On: June 19th, 2021] [Originally Added On: June 19th, 2021]
- The Boston stabbing of a rabbi was inevitable - Connecticut Jewish Ledger [Last Updated On: July 28th, 2021] [Originally Added On: July 28th, 2021]
- Why San Francisco is home to the worlds oldest Jewish film festival - Forward [Last Updated On: July 28th, 2021] [Originally Added On: July 28th, 2021]
- Jewish Olympians on the Podium | JewishBoston - jewishboston.com [Last Updated On: July 28th, 2021] [Originally Added On: July 28th, 2021]
- Asking Who is a Jew is Asking Who We Are (So Come, Tell Us!) - Jewish Journal [Last Updated On: July 28th, 2021] [Originally Added On: July 28th, 2021]
- Richard Wagner and the Jews - DW (English) [Last Updated On: July 28th, 2021] [Originally Added On: July 28th, 2021]
- Leopoldstadt set to return to the West End this week - Jewish News [Last Updated On: August 7th, 2021] [Originally Added On: August 7th, 2021]
- What happens when American Jews 'watch' the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? 'The Viewing Booth' offers a glimpse. - Jewish Telegraphic Agency [Last Updated On: August 7th, 2021] [Originally Added On: August 7th, 2021]
- Leading Nonprofit Jewish Funeral Chapel is Transforming Approach to End-of-Life Issues Detroit Jewish News - The Jewish News [Last Updated On: August 7th, 2021] [Originally Added On: August 7th, 2021]
- Letting Dolgopyat marry leads to the end of the Jewish identity -opinion - The Jerusalem Post [Last Updated On: August 7th, 2021] [Originally Added On: August 7th, 2021]
- End Jew Hatred to Hold NYC Protest Against Ben & Jerry's - Jewish Journal [Last Updated On: August 7th, 2021] [Originally Added On: August 7th, 2021]
- What does 'Jew down' mean, and why do people find it ... [Last Updated On: August 7th, 2021] [Originally Added On: August 7th, 2021]
- Beanie Feldstein is the new Funny Girl but Jewish actresses dont always get the Jewish role - Forward [Last Updated On: August 13th, 2021] [Originally Added On: August 13th, 2021]
- My Unorthodox Life just another show distorting Orthodox Jews - opinion - The Jerusalem Post [Last Updated On: August 13th, 2021] [Originally Added On: August 13th, 2021]
- I feel empowered as an Asian-American Jew but it sure took a while to get there - Cleveland Jewish News [Last Updated On: August 13th, 2021] [Originally Added On: August 13th, 2021]
- Dozens march to Ben & Jerrys Times Square shop demanding it end Jew hatred - The Times of Israel [Last Updated On: August 13th, 2021] [Originally Added On: August 13th, 2021]
- Moroccan Jews In Israel: Discrimination In The New Homeland Analysis Eurasia Review - Eurasia Review [Last Updated On: August 31st, 2021] [Originally Added On: August 31st, 2021]
- Dara Horn on a world that only teaches about 'dead Jews' - Jewish Insider [Last Updated On: August 31st, 2021] [Originally Added On: August 31st, 2021]
- A new Jewish cookbook that everyone should own - Los Angeles Times [Last Updated On: August 31st, 2021] [Originally Added On: August 31st, 2021]
- Ed Asners very righteous (and very Jewish) journey - Forward [Last Updated On: August 31st, 2021] [Originally Added On: August 31st, 2021]
- After Afghanistan's last Jew refused to leave, his would-be Jewish rescuers helped dozens of other Afghans escape instead - JTA News - Jewish... [Last Updated On: August 31st, 2021] [Originally Added On: August 31st, 2021]
- UK Labour Party Councillor Who Referred to 'Jew Process' Facing Expulsion - Algemeiner [Last Updated On: August 31st, 2021] [Originally Added On: August 31st, 2021]
- On Rosh Hashanah, Jews everywhere are commanded to mark the first Nakba - Haaretz [Last Updated On: September 6th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 6th, 2021]
- After years of rebuilding, Budapest's Jewish community sees growth in size and shuls - Cleveland Jewish News [Last Updated On: September 6th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 6th, 2021]
- The last Jew in Afghanistan is en route to the United States - report - The Jerusalem Post [Last Updated On: September 6th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 6th, 2021]
- Jew hatred has erupted around the world, this woman is fighting it - The Jerusalem Post [Last Updated On: September 6th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 6th, 2021]
- Call Your Mother Opens Its Latest Jew-ish Bagel Shop In North Bethesda - Eater DC [Last Updated On: September 22nd, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 22nd, 2021]
- Jewish and Latino? This educator has a new group for you. - The Jewish News of Northern California [Last Updated On: September 24th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 24th, 2021]
- Sukkot is the Jewish holiday that teaches us the joys of doing without - Religion News Service [Last Updated On: September 24th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 24th, 2021]
- More to Jewish culture in Poland than is generally realized - The Jerusalem Post [Last Updated On: September 24th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 24th, 2021]
- How Many Dead Jews Will Satisfy the Squad? - Algemeiner [Last Updated On: September 24th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 24th, 2021]
- Flagstaff's Jewish and Christian communities come together to 'share stories' - Jewish News of Greater Phoenix [Last Updated On: September 26th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 26th, 2021]
- On Living and Dead Jews - Jewish Journal [Last Updated On: September 26th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 26th, 2021]
- The Parvenu and the JewObjects of Scorn in Bolesaw Prus's Classic Polish Novel, The Doll - Jewish Journal [Last Updated On: September 26th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 26th, 2021]
- What Jews are voting for in Germanys national elections - Haaretz [Last Updated On: September 26th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 26th, 2021]
- Last Jew of Afghanistan heading to New York City - New York Post [Last Updated On: September 26th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 26th, 2021]
- Wandering Jew Plant Care Guide (How To Grow & Care For Your ... [Last Updated On: September 28th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 28th, 2021]
- Wandering Jew Plant: Care, Types, and Growing Tips | Epic ... [Last Updated On: September 28th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 28th, 2021]
- The last Jew of Afghanistan has reportedly divorced his wife ... [Last Updated On: September 28th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 28th, 2021]
- Orthodox Judaism - Wikipedia [Last Updated On: September 28th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 28th, 2021]
- Op-Ed: Jew Haters In Congress Have To Be Scorned, Reviled And ... [Last Updated On: September 28th, 2021] [Originally Added On: September 28th, 2021]
- MSU Fights Back: Antisemitic Online Interloper is Rebuffed Detroit Jewish News - The Jewish News [Last Updated On: October 2nd, 2021] [Originally Added On: October 2nd, 2021]
- A German Jewish (and Latinx) perspective on Hispanic Heritage Month - Forward [Last Updated On: October 2nd, 2021] [Originally Added On: October 2nd, 2021]
- A Review of In the Shadow of Moses - jewishboston.com [Last Updated On: October 2nd, 2021] [Originally Added On: October 2nd, 2021]
- The secret Jewish history of The Sopranos The Forward - Forward [Last Updated On: October 2nd, 2021] [Originally Added On: October 2nd, 2021]
- LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Left's Jew hating goes unchecked - Washington Times [Last Updated On: October 2nd, 2021] [Originally Added On: October 2nd, 2021]
- A Boston Jewish leader earns high praise amid lawsuits and allegations of a 'toxic culture' - Forward [Last Updated On: October 2nd, 2021] [Originally Added On: October 2nd, 2021]
- Last Jew out of Afghanistan warns Israel: Dont rely on the United States - The Times of Israel [Last Updated On: October 2nd, 2021] [Originally Added On: October 2nd, 2021]
- The Democratic Party has become the home of Jew hatred - Washington Times [Last Updated On: October 2nd, 2021] [Originally Added On: October 2nd, 2021]
- Progressively Speaking: Why are we married to a Jewish law that fails to protect women? - Jewish News [Last Updated On: October 9th, 2021] [Originally Added On: October 9th, 2021]
- Is the death of the McDonalds McBagel good for the Jews? - Forward [Last Updated On: October 9th, 2021] [Originally Added On: October 9th, 2021]
- These Jews want to normalize not circumcising and they want synagogues to help - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency [Last Updated On: October 9th, 2021] [Originally Added On: October 9th, 2021]
- These Jews want to normalize not circumcising J. - The Jewish News of Northern California [Last Updated On: October 9th, 2021] [Originally Added On: October 9th, 2021]
- How did the WhatsApp outage affect Orthodox Jews and Israelis? - The Jerusalem Post [Last Updated On: October 9th, 2021] [Originally Added On: October 9th, 2021]
- These Jews want to normalize not circumcising with the synagogue's help - The Jerusalem Post [Last Updated On: October 9th, 2021] [Originally Added On: October 9th, 2021]
- Born into slavery, they rose to be elite New York Jews. A new book tells their story. - Religion News Service [Last Updated On: October 9th, 2021] [Originally Added On: October 9th, 2021]
- Born into slavery, they rose to be elite New York Jews J. - The Jewish News of Northern California [Last Updated On: October 9th, 2021] [Originally Added On: October 9th, 2021]
- How a German Jew inspired an annual celebration of German heritage in Texas - The Dallas Morning News [Last Updated On: October 9th, 2021] [Originally Added On: October 9th, 2021]
- Why America's Christian nationalists now defend the torture of Jews - Haaretz [Last Updated On: October 9th, 2021] [Originally Added On: October 9th, 2021]
- Opinion | What Happens When the Last Jew Leaves Afghanistan - The New York Times [Last Updated On: October 9th, 2021] [Originally Added On: October 9th, 2021]
- The thing about dead Jews - Religion News Service [Last Updated On: October 9th, 2021] [Originally Added On: October 9th, 2021]
- Natan Sharansky on the lessons of Oct. 27 | The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle - thejewishchronicle.net [Last Updated On: October 18th, 2021] [Originally Added On: October 18th, 2021]
Comments