Below are excerpts from two opposing viewpoints.
Point
Counter oint
Oscars Crossed A Line Into Bigotry
Seth MacFarlane: Not An Anti-Semite
in-your-face — but it goes nowhere
Los Angeles
Los Angeles (Jewish Journal)
t seems as though the Oscars writers
think that Hollywood is so liberal that
they can get away with making offensive
comments because everyone knows they're
"just joking"
I don't agree.
This year's Academy Awards ceremony fea-
tured a not very subtle onslaught of sexist, rac-
ist, homophobic and anti-Semitic "jokes:'
Perhaps the most offensive comments
were made by "Ted," the talking stuffed bear
who bantered (through MacFarlane's voice)
with actor Mark Wahlberg about Hollywood's
domination by Jews. If putting those words in
the mouth of a talking bear is sup-
posed to make the remarks cute
and cuddly, it didn't work for me.
Remarking on all the talent
assembled at the ceremony, Ted
said to Wahlberg, "You know
what's interesting? All those actors
I just named are part Jewish,"
referring to Joaquin Phoenix (who
has a Jewish mother), Daniel
Day-Lewis (ditto) and Alan Arkin
(both parents were Jewish).
"What about you?" Ted asked
Wahlberg. "You've got a 'berg' on the end of
your name. Are you Jewish?"
Wahlberg explained that he is Catholic. Ted
responded: "Wrong answer. Try again. Do you
want to work in this town or don't you?"
To gain favor with the Hollywood crowd, Ted
claimed that he was Jewish, that he "was born
Theodore Shapiro," and that "I would like to
donate money to Israel and continue to work in
Hollywood forever."
When Wahlberg called Ted an idiot, Ted
that Crystal, or Adam Sandler in his
"Chanukah Song," or Lenny Bruce in
eth MacFarlane was joking.
He was poking fun. He was
his Jewish/gentile rift or a hundred
mocking the widespread
other comedians, haven't gone before.
understanding that Jews are dispro-
So why the outrage? Maybe because
portionately represented in the enter-
against the backdrop of increasing
anti-Semitism in Europe and else-
tainment business. This fact comes
as a shock to exactly no one, and
where, Jews are extra sensitive.
the idea that joking about it "feeds"
Maybe because an older generation
of Jews is unfamiliar with a newer
anti-Semitism misunderstands both
the nature of humor and of anti-
brand of Family Guy/South Park
Semitism.
humor. Even Amy Davidson, writing
One thing humor does well is dif-
on the New Yorker blog, took offense
— this from a magazine whose edi-
fuse prejudice. It does that through
mockery, exaggeration and sometimes tor David Remnick once wrote a
by just bringing prejudice
much-deserved, flattering
to light. That explains
profile of Howard Stern.
everything from Charlie
Stern's brand of satire paved
Chaplin in The Great
the way for comedians like
MacFarlane.
Dictator to Sacha Baron
Cohen's character of
Or maybe the outrage
Borat, who got hundreds
arises because Jews are still
of Arizonans at a rodeo
uncomfortable with the
to sing the "famous"
notion of being powerful.
Kazhakstan folksong
Deal with it. Jews are dispro-
"Throw the Jew Down the
portionately represented in
Rob Eshman
Well." Cohen wasn't out
Hollywood.
to whip up Jew hatred,
But wait, there's more:
he was out to expose human — hmm,
The Jewish state has 200 nuclear
what's the word? — stupidity.
weapons and a hegemony of power in
MacFarlane doesn't really believe
the Middle East. Jews are dispropor-
you have to change your name or give tionately represented in government,
finance, law, publishing and medicine.
to Israel to make it in Hollywood; he
was riffing on the simplistic belief
Only Jews can read these factual state-
that that's all it takes.
ments and think, Oy! ❑
Billy Crystal could make a dozen
Rob Eshman is publisher and editor in
Jewish references at the Oscars and
chief of the Jewish Journal.
no one would do anything but kvell.
Granted, MacFarlane's humor is more
I
S
Ted and Mark Wahlberg at the Oscars
responded, "We'll see who's an idiot when they
give me my private plane at the next secret
synagogue meeting:'
Ted's (or, in reality, MacFarlane's) remarks
about the "secret" Jewish cabal that controls
Hollywood, discriminates against
non-Jews and is tied to Israel were
not clever and witty. They were anti-
Semitic.
I'm certain that many film indus-
try folks sitting in the audience were
uncomfortable with the barrage of
offensive comments throughout
the evening. I'm not a prude and
I believe it's OK to make fun of
one's foibles. But the comments by
MacFarlane and Ted did not simply
poke fun at specific individuals;
they targeted entire groups.
This year's Oscars show crossed the invis-
ible line between satire and bigotry. It was
ugly and unfunny.
❑
Peter Dreier teaches politics and chairs the
Urban & Environmental Policy department at
Occidental College in Los Angeles. His most
recent book is "The 100 Greatest Americans
of the 20th Century: A Social Justice Hall of
Fame" (Nation Books, 2012).
JN Survey
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❑
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Tamarack Is A Fantastic Camp
From The Twitterverse
• I used to say Jews made the lam-
est Jew jokes, but then I saw Seth
MacFarlane doing it via a Teddy bear.
• Time to check off the 'jew joke'
square on your Seth MacFarlane
bingo card. @pushinghoops
®WGIadstone
• Maybe hilarious sexism and anti-
Semitism should be reserved for
Sunday night cartoons instead of the
Oscars. ®mandaschaefer
• Next year they'll wonder why they're
being bored by Wayne Brady, forget-
ting it's because they pretended to be
offended by Seth MacFarlane.
®MarkAgee
Go Akiva!
Akiva Hebrew Day School Color Wars was the best. Go Team Boker and go
Team Erev! We loved it!
– Southfield
This is in regards to the story about Jesse Hermann at Tamarack Camp,
in which someone claimed there was an incident at Daddy and Me Camp
where a child was intentionally struck [JN Feb. 21, page 12]. If there were
such an incident, Tamarack would definitely have done something about it.
My kids went there, my grandchildren are going there. I went there. It's a
fantastic camp.
– West Bloomfield
Got something on your mind? Call Soapbox at (248) 351-5146.
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March 7 • 2013
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