You People’s Outrageous Antisemitism

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February 7, 2023

9 min read

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Netflix’s #1 movie is full of insidious anti-Jewish tropes.

You People is one of Netflix’s top movies right now.  Co-written by Kenya Barris (who also wrote Black-ish) and Jewish co-star Jonah Hill, You People has been compared to classic films like Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner and Meet the Parents.

Its success is bad news for Jews.  Throughout the movie, Jews are depicted as grotesque, greedy and foolish, and without any positive identity of their own.  It’s a painful portrait of contemporary Jewish life that reflects the dangerous way many people perceive Jews today.

Jews are Nasty, Vulgar and Empty

One of the most loathsome aspects of the movie occurs in the opening scene, as main character Ezra (Jonah Hill) is sitting with his family in synagogue on Yom Kippur.  Instead of praying, they harangue Ezra and argue, swear, and make vulgar jokes.  Ezra’s mom chides him for not wearing a kippah.  An elderly aunt tells him (incorrectly) that the fact he has tattoos means he can’t be buried in a Jewish cemetery.  Their nasty, bickering tone is somehow taken as shorthand for how American Jews are identified.

Not once in the entire movie does a Jewish character refer to any sort of Jewish wisdom or idea that motivates or sustains them.  While the sweet girl that Ezra eventually falls in love with, a Black Muslim costume designer named Amira (played by Lauren London), recites her favorite inspirational quote by the Black writer James Baldwin, no Jewish character has a similar cultural touchstone.  The not-so-subtle message of You People is that Black culture is fulfilling in a way that Jewish culture is not.  (The fact that Ezra and Amira bond over Black-inflected music, fashion and culture reinforces this point.)

Jews as Sexual Predators

Several elderly congregants stop Ezra to make wildly inappropriate sexual remarks, then - unbelievably - his old orthodontist stops him and sexually propositions him, suggesting they go back inside the synagogue together.  It’s a bizarre scene, and one that’s inconceivable in a mainstream movie were it to take place in any other religious institution.  (Can you imagine the same script taking place outside of a mosque?)

Antisemites have long depicted the Jews as a perverse, predatory, and pornographic people.

Jewish activist Dr. Jonah Cohen notes that “Antisemites have long depicted the Jews as a perverse, predatory, and pornographic people.”  Supposed sexual deviancy among Jews was a major preoccupation of Nazi publications such as Der Sturmer.  It’s also a key tenet of the Nation of Islam’s teachings (more on this later).  Including this offensive and far-fetched scene in You People only reinforces this odious stereotype to a new generation of movie-goers.

Jews and Money

When Ezra tells his Jewish date (of course she has an unusually large nose) that he works as a stockbroker, her reply could come straight out of a Nazi-era movie. She tells him it must be great to get to work with so much money. Huh?  Are we really still dealing with this stereotype of Jews loving money in 2023?

Another trope about Jews and money comes later in the film, after Amira loses a major potential client (because of racism, naturally). Ezra offers to put her in touch with one of his relatives in the same industry, and she nobly refuses, telling him that she’s always earned her success on her own, the implication being that Ezra somehow has not. At another point in the movie, Amira’s mother (Nia Long) - who seems to have a very comfortable lifestyle herself - quips that by gaining a white son-in-law, her family’s gaining a lot more “intergenerational wealth”. No context is given for this snarky and nonsensical comment; it’s just assumed that white people - and Ezra’s white Jewish family particularly - means wealth.

Holocaust as Punchline

When Ezra decides to propose to Amira, he buys her a diamond engagement ring.  Showing it off to his best friend, he asks if it looks too small. His friend tells him it’s way too tiny.  Ezra hits on an idea: he’ll lie to Amira and tell her the ring belonged to his grandmother who was in the Holocaust.  “Once you drop the Holocaust, game over,” he smirks to his friend.  The thought that the Holocaust might have any personal meaning to Ezra - or to anyone else for that matter - and isn’t merely a fodder for jokes is entirely absent.

Ezra needn’t have concocted his fake Holocaust story – Amira loves the ring.  Yet Ezra insists on talking about the Holocaust during his engagement scene, explaining that’s why the diamond is so small.  When Amira asks for more details about her new engagement ring’s Holocaust connection and expresses wonder that his grandmother was old enough to have been engaged then, Ezra prevaricates even more, telling her a bizarre story about his grandmother getting engaged at age three.  It’s not funny, and using the collective Jewish trauma of 6 million of our great grandparents having been murdered within living memory as a trick to explain a small engagement ring is beyond poor taste.

The Holocaust makes another appearance later on, in the excruciating scene with Amira’s and Ezra’s parents.  They begin arguing about which was worse: the Holocaust or the experience of Black slavery, and Amira’s mom asks in an outraged tone, “Are you trying to compare the Holocaust to slavery?”  The implication is somehow that the Holocaust cannot possibly compare in savagery.  It’s improbable that two middle aged women today would actually have this unproductive fight, in which there can’t possibly be any final answer or winner.  The fact that this scene is included in You People serves to muddy people’s understanding of the Holocaust, implying that it’s somehow not a terrible tragedy.

Erasing Violence Against Jews

At another point in the film, Amira's mother scores a point in an argument with Ezra's parents by declaring that Jews aren't victims of violence. She declares that no one turns on the TV to see footage of Jews being shot at.

That's flat-out wrong: Violence against Jews is real and it's been growing.  57% of all hate crimes in America are directed against Jews, despite Jews making up less than 2% of the population.  In 2021, the American Jewish Committee logged 88 violent physical attacks on Jews, in addition to thousands of other offences including vandalism and harrasment.

The situation is even more grim overseas.  In fact, on the day that You People was released, seven Jews were murdered in Jerusalem after Shabbbat evening prayers in a synagogue.  We are witnessing the normalization of antisemitism, and this film is part of this problem.

Excusing the Nation of Islam

One of You People’s most dangerous elements is its apologies for the Nation of Islam, a hateful movement that targets Jews, the LGBTQ+ community, and white people in general.

In the movie, Amira’s family belongs to the Nation of Islam; her father (played with panache by Eddie Murphy) talks about this identity proudly.  No mention is made of what the Anti-Defamation League has described as the movement’s “wide-ranging antisemitism, which is consistently promoted at all levels of the organization, including denying that Jews have a legitimate claim to their religion and to the land of Israel and alleging that Judaism is nothing more than a ‘deceptive lie’ and a ‘theological error’ promoted by Jews to further their control over politics and the economy.”

In one scene, Amira’s dad proudly shows off his kufi, a Muslim male head covering, and describes how National of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan gave it to him personally.  Ezra’s mother seems aghast and says she knows what Farrakhan says about Jews - but she never gets the chance to articulate her outrage.  The camera cuts to another scene.

Farrakhan has falsely blamed Jews for the slave trade, has called Jews “bloodsuckers” and “termites”, and has accused Jews of being sexual predators and pedophiles and introducing these themes into Hollywood movies.  Each of these themes is present in You People.  It’s almost as if the real star is Louis Farrakhan and his virulently anti-Jewish smears.

Accusing Jews of Controlling the Slave Trade

You People repeats Farrakhan’s incorrect contention that Jews were major players in the slave trade.  At one point, Amira’s and Ezra’s parents start bickering over whose family histories were harder.  Ezra’s mom points out that their families came to America with nothing and built up new lives there.  “Actually, you kind of sort of came here with the money you made on the slave trade like everyone else,” Amira’s mother shoots back.  Nobody counters this outrageous claim; it’s left to stand, conveying to millions of viewers that there’s some truth to the entirely false accusation that Jews controlled the slave trade.

The film conveys to millions of viewers that there’s some truth to the entirely false accusation that Jews controlled the slave trade.

The baseless accusation that Jews somehow controlled the slave trade has seeped into the popular culture, thanks to Louis Farrakhan incessantly harping on this slur.  It’s also been repeated by David Duke, a former Grand Wizard of the Klu Klux Klan and a former US Congressional candidate.  Scholars have long thoroughly debunked it.  Now, thanks to You People, it’s gained a new lease on life, in the minds of the 30 million viewers who’ve watched the movie so far.

Is There Really No Reason to be Jewish?

When Amira’s parents meet Ezra, they clearly state that their preference is for her to marry a fellow Muslim.  Ezra’s parents couldn’t be more different: they welcome Amira with open arms, reveling in the fact that they’ll have a Black daughter-in-law and “Black grandbabies.”  When Ezra asks his mom whether she’d be happier if he chose a Jewish wife, his mother dismisses his concerns.  “Oh Ezra, you’re my baby boy…” she coos.  “It would be nice - our people’s numbers are dwindling,” she notes - before telling him how happy she is that their family is growing in new and interesting ways.  “We are the future!” she exclaims of their soon-to-be biracial family.

Are “dwindling” numbers really the only reason not to marry Jewish?  Doesn’t Ezra’s mom wish she could have Jewish grandkids too?  The movie implies that Jewish life and culture count for nothing.

In the world of You People, Black culture is interesting and alluring, while Jews are depicted as horrible, dull, and just plain bizarre.

Clearly, Jonah Hill has never been exposed to the beauty, depth and meaning ingrained in Jewish life. He can start apologizing to the Jewish people for this abysmal film by meeting a few Jewish families, learning about Jewish history, and exploring the relevance of Jewish wisdom.

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Dubby
Dubby
3 months ago

Very good article as to why nobody should watcgthis awful movie. I watched it with my daughter and was also shocked by its presentation of Jewish life. We watched it because we both like Eddie Murphy. He's very talented - except in choosing the movies he appears in. From what I hear Farrakhan was also implicated in the murder of Malcolm X, who I believe was killed because he was coming to a more universal perspective and would have left that organizaion. There was so little to recommend the Ezra character, it didn't even make sense that he'd appeal to Amira. I've never been a fan of Jonah Hill and didn't realize he co-wrote this awful movie. Thank you for exposing its awfulness. Had I read this before watching it I might not have wasted time on it.

Graham
Graham
3 months ago
Reply to  Dubby

So now you know that Jonah Hill is a Meshugenah anti Semetic yok !

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