Erasing Jews in the Arts: Then and Now

The erasure of Jews in the arts has become commonplace. The Venice Film festival is a recent example. Israeli film actress, Gal Gadot, did not attend even though the film in which she was starring, “In the Hand of Dante,” was having its premier. The stated reason was that she had been receiving death threats for her support of Israel. Pnina Halfon Lang, Executive Director of the CoPro Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to promoting and marketing Israeli cinema, says there has been a sharp downward interest in Israeli film worldwide. The anti-Zionist movement has created international Jew-hatred, and it is showing up in arts cancellations around the globe. Jew-hatred has slithered out from under the rocks, and tropes and blood libels have spread like wildfire.

I recently watched Titans: The Rise of Hollywood, and after a few minutes my teeth were on edge. The representation of real-life personages was appalling; none of the actors spoke with a Yiddish accent (each one first-language Yiddish speakers – Jewish immigrants all) and barely a one had any resemblance to an original titan. Most had typical Waspy faces with patrician cheekbones and square jaws. Not a big nose among them.

There was no mention that they were Jewish immigrants fleeing persecution and death in Russia, Germany, Poland, Hungary, etc. Their only problem appeared to be that Thomas Edison wouldn’t allow them to make films because he held the patents on the cameras and projectors. They moved out to Hollywood to get far away from Edison, who had written in a 1911 letter, “the Jew…has acquired a sixth sense, which gives him an almost unerring judgment in trade affairs,” and Jews will try to accumulate wealth “by any means necessary.” Titans does not mention that Jews faced antisemitism in the film industry. In fact, the marginalization of Jews in early 20th century America led directly to the creation of Hollywood.

The founding of Hollywood followed the same trajectory as the formation of esteemed institutions such as Salomon Brothers, Brandeis University, and Mount Sinai Hospital – Jews founded these places because they weren’t admitted to practice at other institutions. A job vacancy would say “Jews need not apply.” Comically, because of the stereotypes that fueled prejudice against Jewish practitioners (at financial firms, elite universities, hospitals, legal firms and more) Jewish companies benefitted. Top-notch Jews in their fields went to Jewish organizations, and Jewish establishments were not only successful, but they often reached the pinnacle of their respective industries.

The erasure of Jews in Titans reminded me of the brouhaha over the opening of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles in 2021. When it was first opened, it was painful to see that Jews, the founding fathers of Hollywood, (Warner Brothers, Lammle, Fox, Mayer, Thalberg, Zukor, etc.) were absent. No mention whatsoever. When criticized, the Museum directors claimed a permanent exhibit was planned around the founding fathers. The question is: How could the museum open without it? Eventually it was known that the exhibit hadn’t been underway at the time.

Ironically, at the museum opening Bill Kramer, Managing Director of Development said, “We want to ensure that we are taking an honest, inclusive and diverse look at our history, that we create a safe space for complicated, hard conversations.” This was said to guests invited to hear a panel discussion titled “Creating a More Inclusive Museum.” Inclusive to all – except Jews.

Eventually, an exhibit about the founders was created. It was hidden at the back of the third floor and it debased most of the men who had founded Hollywood. The exhibit included words like tyrant, oppressive, womanizer, and predator in its wall text. The United Jewish Writers, 300+ signers, wrote to the museum calling the exhibit antisemitic and described it as “the only section of the museum that vilifies those it purports to celebrate.”

“This is not unconscious bias; this is conscious bias. It feels like a hatchet job on the Jews,” said signer Lawrence Bender, producer of Quentin Tarantino’s films.

The movie Selma (2014), directed by well-known African-American Ava DuVernay, brought similar angst. It shows white supporters, along with white clergy wearing clerical collars and other religious garb, on the Selma-to-Montgomery march. But, as Peter Dreier (Huff Post) observed:

Missing from the movie is any depiction of even one Jewish rabbi participating in the Selma crusade. Among white activists in the civil rights movement, Jews – secular and religious – were disproportionately involved. Rabbis were particularly visible because they wore yarmulkes at rallies, meetings, and protests. Rabbis were part of the lunch counter sit-ins, the Freedom Rides, the 1963 March on Washington (where Rabbi Uri Miller gave the opening prayer and Rabbi Joachim Prinz spoke prior to King’s “I Have a Dream” oration), and local efforts to integrate schools and challenge racial discrimination in housing. In 1964, King asked his friend Rabbi Israel Dresner of Temple Sha’arey Shalom in Springfield, New Jersey, to recruit other rabbis to participate in a protest campaign in St. Augustine, Florida, a hotbed of segregationist resistance. All 16 rabbis, including Dresner, were arrested for engaging in civil disobedience.

The absence of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, in particular, was seen as a conspicuous omission. Heschel had a prominent role in the Selma marches. His person, in the widely circulated photograph marching in the front row with Martin Luther King Jr., was doctored out of DuVernay’s movie. It’s unfortunate DuVernay felt the need to erase Heschel in “Selma.” King and Heschel were close friends; they had a warm and mutually respectful relationship. King called Heschel “my Rabbi” and their friendship had symbolic meaning for many within the Jewish and African-American communities.

In the movie, Martin Luther King was center as they marched toward Selma. But second from his left, where, historically, Rabbi Heschel had stood,  Archbishop Iakovos was in his place. Rabbi Heschel was nowhere to be seen.

DuVernay’s explanation was weak; she claimed that her primary role was not as a historian but as an artist and filmmaker exploring history. She maintained that a dramatization has artistic license. I wonder if DuVernay would feel differently about artistic license if a movie about the 1964 slaying of civil rights workers, two Jewish, one black – Goodman, Schwerner, and Chaney – were each depicted as White.

DuVernay was not nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director. The underground story was that she was eliminated because she eliminated Rabbi Heschel.

The “Jews need not apply” from yesteryear has morphed into “Israelis need not apply.” Now is the time for Jews to do what we have done historically. When Jews have been excluded, we have started our own enterprises, i.e., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Warner Bros, and Fox Film Corporation – to name just a few. Hollywood was founded because there was no place for Jews in the New York film industry. The Jewish community must strengthen the Israeli film industry. We have to create avenues for Israeli films around the world and ensure that they are well funded. And we have to block out the very loud anti-Zionist voices around the arts.

In conclusion, it seems that Jews still don’t count or deserve recognition in Hollywood. And now, once again, we are faced with narrow-minded bigotry – around the globe. Jewish history shows our people achieving remarkable success in the face of rampant discrimination. Israeli success in the arts must overcome today’s vulgar anti-Zionist propaganda. What is happening today – as in the past – is a shanda, a disgrace. And it’s Jew-hatred, plain and simple.

Am Yisrael Chai.

*Special thanks to Margie Green for research assistance