Nobody Wants This

As I sat down to write this week’s post, I found myself struggling as to what exactly to write. You see, dear reader, I am often quite well prepared and able to plan out my posts, tackling different subjects on a weekly schedule. The hurricane threw me off, as it did for a large number of our community members, and so between the whirlwind of group projects, homework and presentations, I haven’t found much time to relax. And when I do, I find myself spending an hour or two on Netflix simply searching for something to watch. By the time I have finally settled on something to watch, it is midnight and I am well past the point of being able to consciously enjoy any kind of entertainment without falling right to sleep. 

So, imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon – okay, you got me, it was more like Netflix’s PR team was shoving my face into it– a brand new limited series called ‘Nobody Wants This’ about a podcaster who falls head over heels for a young rabbi. Now, as a modern Jewish woman, seeing something so visibly Jewish in the mainstream made me simply overjoyed. Bringing Jewish culture to the first page of Netflix so boldly is undoubtedly a win. 

However, before watching, I thought back to Jonah Hill’s ‘You People’, which had such wonderful potential to connect both the Black and Jewish communities, as well as nurture empathy from people watching who had no connection to either. I don’t need to tell you, dear reader, that ‘You People’ became quickly infamous for failing spectacularly at this, and most Jews would tell you that it only served to reinforce negative stereotypes and further the divide between the average American’s life and their perception of an average Jewish-American life. 

Safe to say, upon pressing play I was terrified. I had heard some good things about ‘Nobody Wants This’ from friends, but I truly wanted to go in with as little knowledge as possible. And what can I say? I loved it. I think it made Jewish life real, and relatable for people who had never directly experienced it. It re-invented the idea of what being ‘rabbinical’ looked like. 

One thing that bugged me throughout, however, was the representation of Jewish women. The main character Joanne, played by Kristen Bell, and her sister Morgan are blonde Angelenos with a viral podcast. Although they are immediately presented as deeply flawed characters, there seems to be a glow surrounding Joanne wherever she goes– think of it as a modern-day manic pixie dream girl– and when she meets Rabbi Noah at their mutual friend’s house party, she is shown to be a stark contrast to Noah’s (very Jewish) ex. 

As the show continues, you root for both characters, but you can see that Joanne is almost the antithesis of Noah’s ex, his mother, or his sister-in-law, all of whom are loud, brash and seemingly embody that classic ‘nagging Jewish woman character’. For many Jewish viewers, that would be the end. But I continued watching. And because I continued watching, I saw that the show was able to beautifully portray the complexities and nuances of Jewish life, and that while a big conflict in the show is cultural differences, I can appreciate how they dealt with them. Noah’s Judaism and connection to it was never villainized, and neither was her uncertainty about that fact. His harsh sister-in-law soon softened, and each character was given that chance to redeem themselves. It felt incredibly real, and part of this may be because the show was based on the life of the show’s creator, Erin Foster.

We can be happy that we are getting increased representation in the media, and also not be 100% with the details of that portrayal. I am simply grateful that these are the kinds of discussions that have been re-opened up in response. This is an opportunity to talk about what went well, and what we wish they had done differently. It is also important to remember that when it comes to topics like this, everyone will have their own opinions. Therefore, I would totally encourage you to watch Noah and Joanne’s story yourself, and come to your own conclusions about the newest addition to Jewish pop culture.