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Jewish Identity on American Television and Viewer Attitudes in an Era of Rising Anti-Semitism

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Jewish Identity on American Television and Viewer Attitudes in an Era of Rising Anti-Semitism Kennesaw State University DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University Master of Arts in American Studies Capstones Interdisciplinary Studies Department Summer 7-31-2020 Jewish Identity on American Television and Viewer Attitudes in an Era of Rising Anti-Semitism Jacqueline Winters-Allen Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/mast_etd Part of the American Studies Commons Recommended Citation Winters-Allen, Jacqueline, "Jewish Identity on American Television and Viewer Attitudes in an Era of Rising Anti-Semitism" (2020). Master of Arts in American Studies Capstones. 27. https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/mast_etd/27 This Capstone is brought to you for free and open access by the Interdisciplinary Studies Department at DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master of Arts in American Studies Capstones by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Kennesaw State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. JEWISH IDENTITY ON AMERICAN TELEVISION AND VIEWER ATTITUDES IN AN ERA OF RISING ANTI-SEMITISM A Thesis Presented to The Academic Faculty By Jacqueline Winters-Allen In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in American Studies Kennesaw State University July 2020 Winters-Allen ii CONTENTS Preface ................................................................................................................................ iv INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1 Methodology ................................................................................................................ 2 DEFINING ANTI-SEMITISM ........................................................................................... 3 ANTI-SEMITISM IN THE UNITED STATES ................................................................. 4 Contemporary Attitudes Toward Jews ........................................................................ 5 Increase of Anti-Semitic Incidents .............................................................................. 6 HISTORY OF JEWISH CHARACTERS IN AMERICAN FILM AND TELEVISION .. 7 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................. 19 AMERICAN TELEVISION TODAY .............................................................................. 32 Stereotypes of Jewish Characters .............................................................................. 32 The Nebbish .......................................................................................................... 33 The Greedy/Cheap Jew ......................................................................................... 34 The Jewish Mother ................................................................................................ 34 The Jewish American Princess ............................................................................. 36 SELECT CHARACTER ANALYSIS .............................................................................. 38 The Big Bang Theory ................................................................................................. 38 Non-Jewish Characters ......................................................................................... 41 Howard in Season 1 (2007-2008) ......................................................................... 42 Howard in Season 12 (2018-2019) ....................................................................... 46 Will & Grace ............................................................................................................. 51 Non-Jewish Characters ......................................................................................... 52 Grace in Season 1 (1998-1999)............................................................................. 52 Election Video and Revival (2016) ....................................................................... 56 Grace in Season 10 (2018-2019) ........................................................................... 57 SURVEY........................................................................................................................... 60 Respondent Demographics ........................................................................................ 61 Results ....................................................................................................................... 64 The Big Bang Theory ............................................................................................ 64 Will & Grace ......................................................................................................... 67 Discussion .................................................................................................................. 70 Conclusions and Future Work .......................................................................................... 72 Winters-Allen iii Appendix A: Referenced Episodes of The Big Bang Theory .................................... 76 Appendix B: Referenced of Will & Grace Episodes ................................................. 80 Appendix C: Other Referenced Television Episodes ................................................ 83 Appendix D: Survey Questions ................................................................................. 84 Appendix E: Survey Respondents ............................................................................. 87 Bibliography .............................................................................................................. 88 Winters-Allen iv PREFACE Like many Americans, my heritage cannot be traced to just one location. My maternal grandparents were Catholics from Puerto Rico and Mexico, and my paternal grandparents were Jews from Austria and Russia. I was raised Jewish and lived in a neighborhood where a majority of residents were also Jewish, but was always told growing up that I looked Hispanic; childhood friends therefore gave me the nickname of the only character they knew on television to be a Puerto Rican Jew: Juan Epstein from Welcome Back, Kotter (1975-1979). I doubt that my classmates saw many similarities between me and Juan – I had only one sibling compared to his nine, and I definitely did not bring fake excuse notes to school – but to them, this was the prevailing image of how a Puerto Rican Jew looked and behaved. I still keep in touch with many of them through Facebook, but I have wondered how much of an impact this depiction had on them as they got older and encountered other Jews with a mixed heritage, despite their interactions with me who went against most, if not all, of his depicted stereotypes. As I got older, I realized there was no one way to be Jewish. Aside from religious practices, Jewish Americans have different family histories and different ways of expressing their cultural identities just like every other type of American; mine was certainly like no one else’s I had come across. When I first started the Master of Arts program in American Studies, I was interested in how other Latinx Jews were portrayed in literature or media. To my surprise, there were few instances. There were, however, plenty of other examples of Jewish characters – and most seemed to have a New York accent and an exhausting relationship with their mother. This started me thinking about how often I have seen the same Jewish stereotypes over the years, continuously recycled Winters-Allen v from one show or movie to another. Then came the 2016 presidential election, with reports of a rise in anti-Semitism incidents in the United States. That was followed by the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where protesters openly displayed swastikas and shouted that Jews would not “replace” them. And then someone opened fire in a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania synagogue, killing eleven people during Shabbat services. It is unlikely these anti-Semitic sentiments developed suddenly, but rather were formed over a long period of time and kept hidden. We can question why people now feel emboldened to act on these views, but we also must look at how these views could have developed. In cities with few Jewish communities, media images might be the primary way people are exposed to Jewish identities in the United States. Even in diverse populations, how Jewish Americans are portrayed on screen may influence how non-Jews view and act toward their neighbors. This is unquestionably problematic if Jews are predominantly seen as caricatures and stereotypes. My hope for this project was to understand why these tropes endure in media entertainment, to discover audience impressions of the Jewish characters they see on television, and to ascertain if those with the power to challenge stereotypes of Jews are taking advantage of the opportunities to do so. I would not have been able to complete this undertaking without the assistance of many people. First, I wish to thank my committee members, Dr. Rebecca Hill and Dr. Catherine Lewis, for their continued advice and guidance through the process – especially during a global pandemic. I am also deeply grateful to my family and friends for their encouragement through my program and thesis writing, including their eagerness Winters-Allen vi to read the completed version. Finally, to my husband Scott, I am grateful for your unwavering support, your understanding of the late-night hours on the computer,
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