Anti-Semitism I knew when writing this series of essays, I was going to write about anti-semitism on film and TV. I figured it’d be the easiest essay by far to write. A quick Google search and I’d find dozens of different examples and BAM, essay completed. Wrong. I was so surprised. I had trouble finding examples of anti-semitism in film and TV. A joke here or there, and tons in Nazi propaganda films, but anti-semitism isn’t something that occurs in mainstream film and television.
I was a little surprised at first by this. I was obviously happy, but surprised. But then I remembered we live in an incredibly sensitive time where people are all about political correctness. The smallest of references and jokes can create enormous controversies …show more content…
Some are non-harmful such as the “I’m a Lonely Jew at Christmas” song that aired during the Christmas episode. In fact, I’ve already talked about what it’s like being a Jew during Christmas, so I felt that song was extraordinarily relatable and funny. However, in another scene of this iconic show we hear the phrase “Kyle’s mum’s a fucking Jew”. While this isn’t necessarily anti-semitic, referring to someone as a “fucking Jew”, isn’t exactly painting Jews in a positive light. I also feel this is problematic because South Park has a fairly young audience demographic. Therefore, if a young kid were to hear continuous anti-Jew jokes without anyone telling him/her that these aren’t socially ok, then that could definitely affect their attitude towards Jewish people. In Family Guy, a similar show, there’s an episode called “Family Goy”, that consists of various Jew jokes. The episode consistency portrays Jews as abnormal or “other”, and there’s a scene when a ghost visits Peter and tells him he will go to hell if he doesn’t convert to Christianity. I also get frustrated when there’s any form of an anti-semitic comment on screen and people justify it by pointing out that the writer is Jewish. Sure, Matt Stone, the head writer for South Park is Jewish. That doesn’t excuse his actions and if a kid or teenager were to be anti-semitic as a result of a show like South Park, having a Jewish writer like Matt Stone certainly shouldn’t excuse their
I was a little surprised at first by this. I was obviously happy, but surprised. But then I remembered we live in an incredibly sensitive time where people are all about political correctness. The smallest of references and jokes can create enormous controversies …show more content…
Some are non-harmful such as the “I’m a Lonely Jew at Christmas” song that aired during the Christmas episode. In fact, I’ve already talked about what it’s like being a Jew during Christmas, so I felt that song was extraordinarily relatable and funny. However, in another scene of this iconic show we hear the phrase “Kyle’s mum’s a fucking Jew”. While this isn’t necessarily anti-semitic, referring to someone as a “fucking Jew”, isn’t exactly painting Jews in a positive light. I also feel this is problematic because South Park has a fairly young audience demographic. Therefore, if a young kid were to hear continuous anti-Jew jokes without anyone telling him/her that these aren’t socially ok, then that could definitely affect their attitude towards Jewish people. In Family Guy, a similar show, there’s an episode called “Family Goy”, that consists of various Jew jokes. The episode consistency portrays Jews as abnormal or “other”, and there’s a scene when a ghost visits Peter and tells him he will go to hell if he doesn’t convert to Christianity. I also get frustrated when there’s any form of an anti-semitic comment on screen and people justify it by pointing out that the writer is Jewish. Sure, Matt Stone, the head writer for South Park is Jewish. That doesn’t excuse his actions and if a kid or teenager were to be anti-semitic as a result of a show like South Park, having a Jewish writer like Matt Stone certainly shouldn’t excuse their