clarification on my last post
Some things seem to have got lost in my last post and rather than keep reiterating them in comments there, I thought I'd post here so everyone could potentially see.
I'm NOT trying to shut down conversation about representations of Jews in media as much as I'm trying to give some guidelines on how to do it so everyone's comfort level can be addressed. My mistake last night was in only sharing what I saw as the problem ways people were framing the discussion and in not making it clearer what was okay.
Obviously, in conversation we're all going to say things that bug each other because that's the nature of conversation. But we're here to converse, so attempting to be more aware of our own blind spots (and my blind spots are myriad and get me into trouble all the time) is going to be part of how we have these discussions without making other people seriously uncomfortable.
So here's what's okay:
Any conversation about Jews in media, anywhere. Including the actors who play them and how those actors and or/shows fall down on the job, or get the job done right. What works for each of us is going to be different and that's where conversation and discussion come in. Framing the initial post carefully, like shayheyred or leela_cat did, is great and ought to trigger some wonderful discussions.
What isn't okay:
Implying that some Jews are more Jewish than others, or that some actors don't fill a *stereotype* of Jewishness without making it clear that that's what you're talking about: the stereotype.
In other words, expressing your opinion is great as long as it's clear that that's what you're talking about: *your opinion*. Though again, since opinion is often based in invisible things, reasons for the opinion can be helpful guides to conversation.
Hollywood relies on stereotypes a lot as shorthand; we don't have to do that. But we can and *should* interrogate the ways in which those stereotypes work for and against us. Where the discussions of the past few days were great, was in their willingness to try to tease some of that out. I do NOT want to foreclose those kinds of discussions here.
I'm NOT trying to shut down conversation about representations of Jews in media as much as I'm trying to give some guidelines on how to do it so everyone's comfort level can be addressed. My mistake last night was in only sharing what I saw as the problem ways people were framing the discussion and in not making it clearer what was okay.
Obviously, in conversation we're all going to say things that bug each other because that's the nature of conversation. But we're here to converse, so attempting to be more aware of our own blind spots (and my blind spots are myriad and get me into trouble all the time) is going to be part of how we have these discussions without making other people seriously uncomfortable.
So here's what's okay:
Any conversation about Jews in media, anywhere. Including the actors who play them and how those actors and or/shows fall down on the job, or get the job done right. What works for each of us is going to be different and that's where conversation and discussion come in. Framing the initial post carefully, like shayheyred or leela_cat did, is great and ought to trigger some wonderful discussions.
What isn't okay:
Implying that some Jews are more Jewish than others, or that some actors don't fill a *stereotype* of Jewishness without making it clear that that's what you're talking about: the stereotype.
In other words, expressing your opinion is great as long as it's clear that that's what you're talking about: *your opinion*. Though again, since opinion is often based in invisible things, reasons for the opinion can be helpful guides to conversation.
Hollywood relies on stereotypes a lot as shorthand; we don't have to do that. But we can and *should* interrogate the ways in which those stereotypes work for and against us. Where the discussions of the past few days were great, was in their willingness to try to tease some of that out. I do NOT want to foreclose those kinds of discussions here.