#Jewish stereotypes

[writingwithcolor]

Hello! I am currently developing a villain oc for a universe where superpowers are a normal part of human history and happen regular citizens, written primarily from the perspective of the villains. However, after doing some research, I worry that I may have accidentally made the main villain as an antisemetic character, specifically which dealing with blood libel.

The main villain is an older woman who’s main goal is to stay young in an attempt to live forever, as well as grow extremely rich. Her power allows her to drain the life force of others which kills them and also in turn makes her stronger and younger. She also mainly commits large-scale heists and has gathered herself quite the pool of wealth. To aid her in her plan to become as rich as possible, she had begun to target very young children with powerful abilities and trained them to become near-perfect killing machines.

Now, I feel like it is important to note that:

- She does not harm the children, especially not with her power

- She does not consume blood

- None of her physical features are Jewish-Coded

But even so, I worry that, with the combination of her targeting children, having a near-obsession with wealth, and her power being the ability to drain people of their life energy, that it may come across as antisemetic, which is in no way my intention. Do you have any advice on what I can do to fix this, or is it okay as it is?

Is my villain protagonist playing into blood libel tropes?

Thank you for catching this! You are spot on, all three of those characteristics (stealing children, hoarding wealth and draining others of life) are antisemitic tropes, especially when used together. I’m also getting strong Mother Gothel vibes from this, so you might want to research what Jewish people have said about that character for more insight. 

An easy fix is to deliberately and explicitly distance this character from Judaism, probably by having her be part of another religion (though not a real-life marginalised religion or one that could be read as similar to Judaism, please!). 

It would also help to have some actually Jewish characters who play positive roles. As a villain, she could even be hostile to these characters to create even more distance.

Good luck and thanks again for spotting this in time!

Shoshi

Agreeing with Shoshi here--in the past, when a villainous character has been in danger of reinforcing antisemitic tropes, I’ve also advised having that character specifically and overtly practice Christianity albeit perhaps in a warped way; specifically Christianity because Christianity originated and perpetuates the blood libel trope in the first place. If you’re writing in a world without real-world religions, avoiding associating this character with an in-universe marginalized religion or ethnic group (or more to the point, specifying her membership in a dominant religious or ethnic group) may serve the same purpose. 

Likewise, if you’re writing in a world with real-world religions, having heroic Jewish characters directly opposing her and citing Jewish values as their motivation does a lot to negate any assumption that you intended your villain to be a statement in support of antisemitism. If you’re writing in a world without real-world religions, I’m going to link you to this ask as a caveat:

Jewish characters in a universe with author-created fictional pantheons 

But if there is a marginalized religion or ethnic group in your story that does echo Jewish ideas or is overtly Jewish-coded, having heroes with a strong connection with this culture may serve.

Meir

#antisemitism #Jewish #Blood libel #Villains #Jewish tropes #Jewish stereotypes #asks

[silveragelovechild]

New internet controversy… Bradley Cooper put on a prosthetic nose to portray Leonard Bernstein, who was Jewish. Some feel that it’s perpetuating stereotypes of Jews. As I am not Jewish, I can’t comment on that… but the rubber nose looks fake as heck. What would it cost to CGI replace the fake nose with Cooper’s real one.

Bernstein didn’t have a large or unusual nose so the decision to give Cooper a fake one seems misguided. Since Cooper is also the director, the decision is downright stupid.

If Cooper hopes for another Oscar nomination… he can kiss that idea goodbye.

#bradley cooper #leonard bernstein #maestro #Jewish stereotypes #fake nose #looks fake #stupid idea

[oh-yes-i-did-not]

Okay but has anyone considered that a character design with a big nose is not a negative Jewish stereotype, or even Jewish stereotype, unless they come with OTHER negative Jewish stereotypes? Like, just a character with big nose is NOT it.

And like, if you go around claiming that every character with big nose is a negative Jewish stereotype, maybe you don't actually know what the issue with the Jewish caricature character is?

#big nose #character design #jewish stereotypes

[oldshowbiz]

1970.

#jewish stereotypes #truman capote #johnny carson #tonight show

[tiredandsleepyaf]

Ok, so let me explain why rebloging posts like these do little to nothing to assure Jews that they’ll be safe around you.

Goyim reblogging this stuff don’t typically listen to Jews (which is apparent because we’ve said stuff like this doesn’t actually do anything to help us many times) about their experiences with antisemitism or listen when Jews try to educate them on things like antisemitic dog whistles or blood libel. Most of them are way more enthusiastic about punching Nazis than they are about showing any compassion to Jews. I’d venture to guess the majority of Jewish people know that often the goyim who reblog this stuff are just out for blood and don’t give a damn about us, because we’ve seen this many times. Not to mention that the desire for a violent revolution that some leftists seem to have has led to Jewish people facing a lot of antisemitism (at their hands). I would bet that some of the people reblogging this act similar to Nazis themselves. I know at the very least the goyim rebloging this don’t listen to Jews because we’ve said many times that this sort of thing doesn’t really do anything to help us, and we’d much rather goyim call out and learn about antisemitism. Overall, it’s just very performative activism, and it’s pretty obvious that the goyim reblogging this are just doing it to try and make themselves look better, and not for the sake of Jews.

#I’d just much rather goyim learn about antisemitism and listen to Jews #I just so often see goyim only reblog something like this #and that’s the extent of their quote on quote activism for Jews #and it leads many of the to miss antisemitism that they perpetuate #or other people perpetrate #even though it’s emotionally exhausting work #at this point I’d be more than happy to explain antisemitic stereotypes to goyim #if they’re willing to put in the work and call out antisemitism when they see it #but I know most goyim aren’t willing to put in the work and just want to argue #tw antisemitism mention #tw Nazi mention #jumblr #Jewish #jewblr #tw blood #tw violence

[angryjewishcat]

Hearing goyim go “well, why would anyone associate Jews with goblins? That’s absurd. Normal people know the difference between a fantasy character and Jews!” makes it so clear that they don’t know how widespread the idea still is that Jews have horns.

And it’s not just neo-nazis and far right people who believe this. The people who have asked me and my friends and our family members about “our horns” have been neither neo-nazis nor far right in any way.

So forgive me if I don’t buy the idea that people will actually be able to differentiate between goblin characters that have multiple direct associations to antisemitic conspiracy theories and actual Jews.

#Antisemitism #Jumblr #The thing isn't even that goblins are inherently antisemitic caricatures #But it's very easy to start dumping Jewish stereotypes and conspiracy theories onto them when telling a story

[ameliathefatcat]

Leo was definitely invited to the Jewish Kids Bar/Bat Mitzvahs

Since the Sandler sisters voice Summer and Jayda it’s safe to say those two are Jewish. Leo was so totally invited to their Bat Mitzvahs.

#leo netflix #netflix leo #leo adam sandler #leo 2023 #adam sandler #before you say I’m stereotyping with saying Jayda is Jewish cuz she’s insanely rich #she’s Jewish because her voice is Jewish #Summer is literally me so another reason why she’s Jewish

[lets-all-calm-down-a-bit]

ik we all love a good vampire kyle fanart/au, but did yall know that the reason matt and trey made kyle dress as a vampire in that episode was a joke about the jewish stereotype of leeching off of the people and being greedy? like aesthetically vampire kyle is cool, but in the back of my mind I'm screaming "THIS IS A DEROGATORY JEW JOKE" and I can never enjoy it to its full potential

#like i was able to laugh in the episode because i know they put that in as a jab at antisemites not jewish people #but like #i have a hard time enjoying fan media around it because #it gives me this slimy feeling that the people drawing/writing stuff about it don't get the context of the joke #and are like unintentionally reinforcing a derogatory jewish stereotype/caricature #colby rambles #southpark #south park #sp #sp kyle #sp kyle broflovski #kyle broflovski

[utilitycaster]

Without FAIL every single person I've seen throw a fit over people "being mean" to fictional characters is extremely awful towards the real people they perceive as being insufficiently respectful towards the pretend people

#this obviously doesn't include racism/homophobia/transphobia/other bigotry #since if you'll be hateful to a fictional character you're still being hateful towards that real group #but yeah people will be like jsyk if you criticize anything blorbo bleebus does you're a monster and I hope you die :) #with NO self awareness #it's tbh not dissimilar to the whole goblin thing a few years ago #ie wow you'll defend goblins against antisemitic stereotypes. now try doing that with real jewish people! wait where are you going #it's easy to defend a fictional character who will never disagree with you and can't speak for themselves #and who can't disapprove of you making death threats in their name #queue

[bucket-barnes]

Happy Hanukkah! Thinking about my favorite Jewish boy today

Best Jewish representation I’ve seen in a while

#max wolfe #gossip girl reboot #gossip girl #jewish representation #jewish #thomas doherty #harry hook #hannukah #I’m not kidding when I say he’s the best Jewish rep I’ve seen #he’s not just a jew joke #he’s an important character #who just happens to be Jewish #he’s not a stereotype #quite the opposite actually #I just love him #so much #he’s my boy #my buddy #my Jewish brother

[capsrecedinghairline]

Just saw a clip where David Mazouz talks about how a WB exec called him “too Jewy” to play young Bruce Wayne so uhhh now I have decided that Bruce should have thick curly hair, he should have bold, broad features, he be exactly what people think of when they stereotype Jews.

And yeah, obviously there is no singular way to “look Jewish”. That’s not the point. The point is that a Jewish kid had to load his hair down with gel in order to play a canonically Jewish character. I shouldn’t have to spell out the rest for you.

The point is visibility. The point is that Jewish-American comic book innovators used the concept of superheroes’ secret identities to explore identity and assimilation. The point is that I want Bruce Wayne in a kippah and I’m not gonna shut up about it.

#tw antisemitism #is there such a thing as goy washing? is that a term? #it’s worth noting that Mazouz is Sephardic and i think most goyim only think of Ashkenazi features as the stereotypical ‘jewish look’ #if this post makes no sense it’s because I’m angry #batman #bruce wayne #jewish batman #jewish bruce wayne #Gotham

[avian-misdemeanors]

Leonard Nimoy was Jewish and he intentionally brought a lot of Jewish-coding to Spock which was then translated over to Vulcans and Vulcan culture as a whole. the Vulcan salute 🖖 has its origins in Judaism and Jewish imagery. if you're Jewish you can see the Judaism in it from a mile away. if you love star trek you have no choice but to respect and love your Jewish neighbors and listen to our hurts and be actual real allies against anti-Jewish racism. otherwise turn off the fucking star trek because it's not for you.

#gene roddenberry was a great writer and worldbuilder but he was also a misogynistic racist who #created the ferengi as an anti-semitic stereotype and you have to be aware and mindful of that when watching star trek if you care about #being an ally to your Jewish neighbors

[chaiaurchaandni]

remember when israeli rabbis lauded hitler and supported slavery?

yes, it was a real thing: Embracing racism, rabbis at pre-army yeshiva laud Hitler, urge enslaving Arabs | The Times of Israel

some quotes from the article:

“The gentiles will want to be our slaves. Being a slave to a Jew is the best. They’re glad to be slaves, they want to be slaves,” he told a class in one of the video clips. “Instead of just walking the streets and being stupid and violent and harming each other, once they’re slaves, their lives can begin to take shape.”

“Yes, we’re racists. We believe in racism… There are races in the world and peoples have genetic traits, and that requires us to try to help them,” he said. “The Jews are a more successful race.”

“Let’s just start with whether Hitler was right or not,” he told students. “He was the most correct person there ever was, and was correct in every word he said… he was just on the wrong side.”

Redler goes on to say that pluralism is the “real” genocide being perpetrated against the Jewish people, not Nazi Germany’s Final Solution.

“The real Holocaust was not when they murdered the Jews, that’s not it. All these excuses — that it was ideological or systematic — are nonsense,” he said. “Humanism, and the secular culture of ‘We believe in man,’ that’s the Holocaust.”

In 2016, the co-founder of the Bnei David academy, Yigal Levinstein, was recorded in class calling gay people “sick and perverted. In another lecture that year, Levinstein claimed that drafting women to the IDF was making them “crazy” and stripped them of their Jewishness.

Bnei David’s other co-founder, Rabbi Eli Sadan, preaches against educating women, claiming that independent thinking “neuters their most important capability… to build the home.”

#why he believing in the EXACT shit that antisemitic stereotypes paint jewish ppl to believe in #like its so ridicuolous that if u read this jewish character in a book youd say the author is antisemitic for making such a stereotypical #depiction #free palestine #palestine #gaza #from the river to the sea palestine will be free #glory to the martyrs #long live palestine #long live the resistance #death to israel #death to america #zionism is nazism #zionism = nazism

[bijoumikhawal]

WRT to Kai Winn I hold two opinions constantly at the same time

The writers and fans often position her in a way that is inconsistent with their world building by giving her more power than she actually has (thinking of her as a white catholic or evangelical when in universe she just isnt in that position) and the show occasionally gave her views that were "radical" in what felt like an attempt to delegitimize them

In 60 years Bajor will have its own version of the Hinduvta movement or some shit and they'll fucking love Kai Winn, because she has horrible politics and will have sown the seeds for their existence

#cipher talk #Most of my annoyance with the mainstream ds9 opinion is people don't get WHY she sucks #Because of this typology where she was intentionally written to remind them of a mean Catholic american teacher #Instead of one of the nastiest Orthodox Jewish women you could scrape out of a barrel or Coptic church bro #She has suffered! And she does understand politics in a way I sometimes agree with! But she's also terrible #She's like one of those guys on Twitter who acknowledges Copts are Indigenous and what that means for us but calls other Indigenous people #Slurs and evokes racist stereotypes against them because they aren't Christian and the Western churches were active in their slaughter #So they can't separate action against the roman catholic church from their own trauma

[oldshowbiz]

October 1910.

Over one hundred and ten years ago, an editorial in Moving Picture World complained that people were too sensitive these days and that you couldn’t make fun of anything without people getting offended:

“The principal thing ... in these days ... is that there are very many irritable people knocking about, and if you are not careful what you say or do you are going to be set upon, even though you never thought of offending anybody.”

#stereotypes #can't joke about anything anymore #vaudeville #silent film #irish stereotypes #jewish stereotypes #historical context

[ace-hell]

As a jew, who is proud of my jewishness- culture, religion, traditions, genetics etc- i hate that on every goblin/ big nosed/black curly villain ppl, even jews, immediately scream "ANTISEMITE! THIS IS AN ANTISEMOTE STEREOTYPE OF JEWS!" like dude chill that's just how the character/creature looks like😭.

I 100% if you search for small details and over analyze everything into antisemism when its not unless its absolutely obvious

Me and my family never thought the goblins in harry potter were an antisemite steretyped creatures until ppl started to point it out online, we still don't see it

#Antisemitism #jumbler #israel #am israel hai #jewish #jews #Jewish stereotype #Goblins #mother gothel #Black curls #Big nose #Jewish nose #ישראלבלר #יהודים