“You People” is a Netflix original that, on the surface, is about two millennials who fall in love and navigate their relationship. It is a more complicated take on the usual rom-com than we are used to, as it attempts to deal with issues that can arise in interracial relationships. Although the intention is there, the execution ended up doing more harm than good because of its Jewish representation.
The first part of the movie begins with clips of the “Mo and E-Z Show” where “E-Z” is introduced by “Mo” as “my favorite Jew with nothing to do.” Fine. Whatever. Not the most clever or well-written line, but it’s not offensive or misrepresenting anything. Ezra is, in fact, Jewish and is presented as having a pretty middling life. Nothing inaccurate about that. At first, I thought this line would be the only Judaism-related line, but I was very wrong. Ezra and his family’s Judaism was used as a punchline throughout the film, and they were made to apologize for it over and over again.
There were some lines and scenes that were cute and that I genuinely liked. For example, when Ezra is hugging Amira from behind while they look at each other in the mirror and he remarks that he is her “Judaism swagger.” Laughing, Amira says, “I just want a bagel and lox right now!” See? That’s cute, wholesome and inoffensive. If only the whole movie were like that.
There were several things that weren’t necessarily offensive, but were just wrong about Judaism. One of the first scenes takes place during Yom Kippur in a synagogue. The camera is panning across all the attendees' feet. Everyone is wearing fancy black leather dress shoes and Ezra is wearing sneakers. The joke here is that Ezra is so blasé about his practice that he isn’t dressed up, or is at least resisting adherence to the norm. When I saw this, I laughed out loud. Not because the joke the movie was making was funny, but because on Yom Kippur everyone wears sneakers.
I’m not joking. On Yom Kippur, we are supposed to afflict ourselves, which is why we fast. In addition to fasting, we are also supposed to deny ourselves luxuries. Leather is a luxury, so Jews will forego their leather shoes in favor of canvas sneakers or other non-leather shoes. If I didn’t know better, I would guess that the makers of “You People” didn’t talk to any Jew before making the film. But Jonah Hill is in it, so at least one Jew was involved. How this massively obvious oversight was made, I don’t know, but it is striking that this joke is so incorrect.
Jewish stereotypes took center stage in this film, a film that is supposedly about an attempt to understand people as individuals, rather than caricatures of a cliché. Ezra works in finance, Shelley Cohen is an overbearing mother, the Cohen family is well-off with a big house and a housekeeper. All of these are Jewish stereotypes. The Cohens are reduced to their Judaism and whiteness while the Mohammeds are arguing that they’re more than their marginalized identities. Ezra apologizes for who he is, while Amira gets to be an individual.
The scene that made me especially angry was when the Cohens and the Mohammeds had dinner together, and Akbar began talking about his kefir. His kefir, he explained, was a gift from Louis Farrakhan. My jaw literally dropped. Farrakhan has been denounced by Jewish leaders time and time again for his antisemitic remarks, which include describing Jewish people as “termites” and “Satanic.” Shelley is outraged, but she is seen by the other attendees as being overdramatic and offended for no reason. She begins to say something about Farrakhan’s antisemitism, but is cut off by Ezra, who wants to avoid conflict. The fact that Amira’s parents admire and personally know an outspoken antisemite is never brought up again, and they aren’t made to explain or apologize for it. Meanwhile, Shelley, Arnold and Ezra have to apologize for being unfamiliar with Black culture.
Black American and Jewish American relations seem to be especially tense. In the wake of Kyrie Irving’s and Kanye West’s remarks, as well as hate crimes being committed against Jewish people “for Kanye,” this movie is especially explosive. It had the opportunity to be a moment of cultural reconciliation, but it fell short of that because of its reliance on Jewish stereotypes and refusal to recognize the existence of Jews of color. “Jew” was made synonymous with “white” in this Netflix original, making the movie miss its own point. If the mission was to rectify anything, it was entirely counterproductive.
Hadass Galili is a senior studying political science pre-law at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnist do not reflect those of The Post. Do you agree? Tell Hadass by tweeting her at @HadassGalili.
