# Bradley Cooper accused of “Jewface” **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [August 17, 2023, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729 "2023-08-17T16:15:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/1 "2023-08-17T16:15:27Z")
Apparently there’s some controversy over Bradley Cooper playing Leonard Bernstein in an upcoming film while wearing a large prosthetic nose. While I do I find the choice odd on the face of it, accusations of Cooper using “Jewface,” just don’t pass the smell test. Critics may sniff at his portrayal, but Bernstein’s family and the ADL say it snot a problem. While stereotypes are certainly nothing to sneeze at, it seems to me that the people picking at his nose are misguided. I . . . I can keep going. [https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/16/movies/bradley-cooper-prosthetic-nose-leonard-bernstein.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/16/movies/bradley-cooper-prosthetic-nose-leonard-bernstein.html) ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/2 "2023-08-17T16:19:10Z")
[discarded] ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/3 "2023-08-17T16:20:28Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > While I do I find the choice odd on the face of it ISWYDT 😜 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/4 "2023-08-17T16:21:24Z")
Dudes, there are so many play on words in that post, if you didn’t see what he did, that would be the notable thing. Though he is pretty on the nose that this is no big deal. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/5 "2023-08-17T16:25:04Z")
Nobody knows, the ol’ factory in Hollywood keeps dripping out controversy regardless. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/6 "2023-08-17T16:36:41Z")
Is Jewface a thing? Is there a historical record of people dressing up as Jews to make fun of them? Sorry for interrupting with a serious question. Guess I’m just nosy. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/7 "2023-08-17T16:39:01Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Is there a historical record of people dressing up as Jews to make fun of them? There’s the whole character of Shylock from Shakespeare’s _The Merchant of Venice_. That’s the first example that comes to mind. I think 400 years is historical enough. I don’t know if you’d call that “making fun of” Jews, but it definitely embodies a lot of negative stereotypes commonly attributed to Jews. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/8 "2023-08-17T16:45:23Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Sorry for interrupting with a serious question. Guess I’m just nosy. No apologies necessary, I know I punned it up but there is a legitimate conversation to be had. There is certainty a history of Jewish representation in film and other media with big hooked noses. I just don’t see Cooper’s using a prosthetic to pretty faithfully mimic Bernstein’s fairly iconic nose as an issue. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/9 "2023-08-17T16:46:09Z")
Upon reading an article about it, sounds like a nice, passionate defense from the family and hopefully that will put this kerfuffle to bed. (Probably not. People always gotta be mad about something.) ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/10 "2023-08-17T16:47:26Z")
Leonard Bernstein did in fact have a largish nose. I could see an actor wearing a prosthetic to increase his resemblance to the person portrayed. If the actor had straight hair and the person they were playing had woolly hair, would it be inappropriate for them to wear a wig? If they didn’t actually exaggerate the true size of Bernstein’s nose I don’t see a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/11 "2023-08-17T16:51:02Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I don’t know if you’d call that “making fun of” Jews, but it definitely embodies a lot of negative stereotypes commonly attributed to Jews. I guess I am not surprised. The scale and breadth of Anti-Semitism is often difficult for me to wrap my head around, but that’s another thread. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/12 "2023-08-17T16:52:54Z")
Non-paywalled version: > **[Bradley Cooper in ‘Jewface’ storm after Leonard Bernstein trailer reveals...](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/aug/16/bradley-cooper-in-jewface-storm-after-leonard-bernstein-trailer-reveals-prosthetic-nose)** > > Criticism focuses on the change to the appearance of the actor who directs, co-writes and stars in Maestro, biopic of the conductor and composer ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/13 "2023-08-17T16:55:01Z")
Not to mention some very heavy caricatures by the Nazis leading up to Holocaust. No shortage of shit in the US also until the horrors of the Holocaust were revealed. But this is just an actor looking more like the person they’re portraying. Those complaining should be ashamed and not Bradley Cooper. Also Jewish and Italian actors have been portraying each other forever and Cooper is Half-Italian. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/14 "2023-08-17T16:56:02Z")
Just looking at the picture, it does look like the nose on Bradley’s face is very prominent [![](https://i.imgur.com/GBh0gvi.png) ](https://i.imgur.com/GBh0gvi.png) Bernstein’s looks like a real nose, but Bradley’s looks too large and fake. One reason it looks fake to me is that it’s too blocky. Since large noses are stereotypically attributed to Jewish people, the creators should have been very careful with this prosthetic design. As it is, it looks to me like they used a stereotypically Jewish nose rather than trying to replicate Bernstein’s nose. And the prosthetic should have been designed better so it looks like a real nose rather than a piece of rubber. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/15 "2023-08-17T16:59:30Z")
Prosthetic noses have come a long way in five decades. [![](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZmU4MzllZWYtMjFmMi00MGE2LWEwMTgtOWU4ZDU0MzIwY2UxXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjUxMjc1OTM@._V1_.jpg) ](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZmU4MzllZWYtMjFmMi00MGE2LWEwMTgtOWU4ZDU0MzIwY2UxXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjUxMjc1OTM@._V1_.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/16 "2023-08-17T17:01:24Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Also Jewish and Italian actors have been portraying each other forever and Cooper is Half-Italian. That… does not surprise me. My husband was frequently mistaken for a Jew when we lived in Jersey. Especially because he worked in an Orthodox Jewish Community. He has a dark complexion and dark, curly hair that in his younger years looked like a 'fro. He’s 3/4 Sicilian. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/17 "2023-08-17T17:01:24Z")
They sure have. [![](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQt-Cqlk18GY8phZssMglpY52oqYyNNkk5TkrabL9C9edtbfAwV1uvj8qkoCqGyCaS9RXM&usqp=CAU) ](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQt-Cqlk18GY8phZssMglpY52oqYyNNkk5TkrabL9C9edtbfAwV1uvj8qkoCqGyCaS9RXM&usqp=CAU) ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/18 "2023-08-17T17:06:42Z")
Both James Caan & Abe Vigoda are Jewish and they famously played Sonny Corleone and Sal Tessio in The Godfather. Tony Sirico (Pauly Walnuts of the Sopranos) mentioned in an interview he played either mobsters, Priests or Rabbis. But the list is actually huge of Italian-American actors playing Jewish characters and Jewish actors playing Italians & Italian-Americans. I know in my early adult years I was often mistaken for Jewish. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/19 "2023-08-17T17:11:35Z")
It is a classic non-story. Make-up is used to make an actor more closely resemble a character, the only people who’s opinion actually matters say it isn’t a problem and that should really be the end of it. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bradley-cooper-accused-of-jewface/988729/20 "2023-08-17T17:12:28Z")
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