# How DO Jews in media tend to portray Jews? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 28, 2014, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-jews-in-media-tend-to-portray-jews/691882 "2014-06-28T19:58:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-jews-in-media-tend-to-portray-jews/691882/21 "2014-06-29T17:42:47Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I don’t think there was ever a Jew on _The Andy Griffith Show_, though. I haven’t seen every episode, but it was set in something like a small town in NC, so that seemed about right. “This town is Jew-free.” There weren’t any blacks in Mayberry either, though. And that doesn’t seem about right. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-jews-in-media-tend-to-portray-jews/691882/22 "2014-06-29T18:05:48Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Except for Adam Schiff, of course. Of course. That was dense of me. I was thinking of the courtroom attorneys. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-jews-in-media-tend-to-portray-jews/691882/23 "2014-06-29T19:01:25Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Of course. That was dense of me. I was thinking of the courtroom attorneys. You can’t get much more Jewish than Steven Hill. Did you know he left \*Mission Impossible \*because they insisted on shooting on the Sabbath? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-jews-in-media-tend-to-portray-jews/691882/24 "2014-06-29T19:05:50Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > There weren’t any blacks in Mayberry either, though. And that doesn’t seem about right. That does pretty much glare out. Let’s face it, there are pretty few Bumfucks, or even East Bumfucks, that are Black-free and lots that are Jew-free. Were there ever any _special_ episodes that had a Black character? ---
**Author:** ![Hector\_St\_Clare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@Hector\_St\_Clare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hector_St_Clare)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-jews-in-media-tend-to-portray-jews/691882/25 "2014-06-29T19:20:44Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > It’s funny you guys say this because I was 16 goddamn years old (this was late 90s) before I realized that at the time, Jewish people made up a whopping 2 or 3% of the overall American population. I was convinced that statistic was wrong, but I’m certain that’s because I grew up in Los Angeles. I had many Jewish teachers, my best friend from grades 1-3 was a little Jewish boy, our holiday plays at school incorporated both Christmas and Hanukkah. I also worked in a neighborhood where seeing Hasidic Jews walking down the street or at the grocery store was a regular occurrence. I came to learn there are Jewish people in Los Angeles, New York, and Florida - no place else. > > I was also shocked to find what a small percentage of the population black people and Latinos were. I knew we were minorities, sure, but not that small. Latinos are like half the population, right? No. Even with the growing population, no. That’s what growing up in Los Angeles will do to you. The city of Los Angeles has 10% Black population, substantially below the national average (and even further below the average for other big urban areas). ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-jews-in-media-tend-to-portray-jews/691882/26 "2014-06-29T19:25:51Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > That does pretty much glare out. Let’s face it, there are pretty few Bumfucks, or even East Bumfucks, that are Black-free and lots that are Jew-free. > > \<\< clipped \>\> I just can’t pass up the opportunity to mention [Jimmy Giuffre Sextet - Four Brothers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4BAiE9Vd9g) ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-jews-in-media-tend-to-portray-jews/691882/27 "2014-06-29T22:08:46Z")
> [@Hector\_St\_Clare](#): > > The city of Los Angeles has 10% Black population, substantially below the national average (and even further below the average for other big urban areas). That last comment was really about Latinos, but anyway, I’m not sure what you mean by “average.” The total % black population in the US is around 12 or 13% sure, but that’s not the same thing as saying the average American town is 13% black. You have to remember, there are a shitload of black people in the South, and once you leave there, the black population is very largely within a few enclaves. I’m not sure where you got your “national average” number from, but I’d be very surprised to learn that in the “average” American city, more than 1 in 10 people is black. What an odd thing to take away from that post, anyway. I’m done hijacking this thread now. Sorry, guys! ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-jews-in-media-tend-to-portray-jews/691882/28 "2014-06-29T22:18:31Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > You can’t get much more Jewish than Steven Hill. Did you know he left \*Mission Impossible \*because they insisted on shooting on the Sabbath? Yes, I did. Only, we call it “Shabbes.” Or “Shabbat,” if we’re Sephardic or Israeli. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-jews-in-media-tend-to-portray-jews/691882/29 "2014-06-29T22:20:28Z")
> [@rivkahchaya](#): > > yes, i did. Only, we call it “shabbes.” or “shabbat,” if we’re sephardic or israeli. לא כשאנחנו כותבים באנגלית ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-jews-in-media-tend-to-portray-jews/691882/30 "2014-06-29T22:34:30Z")
lol ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2014, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-jews-in-media-tend-to-portray-jews/691882/31 "2014-06-29T22:41:06Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > לא כשאנחנו כותבים באנגלית Maybe not you. Everyone I know says either “Shabbes” or “Shabbat.” “.Sabbath” בלויז גויים זאָגן \* (IME :)) \*I’d reply in Hebrew, but my Hebrew spelling sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-jews-in-media-tend-to-portray-jews/691882/32 "2014-06-30T05:26:52Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > There weren’t any blacks in Mayberry either, though. And that doesn’t seem about right. There were, although mostly in crowd scenes. There was only one black actor who had a speaking line, and that was Rockne Tarkington, who played Opie’s football coach in one episode. That being said, it’s not really that surprising. There’s not that big a black population in Western North Carolina, or really in most of Appalachia, considering. The black population of Surry County, NC, which was Andy Griffith’s home county and the place he based Mayberry on, was only about 4%. There was never really a big slave population in Appalachia, and a lot of Appalachian towns became sundown towns, where blacks weren’t allowed to live (and those who did forced out). So, for a rural Western NC county in the 1960s not to have a noticeable black population really is pretty true to life. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-jews-in-media-tend-to-portray-jews/691882/33 "2014-06-30T07:13:31Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > There were, although mostly in crowd scenes. There was only one black actor who had a speaking line, and that was Rockne Tarkington, who played Opie’s football coach in one episode. > > That being said, it’s not really that surprising. There’s not that big a black population in Western North Carolina, or really in most of Appalachia, considering. The black population of Surry County, NC, which was Andy Griffith’s home county and the place he based Mayberry on, was only about 4%. There was never really a big slave population in Appalachia, and a lot of Appalachian towns became sundown towns, where blacks weren’t allowed to live (and those who did forced out). So, for a rural Western NC county in the 1960s not to have a noticeable black population really is pretty true to life. Still, Andy’s the sheriff for the whole county, not just Mayberry, right? Even if Mayberry were a sundown town, and granted that there aren’t many blacks in that part of North Carolina anyway, there still ought to have been a few more black people. We do see quite a few episodes outside of city limits. Mount Airy, Griffith’s hometown and the basis for Mayberry, is 8% black today. 4% is one in 25, and there sure aren’t that many black people on that show. I’m a little disappointed; I hadn’t ever noticed that before. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-jews-in-media-tend-to-portray-jews/691882/34 "2014-06-30T07:47:10Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Maybe not you. Everyone I know says either “Shabbes” or “Shabbat.” “.Sabbath” בלויז גויים זאָגן \* (IME :)) > > [/SIZE] Sorry - I don’t speak Yiddish. Look, I translate from Hebrew to English for a living, and I’ve always used the word “Sabbath” to denote the 25-hour period between Friday evening and Saturday night; if the word “Shabbat” (שבת) refers to the day of the week, I use “Saturday”. Depends on the context, I guess. I’ve never of word “Sabbath” having non-Jewish connotations. I dislike inserting Hebrew words into my translations, anyway - makes me feel like I’m not giving my clients their money’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-jews-in-media-tend-to-portray-jews/691882/35 "2014-06-30T08:55:43Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I don’t find it tiresome and off-putting, but I have noticed that TV characters are usually a-religious unless they are Jewish. I don’t know - non-criminal African Americans are often portrayed as overtly Christian, and (again, non-criminal) Latinos as (specifically) Catholic. And even the criminal Italians and Irish are portrayed as Catholic too. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-jews-in-media-tend-to-portray-jews/691882/36 "2014-06-30T11:10:26Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > Still, Andy’s the sheriff for the whole county, not just Mayberry, right? Even if Mayberry were a sundown town, and granted that there aren’t many blacks in that part of North Carolina anyway, there still ought to have been a few more black people. We do see quite a few episodes outside of city limits. Mount Airy, Griffith’s hometown and the basis for Mayberry, is 8% black today. 4% is one in 25, and there sure aren’t that many black people on that show. > > I’m a little disappointed; I hadn’t ever noticed that before. There was a website once that got screen caps of all black extras on the show. It’s down now, but here’s the internet archive: [https://web.archive.org/web/20130328211725/http://www.bookguy.com/Mayberry/BlacksInMayberry.htm](https://web.archive.org/web/20130328211725/http://www.bookguy.com/Mayberry/BlacksInMayberry.htm) I don’t know that it’s particularly unusual. How many sitcoms from the 1960s really had a big black cast? I don’t think that many. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-jews-in-media-tend-to-portray-jews/691882/37 "2014-06-30T11:32:28Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Sorry - I don’t speak Yiddish. > > Look, I translate from Hebrew to English for a living, and I’ve always used the word “Sabbath” to denote the 25-hour period between Friday evening and Saturday night; if the word “Shabbat” (שבת) refers to the day of the week, I use “Saturday”. Depends on the context, I guess. I’ve never of word “Sabbath” having non-Jewish connotations. I dislike inserting Hebrew words into my translations, anyway - makes me feel like I’m not giving my clients their money’s worth. Some Christians refer to Sunday as the “Sabbath,” something I never heard until I moved to the mid-West, but I also hear “Sabbath” used a lot by Christians to refer to pagan holy days, or satanic rituals, and they mean it as a put-down (NOTE: I have no idea whether pagans of Satanists actually use this word). Again, something I never heard until I moved to the mid-West. But it’s squicky enough to me to want to dissociate from the word, and I have always said “Shabbes”-- I don’t think I even heard the word “Sabbath” until I heard it on TV when I was 10 or 11, and then I didn’t realize it was supposed to be the same word as “Shabbes.” I guess the truth is that I don’t have all that many gentile friends, some maybe it doesn’t come up that much-- but I don’t recall ever saying “Shabbes” to a gentile, and having them not know what I’m talking about. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-jews-in-media-tend-to-portray-jews/691882/38 "2014-06-30T11:50:47Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Some Christians refer to Sunday as the “Sabbath,” something I never heard until I moved to the mid-West, but I also hear “Sabbath” used a lot by Christians to refer to pagan holy days, or satanic rituals, and they mean it as a put-down (NOTE: I have no idea whether pagans of Satanists actually use this word). Again, something I never heard until I moved to the mid-West. But it’s squicky enough to me to want to dissociate from the word, and I have always said “Shabbes”-- I don’t think I even heard the word “Sabbath” until I heard it on TV when I was 10 or 11, and then I didn’t realize it was supposed to be the same word as “Shabbes.” > > I guess the truth is that I don’t have all that many gentile friends, some maybe it doesn’t come up that much-- but I don’t recall ever saying “Shabbes” to a gentile, and having them not know what I’m talking about. While I have heard “Sabbaths” used for Satanic & pagan festivals (the 1960s horror film which gave the name to the heavy metal group “Black Sabbath”), I’ve more commonly heard them called 'Sabbats". Now to the OP, may I refer you to the new ABC sitcom The Goldbergs in which the family seems to be secular, ethinic Jews & their personalities are basically big and loud. I notice Italians & many European ethnic groups are portrayed the same way. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-jews-in-media-tend-to-portray-jews/691882/39 "2014-06-30T12:26:12Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Sorry - I don’t speak Yiddish. > > Look, I translate from Hebrew to English for a living, and I’ve always used the word “Sabbath” to denote the 25-hour period between Friday evening and Saturday night; if the word “Shabbat” (שבת) refers to the day of the week, I use “Saturday”. Depends on the context, I guess. I’ve never of word “Sabbath” having non-Jewish connotations. I dislike inserting Hebrew words into my translations, anyway - makes me feel like I’m not giving my clients their money’s worth. Secular, nominally observant American Jew chiming in - If speaking about the 25-hour period between Friday evening and Saturday night with Jewish cultural or religious connotations, virtually never ever hear “Sabbath” and that word tends to have more of a Christian feel and would usually imply a religious Christian’s Sunday. That 25-hour period between Friday evening and Saturday night is, in America at least, in my secular circles, referred to as Shabbat. Secular Saturday is Saturday. You may not be giving your clients their money’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-jews-in-media-tend-to-portray-jews/691882/40 "2014-06-30T13:22:59Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > I was also shocked to find what a small percentage of the population black people and Latinos were. I knew we were minorities, sure, but not that small. Latinos are like half the population, right? No. Even with the growing population, no. That’s what growing up in Los Angeles will do to you. I think this is extremely common. People tend to grow up surrounded by a disproportionate percentage of people who are of the same ethnic group, and assume the rest of the country is like what they grew up with. Where it’s particularly relevant in the case of minorities, is that it tends to heighten their sense of being discriminated against. E.g. having 1 of 9 supreme court justices black is not far removed from the actual percentage of blacks in the population, but looks bad to someone who thinks blacks are half the population, and so on. > [@monstro](#): > > I don’t find it tiresome and off-putting, but I have noticed that TV characters are usually a-religious unless they are Jewish. If a character is Jewish, there will be a reference made to Hebrew School, bar mitzvah, Passover seder, etc. There will be at least one scene during a show’s run where someone is wearing a yarmulke. But aside from a very Christmas episode, signs of overt Christianity are usually missing. I suspect that the reason is because the religious aspect helps make the character “Jewish”. In the US, a regular normal person is a (white) Christian. Everyone else is just a bit exotic, to one degree or another. So if you put someone into your script who is not intended to have any actual religious characteristics, then that person will be Christian by default. If you put in a Jew (or Muslim, or Rastafarian and so on) then you’re most likely looking to have some “Jewish” aspect, and you bring that out by having them in some Jewish setting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-jews-in-media-tend-to-portray-jews/691882.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-jews-in-media-tend-to-portray-jews/691882.md?page=3)