# In which I point out the similarities between Ferengis and old anti-semitic cartoons.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-point-out-the-similarities-between-ferengis-and-old-anti-semitic-cartoons/378705
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [November 1, 2006, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-point-out-the-similarities-between-ferengis-and-old-anti-semitic-cartoons/378705 "2006-11-01T07:02:13Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2006, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-point-out-the-similarities-between-ferengis-and-old-anti-semitic-cartoons/378705/41 "2006-11-02T09:43:37Z")
[QUOTE=Captain Amazing]
It comes from the Arabic…“faranji”-Frank, Frenchman
[/QUOTE]
Yeah, my sources say it’s Urdu via Persian.
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### Author:  [@Sonia\_Montdore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonia_Montdore)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2006, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-point-out-the-similarities-between-ferengis-and-old-anti-semitic-cartoons/378705/42 "2006-11-02T14:04:33Z")
[QUOTE=kunilou]
I thought _Jews in Space_ was a Mel Brooks bit.
[/QUOTE]
Yes, _Jews in Space_ is Mel Brooks’s schtick. But I swear that Ellison published a book of scifi stories featuring Jewish protagonists years before Brooks ever uttered, “May the Schwartz be with you.”
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### Author:  [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2006, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-point-out-the-similarities-between-ferengis-and-old-anti-semitic-cartoons/378705/43 "2006-11-02T14:29:19Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham]
…-- you haven’t got the Ferengi intellectual thing, for instance. With a few exceptions, the Ferengi weren’t brilliant inventors or thinkers.
[/QUOTE]
And no theater!
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2006, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-point-out-the-similarities-between-ferengis-and-old-anti-semitic-cartoons/378705/44 "2006-11-02T17:20:45Z")
Mel Gibson says the Ferengi are responsible for all the wars in the galaxy…
[QUOTE=brianjedi]
Are the Ferengi stereotypically Jewish? Yup. Which is probably at least partially related to the fact that Wallace Shawn, Armin Shimerman, Max Grodenchik and Aron Eisenberg are all Jewish. I’d imagine they incorporated some of the Jewish stereotypes into their characterizations.
[/QUOTE]
This is an interesting point, but Quark, Rom and the Nagus all showed up in DS9, years after the species was introduced. If anything, I’d say those three toned the stereotypes down. Rom isn’t greedy or intelligent, and Quark is somewhat ‘assimilated,’ which may be a stereotype of its own, but it’s not as negative.
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2006, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-point-out-the-similarities-between-ferengis-and-old-anti-semitic-cartoons/378705/45 "2006-11-02T19:39:12Z")
[QUOTE=H3Knuckles]
Ummm… Dude? Did you read the thread title? I \*\* did not\*\* say these things are true of Jewish people, I said that they were the common features of anti-semitic cartoons. I don’t know about you, but in my public school we learned a fair bit about Nazi propaganda during European History, and such things came up at some other point in my education (American History II at college, probably).
Anyways, in the course of my education I have seen time and again that these are all traits that are routinely used when people make charicatures of (or outright propaganda against) Jewish people.
[/QUOTE]
Yes, OK, you’re right that slipped past me. Sorry. But still, although it wouldn’t shock me to learn that the writers were influenced subconciously by some Jewish stereotypes, I can’t see it coming from those cartoons. I think you’re reaching.
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### Author:  [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2006, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-point-out-the-similarities-between-ferengis-and-old-anti-semitic-cartoons/378705/46 "2006-11-02T19:45:22Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23]
Mel Gibson says the Ferengi are responsible for all the wars in the galaxy…
This is an interesting point, but Quark, Rom and the Nagus all showed up in DS9, years after the species was introduced. If anything, I’d say those three toned the stereotypes down. Rom isn’t greedy or intelligent, and Quark is somewhat ‘assimilated,’ which may be a stereotype of its own, but it’s not as negative.
[/QUOTE]
Armin Shimerman has been a Ferengi since their first appearance, though. Grodenchik was one of the Ferengi in “The Perfect Mate” on TNG.
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### Author:  [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)
#### Post date: [November 3, 2006, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-point-out-the-similarities-between-ferengis-and-old-anti-semitic-cartoons/378705/47 "2006-11-03T06:13:04Z")
Actually, i thought the Borg were supposed to represent Communism, the lack of individuality, doing things for the good of the collective/community, the constant expansion beyond their borders…
as far as the Ferengi, I saw them as typical overzealous, morality-impaired businessmen, the stereotypical “Suit”
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### Author:  [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)
#### Post date: [November 3, 2006, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-point-out-the-similarities-between-ferengis-and-old-anti-semitic-cartoons/378705/48 "2006-11-03T17:49:30Z")
[QUOTE=MacTech]
as far as the Ferengi, I saw them as typical overzealous, morality-impaired businessmen, the stereotypical “Suit”
[/QUOTE]
The ferengi are the epitome of the saying “He who dies with the most toys wins”
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### Author:  [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)
#### Post date: [November 3, 2006, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-point-out-the-similarities-between-ferengis-and-old-anti-semitic-cartoons/378705/49 "2006-11-03T19:43:44Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth]
But still, although it wouldn’t shock me to learn that the writers were influenced subconciously by some Jewish stereotypes, I can’t see it coming from those cartoons. I think you’re reaching.
[/QUOTE]
Um, I don’t think he said they were _caused_ by old anti-semitic cartoons, but that they had similarities.
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