Current:Home > ContactErin Foster says 'we need positive Jewish stories' after 'Nobody Wants This' criticism -FundWay
Erin Foster says 'we need positive Jewish stories' after 'Nobody Wants This' criticism
View
Date:2025-04-16 17:03:21
Erin Foster is addressing critics of her new Netflix show "Nobody Wants This."
In an interview with The Los Angeles Times, Foster, who created the series, addressed criticism of the show, which follows an agnostic, unfiltered podcast host, Joanne (Kristen Bell), who collides with a man totally her opposite at a dinner party.
"I think we need positive Jewish stories right now. I think it's interesting when people focus on, 'Oh, this is a stereotype of Jewish people,' when you have a rabbi as the lead. A hot, cool, young rabbi who smokes weed," Foster said. "That's the antithesis of how people view a Jewish rabbi, right?"
In the show, Joanne has an undeniable connection with the charming, emotionally available Noah (Adam Brody), but things are complicated by a difference in beliefs.
Foster continued: "If I made the Jewish parents, like, two granola hippies on a farm, then someone would write, 'I've never met a Jewish person like that before. You clearly don't know how to write Jewish people, you don't know what you're doing, and that doesn't represent us well.'"
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
The show is based on the love story of Foster, the daughter of Grammy-winning composer David Foster, and her husband Simon Tikhman, who she tied the knot with on New Year's Eve 2019.
Critics of 'Nobody Wants This' address stereotypes of Jewish women
Criticism over the depictions of Jewish women in "Nobody Wants This" was swift.
"It's a shame the Jewish women in 'Nobody Wants This' are impossible to root for — one-dimensional and painfully trope-ridden. Joanne's interest in converting to Judaism to be with Noah is understandable; he's the perfect boyfriend. But who'd want to become a Jewish woman when this is what being one looks like?" a writer for the Jewish feminist cultural site Hey Alma wrote.
Jessica Radloff wrote for Glamour that she "struggled with 'Nobody Wants This,'" writing that "while I love Noah's commitment to Judaism, and just the fact that he's one of the best TV boyfriends I've seen in some time, I can't say the same about the other Jewish characters on the show — primarily the women."
'Nobody Wants This' review:Kristen Bell, Adam Brody are oh-so romantic and sexy
Radloff continued: "Would it be too much just to see Jewish characters in shows without feeling othered?"
Writer Esther Zuckerman wrote in Time that, "What should be a show about a woman's entrance into and embrace of Jewish culture instead perpetuates the worst ideas about Jewish women. I wanted to fall in love. Instead, I just felt targeted."
Contributing: Erin Jensen
veryGood! (451)
Related
- US wholesale inflation accelerated in November in sign that some price pressures remain elevated
- Searching For A New Life
- A course correction in managing drying rivers
- A record high number of dead trees are found as Oregon copes with an extreme drought
- A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
- Arctic chill brings record low temperatures to the Northeast
- Elon Musk Speaks Out After SpaceX's Starship Explodes During Test Flight
- Meet the sargassum belt, a 5,000-mile-long snake of seaweed circling Florida
- Trump wants to turn the clock on daylight saving time
- Kate Spade 24-Hour Flash Deal: Get This $360 Satchel Bag for Just $89
Ranking
- Grammy nominee Teddy Swims on love, growth and embracing change
- Here is what scientists are doing to save Florida's coral reef before it's too late
- More than 100 people are dead and dozens are missing in storm-ravaged Philippines
- Yung Miami Confirms Breakup With Sean Diddy Combs
- Realtor group picks top 10 housing hot spots for 2025: Did your city make the list?
- News Round Up: aquatic vocal fry, fossilizing plankton and a high seas treaty
- Attention, #BookTok, Jessica Chastain Clarifies Her Comment on “Not Doing” Evelyn Hugo Movie
- Why Rachel McAdams Wanted to Show Her Armpit Hair and Body in All Its Glory
Recommendation
Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Hi Hi!
See Becky G, Prince Royce, Chiquis and More Stars at the 2023 Latin AMAs
Why some Indonesians worry about a $20 billion international deal to get off coal
Prince William and Kate Middleton Share Unseen Photo of Queen Elizabeth II With Family Before Death
Why Sean "Diddy" Combs Is Being Given a Laptop in Jail Amid Witness Intimidation Fears
How Hollywood gets wildfires all wrong — much to the frustration of firefighters
When flooding from Ian trapped one Florida town, an airboat navy came to the rescue
Denise Richards Is Returning to The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills: Find Out What She Revealed