Nobody Wants This creator Erin Foster has pushed back against critics and fans who have said her Netflix rom-com show portrays stereotypes of Jewish people.
The los angeles resident, 42, was asked on monday by the Los Angeles Times about how she felt about accusations that stereotypes were evident in some of the show’s Jewish characters.
Foster responded, “I think we need positive Jewish stories right now.
“I think it’s interesting when people focus on, ‘Oh, this is a stereotype of the Jewish people,’ when you have a rabbi in charge. A handsome, cool, young rabbi smoking weed.”
Foster asked, “That’s the antithesis of how people view a Jewish rabbi, right?”
Nobody Wants This creator Erin Foster, 42, has pushed back against critics who say her Netflix rom-com show portrays stereotypes of Jewish people. Pictured in LA earlier this month
According to a logline, the show follows “the unexpected relationship between a rogue rabbi (played by Adam Brody) and a hot-tempered, loud, agnostic woman (played by Kristen Bell).”
Foster explained the difficult balance she faces as a creative in her attempts to craft characters with cultural accuracy.
“If I made two granola hippies on a farm for the Jewish parents,” Foster said, “someone would write, ‘I’ve never met such a Jewish person.’ 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.”
Foster based the show in part on her romance with her husband Simon Tikhman, who is Jewish.
She told the newspaper that she converted to Judaism more than four years ago, adding: “I’m Jewish, but I didn’t grow up Jewish… it’s something else.”
The show follows, according to a logline, “the unexpected relationship between a rogue rabbi (played by Adam Brody) and a hot-tempered, loud-mouthed, agnostic woman (played by Kristen Bell).”
The series has had a successful start and reached number one in the Netflix Top 10 list shortly after streaming began, the newspaper reported.
Glamor’s Jessica Radloff said inside a review from September 27 of the show: ‘I can’t imagine a guy watching this show saying, “I really want to date a Jewish girl!”
“We come across as controlling, marriage-hungry women who want to plan dinner parties and alienate anyone who doesn’t share the same dreams.”
Foster based the show partly on her romance with her husband Simon Tikhman (pictured), who is Jewish
The show is off to a successful start, landing at number one on the Netflix Top 10 list shortly after streaming began
Foster said she converted to Judaism more than four years ago, adding, “I’m Jewish, but I didn’t grow up Jewish… it’s something else.”
Bloomberg News Tech Reporter Dina Bass wrote on Twitter on Sunday: “So I want to see Nobody Wants This? I love the two leads – Veronica Mars and the OC are two beloved shows for me.
“But like I don’t like to be bombarded by Jewish stereotypes, especially nasty and lazy stereotypes about Jewish women.”
In one Time review September 26 author Esther Zuckerman said she “couldn’t help but feel let down” after seeing the show.
“While it portrays the fantasy of the ideal Jewish man in Noah, the series seems to hate Jewish women, who are depicted as whiners, harpies and the ultimate villains of this story,” Zuckerman said. ‘I wanted to get carried away by a rom-com. Instead, I was confronted with the reality that this show might actually hate me.”
Zuckerman said that “the ultimate disappointment of Nobody Wants This” is that “what should be a show about a woman’s entry into and embrace of Jewish culture instead perpetuates the worst ideas about Jewish women.”
Other users echoed similar sentiments, citing several aspects of the series that sounded offensive or inauthentic.
Critics and social media users pointed out aspects of the series that they found problematic
In response to Zuckerman’s review, an Plus, what kind of Jewish baseball team practices on Saturdays??? I am shocked that a rabbi was consulted about the series.”
Another user said: ‘Thanks for this. I wanted to love it, but I really hated the portrayal of Jewish women. I didn’t see myself in any of them.’
Another user said, “Netflix just released a trailer for a show about an agnostic woman who falls in love with a rabbi.
“I’ll reserve judgment until it actually debuts, but the trailer was a drop with a lot of classic Jewish stereotypes. It is aptly titled: Nobody Wants This.’