I am a 90s girl through and through. My first issues of YM magazine arrived at my house right after River Phoenix's death and immediately I remember being immersed into the world of pop culture where we truly cared about our celebrities and what happens to them. I immediately loved all things pop culture - movies especially. Watching movies was - and still is - not only about the plot or the characters in the movie. Movies have always been about the immersive experience, allowing those personalities to jump off the screen and relate to me and my life, and whit means in context of what’s going on in our larger culture.
During these formative years a number of movies entered my own personal Canon - West Side Story, Goonies, Grease, Cinema Paradiso, and, of course, A League of their Own. The other movies are for a discussion at another time. But today I wanted to talk about A League of their Own, and namely the Amazon reboot of the same name.
As some of you might be familiar with, A League of their Own takes place during WW2 when American women stepped into the cleats of the country’s men who had gone off to fight overseas. These were women from across the country and spanned all socio-economic statuses. They stepped in to entertain America at a time where that was so much needed to heal the soul of the country.
So you can imagine my excitement when I heard that Amazon Prime was rebooting the movie as a series. Written, EP'ed and Starring Abbi Jacobson this reboot promised to dive deeper into the private lives, personalities, struggles and triumphs of these women - topics of which the movie barely had time to scratch the surface. Notably, the series was gaining attention for diving into the homosexuality of many of these women - something that the culture was not ready to deal explore in 1992 when the original film was released, but 30 years later we are more than ready to talk about it.
Additionally, with the character Max - an African American woman with a mean fast-ball - is unceremoniously and aggressively ejected from try-outs just based on the color of her skin. Her impressive pitching skills notwithstanding.
In the first episode there’s a scene when Carson (Jacobson) enters the baseball diamond and encounters a field full of women practicing their ball skills. I got choked up watching this scene filled with women of all shapes and sizes (ok so they were also all white but as previously mentioned they’re gonna deal with race). But despite their varied body types these women were all confident, skilled and - yes - beautiful. This show was going to show that there’s more to a woman’s worth than her restrictive bust-waist-hips dimensions.
The queer-ness and shame or secrecy surrounding these women’s personal sexual preferences is handled with nuance, and delicate care. Appropriately evoking sympathy and caring for these characters. Additionally, the emotional distress endured by the black protagonists are overt and painful. Being ejected from a baseball tryout without being given a fair shot, having your request to apply for a job being rejected or being ignored by the fish-monger at the white supermarket when politely and assertively requesting to be served.
All of this nuanced and sensitive treatment to marginalized people while also actively working to debunk gross stereotypes is powerful and very much needed in our society. However, what it also accomplishes is making the gross stereotypes of the lone Jewish character so painful. Shirley Cohen, played by Kate Berlant, is the lone Jewish character. And upon our introduction to the character we’re also introduced to her many neuroses, anxieties and hypochondriac nature. Wikipedia, in its list of characters, gives her the description of “a highly anxious player” When the ladies go out for lunch in episode 2 she tells Carson she has specific dietary restrictions and heads over to get some tuna from the supermarket (see above fish-monger scene). She is being set up as not only Jewish but at least somewhat observant alluding to her need to have kosher food. Almost as though to say, the more “Jewish” you are, the more neurotic you become. She is a peripheral character and also someone set up to be the butt of the jokes. The one towards whom eye rolls are accepted and the one that everyone agrees is annoying and ridiculous. She’s not othered to the extent of Max, the black woman, but she’s accepted just enough to make the WASPy players feel better about themselves. She’s the perfect foil - she can generally pass as a white player, but the second she opens her mouth it’s clear that she’s not the same.
Even is 2022, when we as a society are so sensitive to the needs of others, to the plight of minorities and to the pain of marginalized people, it’s still ok to sideline and mock Jews for the stereotypes that have followed us for years. Shame on Abbi Jacobson and the producers of this iteration of A League of their Own. Shame on Amazon for allowing these stereotypes to be promulgated. Shame on the press for not calling this out. This show takes place during the 1940s and World War 2, a time when millions of Jews were being slaughtered based on gross stereotypes and here we have a show - coming almost 80 years after the fact - created by a Jewish woman - who doesn’t seem to take issue with the fact that she’s perpetuating caricatures that have plagued her people for millennia. Jews are more than the stereotypes that have followed us for years. We don’t deserve to be the people upon whom stereotypes can remain. For a show to take such care and kid-gloves to marginalized people’s plights and yet care little about what it says about its Jewish characters means it’s missed its own point.
We love to say about media that “representation matters.” It’s important for there to be representation in our media for people who feel underrepresented to feel like they belong in society. For those whose differences often make them feel small and insignificant or even ashamed to see someone who acts or looks like them projected onto the big (or little) screen. To feel seen to feel mainstreamed. When a little black girl sees a black muppet on Sesame Street singing about how much she loves her hair it gives that little girl the sense of belonging and love of herself. When an Arab person sees themselves on screen being depicted as a main-stream doctor or lawyer and not terrorist or delivery person they feel as though they’ve finally broken out of the stereotype that has plagued them. And then there are the Jews - always neurotic. And then there are the Jews - always neurotic. Always showcasing a version of the neurotic Woody Allen-esque Jew no matter how progressive the show portends to be.
This isn’t just an issue with this one show. As I mentioned at the top - one of the most interesting parts of movies and TV for me is how it relates to our culture and what it says about us. This show is just a symptom in a culture that allows for antisemitic talk to be accepted. When JK Rowling dared to speak her opinion as it relates to trans women she was immediately canceled - no dialogue, no engagement with her. Nothing. Canceled. And yet when Kanye West spews horrific Antisemtic venom we have a national conversation about antisemitism - even Orthodox Jewish pundit Ben Shapiro offers his 2-cents saying that Kanye’s words aren’t so bad because he’s experiencing a manic state. Yes - it’s just as bad. There is no - and should not be - any excuse for this despicable speech and yet, there is. There always is. What if the black or queer characters in A League of their Own embodied gross stereotypes people in those communities have been battling for centuries? Would that be tolerated by society? Definitely not. It’s time that Jews be put into the same category of protected minority where the stereotypes placed on our heads be shot down at every turn. That not happening is what allows the Kanye’s of this world - and much much worse - be allowed to spew their hatred without fear of - or any- retribution.
So, in closing, I implore you, Hollywood. Include the Jews in your sensitive treatment of marginalized minorities. We are done being mocked for being neurotic or anxious. We are through sitting on the sidelines, afraid to cause a stir. If you want to explore how certain peoples have been treated unfairly throughout history, include us in that exploration. There are 6 million of us who cannot speak out about the permanent damage that this has caused so maybe you’ll listen to this one.
