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You Have to Have Jews: Difference between revisions
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For a minority forming less than one quarter of one percent of the world's population, Jews are massively disproportionately represented in the media both as characters and creatives (i.e. actors/writers/directors). This is mostly because much of the most popular media are created in the USA, and specifically in the two parts of the USA with the highest per capita Jewish populations, [[Los Angeles]] and [[New York City]], making this trope, in part, [[Big Applesauce]].
Of course, like so many others, this rather sensitive and in no way value-judgemental trope began as an inversion of another trope. There was a time when working in media was one of the few options for ambitious, intelligent, well-educated people who happened to be Jewish. Anything considered to be academic or high art would be under considerable pressure to appear "respectable," and cater to the segregationist views of the time. Anyone who was not (or could not pass for) white, American- or British-born, heterosexual, Christian (most likely Protestant), and often times male might be considered a risk to the company's reputation. Since radical new media, such as [[Film]], [[Radio]], [[Comic Books]] and, later, [[Television]] were [[New Media Are Evil|often callously dismissed as vulgar]], they tended to hire the people no one else would
This trope does not lend itself to a simple list of examples, as such a list might smack of anti-semitism ("what's with all these Jews?"). This is not what this trope is about at all. It is, nevertheless, noticeable to viewers and readers who live in areas where Jewish populations are much smaller (e.g. the UK, where Jews were, according to the 2001 census, outnumbered three to two by ''[[Star Wars|Jedi]]''). Therefore, please add examples only where this trope is [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]], or possibly [[Averted Trope]] if it's really incongruous.
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{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==▼
▲== [[Anime and Manga]] ==
* Very much lacking most anime and manga, except when part of the plot (as seen in ''[[Adolf]]'' and a small mention the [[Fullmetal Alchemist]] movie), probably due to the fact that Japan has virtually no Jewish community. The Kabbala and Hebrew characters are featured as religious symbolism (see [[Xenosaga]] and [[Evangelion]]), but it's mostly a case of [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic]], [[Jesus Taboo]], and/or [[Rule of Cool]].
* [[Black Lagoon]] features Benny.
* The leads in ''[[Harold
== [[Literature]] ==
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'''Q''': No no no. In fact some of our favorite pages in the chapter were Jewish. }}
* In the later Frank Herbert-penned ''[[Dune]]'' books, a small group of Jews help some of the protagonists. The unlikleyhood of Jews existing as more-or-less the same culture thousands of years later after several major galactic cultural upheavals is [[Lampshaded]].
* [[The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier
* "Davids" (Chasidim) are one of the three recognizable modern-day faiths that are confirmed to [[After the End|still exist]] in Sterling Lanier's ''Hiero Desteen'' books.
==
▲* The leads in ''[[Harold and Kumar]]'' were almost [[Race Lift|turned into two Jewish guys]] due to [[Executive Meddling]]. The producers added in two Jewish roommates as the lead characters' friends.
▲== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* Jon Stewart (né Leibowitz) is fond of exercising [[N-Word Privileges]] with this trope, as when he jokes on ''[[The Daily Show]]'' about the "Jew-run media". Once while accepting an Emmy award, Jon claimed the secret to the show's success was "diversity;" he then indicated the dozen or so white men making up the writing staff and pointed out one who "used to have a beard" and another who "isn't Jewish".
* Rick Sanchez blamed this trope for his dissatisfaction over his career trajectory as a TV journalist. In an [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/richard-adams-blog/2010/oct/01/rick-sanchez-cnn-jon-stewart-jews-television-bigot interview that quickly went viral], Sanchez blamed the abundance of Jews in the media, and specifically Jon Stewart, for his failure to become a leading name at CNN. Apparently he [[Captain Oblivious|couldn't think of a single reason]] other than his [[Everything Is Racist|Cuban heritage]] for why he wasn't the most respected journalist at CNN.
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* In his [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpVM_cij9eY Hanukkah Song], [[Adam Sandler]] lists a whole boatload of famous Jewish folks.
== [[Professional Wrestling]] ==
* Strongly averted, with Jews being perhaps the ''only'' major ethnic group not prominently featured in American pro wrestling over the past century. This could simply be due to the fact that Jews usually don't aspire to professional sports in general, but some small-time Jewish wrestlers (Scotty Goldman, a.k.a. Colt Cabana, for instance) have claimed to have been subjected to anti-Semitic taunts from non-Jews from the highest echelons of [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]] and other promotions as they have tried to work their way up through the territories. Perhaps the most famous exception is Bill Goldberg, World Heavyweight Champion in both WWE and [[WCW]] and of Romanian Jewish ancestry.
== [[
* Lampshaded hilariously in the [[Monty Python]] musical ''[[Spamalot]]'', in the number "You Won't Succeed On Broadway (If You Don't Have Any Jews)". They succeed after all because {{spoiler|Patsy}} turns out to be Jewish, though he's reluctant to reveal it to heavily armed Christians. The joke was changed to "stars" in Glasgow out of fears that Scots just wouldn't get it.
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* [http://multiplexcomic.com/archive.php?name=27 This] [[Multiplex]] strip accuses Hollywood Jews of [[Jesus Taboo|watering down Christmas movies]] to promote secular themes rather than religious ones. The reality is more likely that [[Money, Dear Boy|religious movies don't tend to put asses in seats]].
* Normally, ''[[Everyday Heroes]]'' goes to great lengths to [[Subverted Trope|subvert tropes]] ... then introduces a [http://www.webcomicsnation.com/eddurd/everydayheroes/series.php?view=single&ID=173833 Jewish family] consisting ''[[Exaggerated Trope|entirely of lawyers]]''.
* Not explicitly invoked, but [[Last Res0rt]] has shades of
== [[Real Life]] ==
* In his book ''Outliers'', Malcolm Gladwell claims the predominance of Jewish lawyers in New York City was due to a shift in business culture. For decades the Ivy League WASP-dominated law firms wouldn't sully their hands with the "dirty tricks" parts of business law (e.g., hostile takeovers), leaving those cases to the rising Jewish law firms. Around the late 1970s, "dirty tricks" became the established culture of big business, and the Jewish firms were poised to take advantage of it while the WASP firms struggled to adapt to the new paradigm.
* For many centuries, Jews were prohibited from owning land and otherwise discriminated against. As a result, they wound up being merchants, moneylenders, and members of the new middle class. In addition to merchants, another profession that didn't require owning land or being a member of the upper classes was as an entertainer. In addition, being an "outsider" helps you to understand the majority culture in ways that help you be a better entertainer. It is for similar reasons that Blacks in the United States were able to become so prominent as tap dancers and musicians.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Characters and Casting]]
[[Category:A Nice Jewish Index]]
[[Category:Race Tropes]]
[[Category:
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