About a month ago, antisemitic graffiti was discovered in one of the Natick High School bathrooms. Although we’d always known that antisemitism was alive and well, lurking in many aspects of society, we were unprepared for such a blatant act of hate—such a threat—in our own school. In the aftermath of this incident, it is more important than ever to investigate one of the more hidden forms of modern-day antisemitism: the portrayal of villains in pop culture. Although this issue is not as violent or devastating as antisemitic graffiti, neo-Nazis, or synoguage shootings, it feeds and nurtures the antisemitic stereotypes that make these acts possible.

History of Antisemitic Tropes 

Antisemitic sentiments and stereotypes go back centuries, from accusing Jews of performing dark magic to blaming, hunting down, and killing Jews when Christian children went missing. One repeated pattern in the history of antisemitic stereotypes these was the stereotype of the "ugly Jew." Even centuries ago, media portrayed Jewish people as “wrinkly and fat with flabby lips, wheeling eyes, hooked noses and their signature unruly black hair” (Tatum Schutt for Hey Alma); these are stereotypes that are still used to portray villains today. Amongst these depictions of “ugly Jews,” the large, hooked “Jewish nose” was particularly prevalent. First seen in the 12th century, this image was seized by the Nazis and used in their antisemitic propaganda throughout the 1930s. Depicting Jews this way was meant to “other” them and make them seem repulsive. The belief that Jews are ugly fed into people’s hatred and served as unconscious “justification” for antisemitic acts that were more dangerous and deadly. 

These stereotypes also create the untrue and harmful idea that there are "traditionally Jewish features." Judaism is an ethnoreligion, which means that Jews share aspects of ethnicity such as culture and language, but there are Jews of all races, both those born Jewish and those who converted. So-called “traditionally Jewish features” are more prevalent in white Jews, so the misguided belief that “traditionally Jewish features” exist (a common belief among Jews and non-Jews alike) excludes non-white Jews and makes them feel like they aren’t “Jewish enough”.

Furthermore, there is a common stereotype that Jews are greedy and money-grubbing. This is patently untrue and is engineered by antisemites. In the middle ages, jobs such as banking, law, and government positions were not respected and were seen as dirty work. The Christian church delegated these jobs to Jews, and they became the only jobs Jews were allowed to hold. Jobs were often passed down through families, so when these areas became common and respected, many Jews still held positions in them. A stereotype of Jews as being good with money was born, and quickly evolved into a stereotype of Jews being frugal and greedy. Even though Jews today aren’t restricted in the positions they can hold, these stereotypes persist.

Examples in Pop Culture

Harry Potter

Recently, the beloved Harry Potter series has been the subject of intense controversy surrounding its lack of diversity and its author’s harmful transphobic opinions. Unfortunately, its lack of political correctness goes further, with its deeply antisemitic portrayal of Gringotts bank and the goblins who work there. In the Harry Potter movies, Gringotts’ floor is decorated with a large Star of David. This is not the random, sort-of-nice representation that it may seem; rather, embedding references to Judaism in the decorations of a bank reflects and perpetuates the stereotype that Jews are greedy, stingy people with a secret stranglehold on the economy. 

Furthermore, the staff at Gringotts bank consists of goblins: short creatures with large hooked noses and beady eyes. They reflect physical stereotypes of Jewish people to such a degree that they've been mistaken for a caricature from The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, an antisemitic book from 1903. Like the Star of David on the floor of the bank, the goblin bankers with exaggerated "Jewish features" perpetuates the stereotypical connection of Jewish people and money. 

On top of all that, there was no Jewish representation in the books! When reading Harry Potter, I was always bothered by the fact that the entire school was decorated just for Christmas and all the students were expected to celebrate it, with no other option offered. 

Disney

Disney has its own fair share of antisemitism. The most prominent example is Mother Gothel from Tangled. The antisemitism in her character doesn’t jump out to most goyim (non-Jewish people), but is astonishingly apparent to Jews used to this kind of stereotyping. Her hooked nose and long, curly, black hair are both antisemitic stereotypes already covered, but even more sinister is the implication of stealing children.  

There's an old antisemitic conspiracy theory that Jews steal Christian children for Jewish holidays and farcical rituals. The idea of a controlling mother who stole a child may or may not be antisemitic on its own, but combined with the apperance-based stereotypes, Disney’s Tangled promotes dangerous antisemitic tropes and theories. 

Sitcoms and Nose Jobs

It is harder to physically stereotype characters when they are played by real people rather than cartoons; even so, sitcoms manage to instill in Jews and non-Jews alike the idea that “traditionally Jewish features” are undesirable. Take, for example, Friends. Throughout the ten seasons of this hit sitcom, the friends repeatedly tease Rachel Greene for having had a big nose, commenting on how she is more desirable to men after having gotten a nose job. Similarly, in an episode of Seinfeld, one of the characters, George Costanza, considers breaking up with his girlfriend because he can’t look past her large nose. He tries to subtly tell her to get a nose job, and is shocked by how much prettier she looks after getting one. 

These seemingly superficial insinuations tell Jewish people—and anyone who doesn’t conform to the beauty standard—that they should change their authentic selves in order to become more desirable. It also normalizes making fun of others because their noses don’t fit with society’s exclusionary definition of beauty. Even today, our idea of the perfect, Instagrammable side profile does not include many Jewish people, people of color, and people who fit under both those labels. This makes them self-conscious about their heritage, which should be a source of pride.

Other

While prominent, Disney, Harry Potter, Friends, and Seinfeld are not the only pieces of popular media that contain antisemitism. Roald Dahl, author of many beloved children’s books, included similar antisemitic stereotypes in The Witches: hooked-nosed witches stealing children. In Star Trek: The Next Generation, the Ferengi are a race of rich, greedy aliens with big ears and noses and sharp teeth, who care for nothing but money, and follow a set of rules clearly similar to the 613 commandments followed by Jews. There are many books, shows, etc., that either include no Jewish characters, or one Jewish character whose entire personality is being Jewish. Take, for example, Simon Lewis from Cassandra Clare’s Shadowhunter Chronicles franchise. Anytime he is in a scene, his Judaism is almost always bound to come up. He eventually becomes a vampire, feeding into the blood libel/blood-drinking Jew stereotype. This stereotype goes back centuries and was particularly prevalent in the Middle Ages, when Jews were accused of kidnapping Christian children to bake their blood into matzah, and were hunted down and killed when Christian children went missing. This isn’t to say that Jewish characters can’t be vampires, but when the only Jewish character (aside from his mother, who rarely makes an appearance or contributes to the plot) turns into one, there’s an issue. 

Effects

These antisemitic stereotypes are meant to “stir up a sense of disgust and repulsion” towards the perceived physical characteristics and personality traits of Jews (Jeremy Ullman for the Media Diversity Institute). And, because of a lack of positive and correct Jewish representation in the media, it works. Most Jewish people I know—including myself—have had a period of intense hatred of their nose, and many of them still haven’t completely come to terms with it. Disney, with its many Jewish-coded villains, is an early influence on most young American minds, so hatred of one’s “traditionally Jewish features” is embedded early and deep. 

In addition to sparking self-consciousness and self-loathing in Jewish people, these stereotypes make non-Jews see Jews as ugly, evil, and a threat to be eradicated, which has very real and harmful consequences. For example, a woman elected to Congress to serve the people of the United States, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, has used her position to spread outrageous lies about Jews (as well as about Black people, Muslims, and other marginalized groups). Her statements that Jews used space lasers to set wildfires in California may seem ridiculous, but the scary thing is that there are people who believe her. Marjorie Taylor Greene, caricature of herself though she may be, is representative of the past, present, and future of antisemitic feelings in this country, and we cannot ignore that.

What Can Be Done?

We cannot easily undo the legacy of centuries of stereotypes—and should never simply pretend they didn’t happen in order to “erase” or “reverse” them. However, we can work to dismantle these stereotypes by making inclusivity a priority.

The popular media has historically been centered on narratives of straight, cisgender, white Christians. There are already widespread efforts to include more representation—more accurate and positive representation—of marginalized groups in books, movies, and TV, and we must support this trend and make sure it includes Jewish people. 

It is also vital for us to normalize learning about both Jewish people and antisemitism. This should most definitely include the rich and tragic history of Jewish people, and how Jewish people were affected by historical events, but should not be confined to history or the Holocaust. For example, in my biology class, we took a couple minutes to learn about the people who had discovered the structure of DNA and to discuss the fact that some of them did not receive due credit for their contributions, partially because they were Jewish. This casual representation of intelligent and important Jewish people and acknowledgment of the struggles they have faced was easy to include in our lesson, and was incredibly validating. Not to mention, it was a welcome break from trying to understand DNA.

Finally, and critically, although it is uncomfortable to deal with the ugly truth of our antisemitic past and present, we cannot erase things we don’t want to face. The Holocaust happened such a relatively short time ago that some survivors are still alive, yet Holocaust denial is spreading its poisonous roots throughout the country and the world. In addition to being an affront to people that survived the concentration camps and/or lost family to them, Holocaust denial is a danger to Jewish people everywhere; when we don’t learn about a historical crisis and why it was so terrible, there is less to prevent it from happening again. Even worse, there are people today who believe that the Holocaust was a good thing, who praise Hitler and call for a resurgence of his tactics against Jews. For instance, T-shirts worn at the January 6 capital riot proclaimed the wearers’ support for Camp Auschwitz and their belief that “6 million [Jews murdered during the Holocaust] wasn’t enough.” 

Pretending that antisemitism does not exist does not make it go away; in fact, it allows antisemitism to continue to spread unchallenged. We must call out antisemitism wherever we see it, whether in subtle stereotypes in pop culture or in the blatant acts of hate they enable. 

After all, Jews are not villains, but antisemitism most certainly is.