Racism

[razor]

I hate anti-semitism.

 

I hate David Baddiel.

 

I think some of the more culture-war accusations of anti-semitism are counterproductive.  They border on the "you can't say blackboard any more" urban myths.  We are arguing about a tiny match flame in front of us when there's a raging inferno behind us.

 

I think David Baddiel is a talentless bore who thinks he's clever and more interesting than he actually is, and who has latched onto something that gives him a sense of relevance.  But actually, he is more harmful than helpful to the fight.

 

Did I say that I hate him?

[Kepler-186]

This is an excellent article about Oppenheimer and one of his contemporaries, Rabi, who is played by a Jewish actor in the film, and the thoughts of Tabi’s family at seeing people they knew intimately portrayed on film. 
 

“If you’re a member of any dynasty prominent in twentieth-century political history—with Roosevelts, Churchills, Windsors, and Kennedys at the forefront—your relatives are certain to be reincarnated in a nondocumentary film sooner or later. The halo effect of those families’ global fame sometimes also encompasses lesser participants on the periphery of momentous events. So when I read that Christopher Nolan, the British-American director best known for his Dark Knight Batman trilogy, would make his next feature about the theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, what excited me most was personal. Often called the father of the atomic bomb, Oppenheimer was a longstanding intimate and colleague of I. I. Rabi (rhymes with “hobby”), winner of the 1944 Nobel Prize in Physics and a first cousin of my paternal grandfather. To this day members of the Rabi branch of our Stammbaum, whom I call my nuclear family, still refer to the physicist by his nickname, Oppie.

I immediately flew to IMDB and found that, alongside the Irish actor Cillian Murphy in the title role, Rabi was to be played by David Krumholtz, whom I’d seen as a Seventies porn producer in the raunchy HBO miniseries The Deuce from 2017–2019. I was curious what Rabi’s direct descendants would make of his cinematic embodiment and those of other people portrayed in the film, whom they knew far better than I did. Thus I invited Rabi’s younger daughter, my cousin Margaret Rabi Beels—an eighty-eight-year-old retired social worker and family therapist who lives in Manhattan—to attend an advance screening with my wife and me along with her husband and their son.”

 

https://www.nybooks.com/online/2023/07/21/oppies-problem-oppenheimer/

 

 

[Paulie Dangerously]

5 hours ago, Strontium said:

 

Making lists of Jews, always a wholesome activity.

 

To save time compiling future lists, why not make them wear armbands or something?

[Jairzinho]

3 hours ago, razor said:

I hate anti-semitism.

 

I hate David Baddiel.

 

I think some of the more culture-war accusations of anti-semitism are counterproductive.  They border on the "you can't say blackboard any more" urban myths.  We are arguing about a tiny match flame in front of us when there's a raging inferno behind us.

 

I think David Baddiel is a talentless bore who thinks he's clever and more interesting than he actually is, and who has latched onto something that gives him a sense of relevance.  But actually, he is more harmful than helpful to the fight.

 

Did I say that I hate him?

 

Agreed. I would imagine his utterances produce a net gain to anti-semitism. Those on the fringes won't be able to simply see him as the boring, patronising, smarmy fucking cunt that he is. They'll add "Jewish".

 

As others have stated, Baddiel is just a grifter. Like those on the far right and those on the far left, he has found his niche in the tedious as fuck centrist category, specialising in "Absolutely everything is anti-semitic and if you disagree with me you are anti-semitic".

 

He's making life much harder for actual academics who write about systemic anti-semitism. 

 

[Gnasher]

8 hours ago, Strontium said:

 

No, I just think you're misreading the headline. Nowhere there does it say a non-Jew shouldn't play a Jew, it just offers the opinion that the trend of non-Jews playing Jews may be part of some other phenomenon.

 

 

Making lists of Jews, always a wholesome activity.

 

It's a list of actors and how they match the parts they play. Most are Jewish some are not. 

 

The idea that Christopher Nolan, the casting directors and the studio would not painstakingly go through all available actors before settling on the one they believe will be best suited to the part and who would not in anyway lower the authenticity of the main character is preposterous. 

 

It's a huge money blockbuster of a fascinating character, a pivotal episode in history, made by a top class director with the best available acting talent to produce a film as good as it could possibly be. They are not going to jeopardise that by miscasting the main character.

 

Baddiels just looking for attention, possibly to keep himself relevant. Last year the BBC produced a series 'Ridley Road' where the main Jewish character was played by Baddiels mate Eddie Marsan, who's not Jewish. Baddiel didn't utter a word then.

[AngryOfTuebrook]

Has anyone got a link to the actual article?

[AngryOfTuebrook]

I'm more concerned with the way the Barbie movie glossed over the atrocities in Lyon.

[ZonkoVille77]

12 hours ago, Gnasher said:

 

It's a list of actors and how they match the parts they play. Most are Jewish some are not. 

 

The idea that Christopher Nolan, the casting directors and the studio would not painstakingly go through all available actors before settling on the one they believe will be best suited to the part and who would not in anyway lower the authenticity of the main character is preposterous. 

 

It's a huge money blockbuster of a fascinating character, a pivotal episode in history, made by a top class director with the best available acting talent to produce a film as good as it could possibly be. They are not going to jeopardise that by miscasting the main character.

 

Baddiels just looking for attention, possibly to keep himself relevant. Last year the BBC produced a series 'Ridley Road' where the main Jewish character was played by Baddiels mate Eddie Marsan, who's not Jewish. Baddiel didn't utter a word then.

 

Great Post, Gnasher.

 

I just think it's tragic that it has even become a thing. Surely there are more pressing issues to be upset about, like flag snagging cunts on twitter. 

[AngryOfTuebrook]

On 28/07/2023 at 21:22, AngryOfTuebrook said:

Just watched David Harewood's BBC documentary on Blackface.

 

Fuck. Ing. Hell.

 

There's a lot to take in (and some surprising footage of some really big names).

If you haven't seen it yet, I can't recommend it enough.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001p474 

[Skidfingers McGonical]

Yeah but have read Baddiel’s book or watched his documentary?
 

[Strontium]

On 29/07/2023 at 09:28, Gnasher said:

It's a list of actors and how they match the parts they play. Most are Jewish some are not. 

 

The idea that Christopher Nolan, the casting directors and the studio would not painstakingly go through all available actors before settling on the one they believe will be best suited to the part and who would not in anyway lower the authenticity of the main character is preposterous. 

 

It's a huge money blockbuster of a fascinating character, a pivotal episode in history, made by a top class director with the best available acting talent to produce a film as good as it could possibly be. They are not going to jeopardise that by miscasting the main character.

 

Baddiels just looking for attention, possibly to keep himself relevant. Last year the BBC produced a series 'Ridley Road' where the main Jewish character was played by Baddiels mate Eddie Marsan, who's not Jewish. Baddiel didn't utter a word then.

 

You don't half talk a lot of shit, even after being corrected.

 

Once again, Baddiel IS NOT and NEVER HAS said that non-Jews shouldn't play Jews.

 

If you can't criticise his opinions without completely misrepresenting them, then maybe you shouldn't criticise them at all.

[TheHowieLama]

Is it anti-Semitic to genuinely not give a rat's ass about David Baddiel's opinions?

[Skidfingers McGonical]

17 minutes ago, Strontium said:

 

You don't half talk a lot of shit, even after being corrected.

 

Once again, Baddiel IS NOT and NEVER HAS said that non-Jews shouldn't play Jews.

 

If you can't criticise his opinions without completely misrepresenting them, then maybe you shouldn't criticise them at all.

So what is he saying? 
 

If he’s implying it’s a part of some other phenomenon, what’s the phenomenon he’s talking about? 
 

Did he write an article on Cillian Murphy and the rest of the Peaky Blinders cast playing Romany gypsies as being part of some other phenomenon? 
 

 

 

[Skidfingers McGonical]

15 minutes ago, TheHowieLama said:

Is it anti-Semitic to genuinely not give a rat's ass about David Baddiel's opinions?

A bellend, is a bellend, regardless of race, culture or creed. 

[Bjornebye]

 

 

 

 

 

David Baddiel is a cunt. 

 

[TheHowieLama]

11 minutes ago, Skidfingers McGonical said:

A bellend, is a bellend, regardless of race, culture or creed. 

 

I just asked a question pal, seems harsh.

[Strontium]

13 minutes ago, Skidfingers McGonical said:

So what is he saying? 
 

If he’s implying it’s a part of some other phenomenon, what’s the phenomenon he’s talking about?

 

I mean, you could try reading the article, or failing that, my previous post in the thread:

 

Baddiel is on record as saying "non-Jews should be allowed to play Jews" (an exact quote). So to claim anything else is grotesque misrepresentation.

 

He is, however, entitled to ask why the current trend for authenticity in casting should apply to some minorities, but not others. 

 

 

[TheHowieLama]

You mean just in pseudo bio/docs I assume.

[bossy]

8 minutes ago, Strontium said:

 

I mean, you could try reading the article, or failing that, my previous post in the thread:

 

Baddiel is on record as saying "non-Jews should be allowed to play Jews" (an exact quote). So to claim anything else is grotesque misrepresentation.

 

He is, however, entitled to ask why the current trend for authenticity in casting should apply to some minorities, but not others. 

 

 

I thought the current trend was for blind casting. IE, doesn’t matter the religion, colour or nationality?

[Strontium]

1 minute ago, bossy said:

I thought the current trend was for blind casting. IE, doesn’t matter the religion, colour or nationality?

 

I think that only applies when you're taking jobs off white people.

[ZonkoVille77]

Look, everyone knows that Idris Elba should have played the part of Oppenheimer. 

 

Can't help but think this is being blown out of proportion, even if Baddiel has a history of chatting wham.

[Skidfingers McGonical]

18 minutes ago, Strontium said:

 

I mean, you could try reading the article, or failing that, my previous post in the thread:

 

Baddiel is on record as saying "non-Jews should be allowed to play Jews" (an exact quote). So to claim anything else is grotesque misrepresentation.

 

He is, however, entitled to ask why the current trend for authenticity in casting should apply to some minorities, but not others. 

 

 

Have you got the article to share? 
 

10 minutes ago, Strontium said:

 

I think that only applies when you're taking jobs off white people.

Or dwarves? 

[bossy]

10 minutes ago, Strontium said:

 

I think that only applies when you're taking jobs off white people.

Oppenheimer was white, so that ok then isn’t it? Being slightly facetious but still. 

[Strontium]

2 minutes ago, Skidfingers McGonical said:

Have you got the article to share?

 

Sorry, I naively assumed that everyone who had commented on its merits would have read it already (ho ho)

 

https://www.thejc.com/lets-talk/all/oppenheimer-liked-to-pretend-he-wasnt-jewish-like-the-film-1rsH6pz4EC1yDIku5F1azk

[Bjornebye]

Why would a Jewish person want to lay claim to a Jew designing the most evil weapon used by mankind? I'm baptised but I certainly wouldn't be arsed if a non-Catholic played a paedo priest. 

 

Unless of course I was an attention seeking grifting bellend desperate to stay relevant and trying to make the biggest film of the year all about them.....