It's a sad comment that MUNICH, which drew moral equivalency between Israel and Arab terrorists was a Steven Spielberg (of Schindler's List Fame) film.
Also depressing was Spielberg's excessive long silence about the October 7 atrocities.
I pray that the motivation was not concern about impact of a condemnation of Hamas on the Academy Awards.
Sadly Spielberg seems to be just another Hollywood sellout. Holocaust of the past - yes, he is all for it, but he failed to draw a parallel to the ongoing conflict. Sad indeed.
This is amazing. Thanks for sharing, especially about your personal story. I hope Hugh Hewitt has you on soon to discuss. Sadly, the Hollywood left hates Israel, no matter its Jewish heritage and roots.
Many of Israel's popular shows get bought by Hollywood and turned into American themed shows for US consumption. Israel exports its films like it exports everything else around the world. Most of Israel's big stars flock to Hollywood to make "it."
Israel isn't ever going to be another Bollywood. India is the most populous country in the world. Its industry is targeted only for their own consumption, that any of its films go viral internationally tends to be an afterthought. You need a billion people who will watch your movies to be another Bollywood.
And as far as the scrappy Israel in Exodus and Cast a Giant Shadow- 2 of my all time favorite movies, btw, it's not going to happen in today's Hollywood. Forget it. It has nothing to do with Gaza. If you watched movies and TV over the last decade you saw that the bad guy was always the former Mossad agent who has gone rogue; who is evil. Hollywood is making sure to keep antisemitic tropes alive and well and the legacy Jewish orgs do nothing. As the husband remarked, this is how you make a populace inured to antisemitism. You find a way to work the antisemitic tropes into the mainstream culture and it is subtle but still so very evil. You wonder why Israel is seen as the bad guy today, its not just because of the propaganda of the last 11 months. It's been a long time in the making.
Just look at the museum of the history of film in LA. Not one mention of the Jews who started the industry and when the Jews cried foul, what the museum created was all about how they were all sexual predators. Hollywood is sick. Why anyone wants to emulate it is beyond me.
(Ok, yes Ziva David of NCIS was a positive Israeli character, but her evil father the former head of the Mossad was not. She only escaped the clutches of evil Israel by running away to the US but then died in Israel due to her past evil actions for Mossad. They have resurrected her character due to fan outcry.)
Yes, Israel once was the scrappy hero and now has become the villain. The horror of Gaza will haunt Israel for generations and the nation must take back the narrative to tell its own story rather than being defined by Islamists.
Another impediment to establishing a film industry in Israel is the rising influence of the ultra-orthodox population resistant to any Western secular influence. The film industry is inherently progressive and modern which clashes with the conservatism of the Haredim. Israel must decide upon its own story first before successfully enticing international film production companies to depict the tragedy that is(are) the nation(s) today. A lot must change before changes can be made.
It was interesting you brought up the example of the Exodus movie. Recently watching it, I discovered a buried back story of the birth of Islamic fascism very relevant to Israel's plight today.
Define "win a war." The Six Day War transformed Israel from being an insignificant liberal socialist outpost into the ranks of being a full-fledged multicultural nation. The problem is Israel's status changed, but its structure still clings to its original Zionist heritage. As previously mentioned, "a lot must change before changes can be made."
"For decades, Israel has enjoyed robust and growing global integration; now the ride is poised to end. Israelis can either face their loss on the global stage and change course or continue to deflect. But it won't be the same kind of state on the other side" - Dahlia Scheindlin
"Holywood" is a contradiction of terms. The Jews who founded Hollywood ran the business as secular keeping religion out of their business. Entertainment is inherently secular and needs creative distance from religious dogma. It is time for Israel to shed its founding theocracy and reinvent itself as a modern Western nation.
My analysis of the situation is this:
"Israel is fighting two wars - one with the Islamists and the other internally with Ultra-Orthodox Jews. The only way to disengage is for Israel to declare itself a secular state and to remove the Star of David from its national flag. Just as the flags of other modern nations have morphed over time, it is now Israel's time to let go of its founding Zionism and embrace a new mandate as a modern secular state open to a multitude of cultures and religions. Until then, any action that the state of Israel takes is construed as a religious act in a region with a long, sad history of holy wars. Until religion is removed from Israeli and Palestinian politics there will be no peace."
Whoa. This is insane. The phenomenal SDOW must be a film. It was a topic of conversation just yesterday. Reading this piece is spookily beshert. A couple of decades later, I’m gonna find you, Orenstein!
"Exodus" is a film that influenced me so much that it became one of the turning points in my life. After this film (and then the book), I began to deeply and with interest study the history, culture and real state of Israel and the Jewish people, which after some time led to Israel becoming the center of my life and interests, and the fate of the Jewish people became so connected with my fate that it is impossible to separate one from the other.
And I would very much like for other works to appear in the world that are so bright and inspiring, capable of also changing people's lives for the better and leading them on the right path.
Hollywood is so irrevocably woke I can’t imagine this industry embracing Israel.
Some of the best Israeli films have received international acclaim - Late Marriage, films with the magnificent Ronit Elkmbetz, movies made by Moshe Mizrahi. A vastly known TV show Homeland was based on a concept of an Israeli show. Amos Gitai is world-known, although not everyone’s cup of tea… I don’t see Israel becoming a hub for blockbusters - Israelis don’t want to be defined by its enemies and the constant struggle for survival… it is a lot more complicated, which is good, no?
Besides the fact that of the lack of basic government support (with which I have some first hand knowledge) for the kind of Israeli film industry that would produce films with global reach aside from a handful of one-offs over the past decade, Israeli filmmakers should stop making a few critical mistakes. First, they have to stop making movies in English. There is a clear market logic to this choice but the practice is outdated, inauthentic and off-putting; it's no longer necessary for foreign distribution as evidenced by some of the most successful streaming titles being entirely in Korean or Spanish, for example; it misses an opportunity to demystify Hebrew; and it denies Israeli stars the leading roles that would build their careers internationally. Furthermore, Israeli filmmakers seem allergic to hiring Jewish actors, even while there are plenty of Jewish-American stars, and would rather put a schnoz on Helen Mirren. There are a myriad of problems with this of course, one being that it helps to "goyify" Jews in an inauthentic way, and another is that it destroys an opportunity to build solid partnerships with diasporic Jewish filmmakers who might thereby be less inclined to shrink from defending Israel in tough moments, especially in Hollywood. Outside of picking up or adapting some Israeli series, it's stunning to me the degree to which these relationships have been neglected. A well-known Israeli actress told me not long ago that even after recently starring in a popular and lauded series, she could scarcely get a meeting in LA, let alone a part. This should never be the case in Hollywood, no matter the geopolitical situation, and it is that way seemingly because Israeli advocates have neglected to do the hard work of sustained diplomacy and relationship-building, never mind making Israeli a better shooting location with tax credits etcetera. Israel has incredible homegrown talent— focus on making good movies that are authentic rather than pandering to clumsy interpretations of what Netflix wants and global audiences will reward you.
It's a sad comment that MUNICH, which drew moral equivalency between Israel and Arab terrorists was a Steven Spielberg (of Schindler's List Fame) film.
Also depressing was Spielberg's excessive long silence about the October 7 atrocities.
I pray that the motivation was not concern about impact of a condemnation of Hamas on the Academy Awards.
Sadly Spielberg seems to be just another Hollywood sellout. Holocaust of the past - yes, he is all for it, but he failed to draw a parallel to the ongoing conflict. Sad indeed.
This is amazing. Thanks for sharing, especially about your personal story. I hope Hugh Hewitt has you on soon to discuss. Sadly, the Hollywood left hates Israel, no matter its Jewish heritage and roots.
Many of Israel's popular shows get bought by Hollywood and turned into American themed shows for US consumption. Israel exports its films like it exports everything else around the world. Most of Israel's big stars flock to Hollywood to make "it."
Israel isn't ever going to be another Bollywood. India is the most populous country in the world. Its industry is targeted only for their own consumption, that any of its films go viral internationally tends to be an afterthought. You need a billion people who will watch your movies to be another Bollywood.
And as far as the scrappy Israel in Exodus and Cast a Giant Shadow- 2 of my all time favorite movies, btw, it's not going to happen in today's Hollywood. Forget it. It has nothing to do with Gaza. If you watched movies and TV over the last decade you saw that the bad guy was always the former Mossad agent who has gone rogue; who is evil. Hollywood is making sure to keep antisemitic tropes alive and well and the legacy Jewish orgs do nothing. As the husband remarked, this is how you make a populace inured to antisemitism. You find a way to work the antisemitic tropes into the mainstream culture and it is subtle but still so very evil. You wonder why Israel is seen as the bad guy today, its not just because of the propaganda of the last 11 months. It's been a long time in the making.
Just look at the museum of the history of film in LA. Not one mention of the Jews who started the industry and when the Jews cried foul, what the museum created was all about how they were all sexual predators. Hollywood is sick. Why anyone wants to emulate it is beyond me.
(Ok, yes Ziva David of NCIS was a positive Israeli character, but her evil father the former head of the Mossad was not. She only escaped the clutches of evil Israel by running away to the US but then died in Israel due to her past evil actions for Mossad. They have resurrected her character due to fan outcry.)
Thank you. This is silly. As you said, why emulate the pointless, silly nature of Hollywood…
Yes, Israel once was the scrappy hero and now has become the villain. The horror of Gaza will haunt Israel for generations and the nation must take back the narrative to tell its own story rather than being defined by Islamists.
Another impediment to establishing a film industry in Israel is the rising influence of the ultra-orthodox population resistant to any Western secular influence. The film industry is inherently progressive and modern which clashes with the conservatism of the Haredim. Israel must decide upon its own story first before successfully enticing international film production companies to depict the tragedy that is(are) the nation(s) today. A lot must change before changes can be made.
It was interesting you brought up the example of the Exodus movie. Recently watching it, I discovered a buried back story of the birth of Islamic fascism very relevant to Israel's plight today.
https://johnhardman.substack.com/p/hitlers-grand-mufti
"Yes, Israel once was the scrappy hero and now has become the villain."
Well that's what Happens when You Win A War. Pre-June 1967 scrappy little underdog Post-June 1967 Oppressors.
Define "win a war." The Six Day War transformed Israel from being an insignificant liberal socialist outpost into the ranks of being a full-fledged multicultural nation. The problem is Israel's status changed, but its structure still clings to its original Zionist heritage. As previously mentioned, "a lot must change before changes can be made."
"For decades, Israel has enjoyed robust and growing global integration; now the ride is poised to end. Israelis can either face their loss on the global stage and change course or continue to deflect. But it won't be the same kind of state on the other side" - Dahlia Scheindlin
"Holywood" is a contradiction of terms. The Jews who founded Hollywood ran the business as secular keeping religion out of their business. Entertainment is inherently secular and needs creative distance from religious dogma. It is time for Israel to shed its founding theocracy and reinvent itself as a modern Western nation.
My analysis of the situation is this:
"Israel is fighting two wars - one with the Islamists and the other internally with Ultra-Orthodox Jews. The only way to disengage is for Israel to declare itself a secular state and to remove the Star of David from its national flag. Just as the flags of other modern nations have morphed over time, it is now Israel's time to let go of its founding Zionism and embrace a new mandate as a modern secular state open to a multitude of cultures and religions. Until then, any action that the state of Israel takes is construed as a religious act in a region with a long, sad history of holy wars. Until religion is removed from Israeli and Palestinian politics there will be no peace."
https://johnhardman.substack.com/p/never-waste-a-good-crisis
Whoa. This is insane. The phenomenal SDOW must be a film. It was a topic of conversation just yesterday. Reading this piece is spookily beshert. A couple of decades later, I’m gonna find you, Orenstein!
Thank you.
"Exodus" is a film that influenced me so much that it became one of the turning points in my life. After this film (and then the book), I began to deeply and with interest study the history, culture and real state of Israel and the Jewish people, which after some time led to Israel becoming the center of my life and interests, and the fate of the Jewish people became so connected with my fate that it is impossible to separate one from the other.
And I would very much like for other works to appear in the world that are so bright and inspiring, capable of also changing people's lives for the better and leading them on the right path.
Good luck in this direction.
Love it - we shared your dream! Still have the proposal somewhere...
Ah...to dream.
Hollywood is so irrevocably woke I can’t imagine this industry embracing Israel.
Some of the best Israeli films have received international acclaim - Late Marriage, films with the magnificent Ronit Elkmbetz, movies made by Moshe Mizrahi. A vastly known TV show Homeland was based on a concept of an Israeli show. Amos Gitai is world-known, although not everyone’s cup of tea… I don’t see Israel becoming a hub for blockbusters - Israelis don’t want to be defined by its enemies and the constant struggle for survival… it is a lot more complicated, which is good, no?
Besides the fact that of the lack of basic government support (with which I have some first hand knowledge) for the kind of Israeli film industry that would produce films with global reach aside from a handful of one-offs over the past decade, Israeli filmmakers should stop making a few critical mistakes. First, they have to stop making movies in English. There is a clear market logic to this choice but the practice is outdated, inauthentic and off-putting; it's no longer necessary for foreign distribution as evidenced by some of the most successful streaming titles being entirely in Korean or Spanish, for example; it misses an opportunity to demystify Hebrew; and it denies Israeli stars the leading roles that would build their careers internationally. Furthermore, Israeli filmmakers seem allergic to hiring Jewish actors, even while there are plenty of Jewish-American stars, and would rather put a schnoz on Helen Mirren. There are a myriad of problems with this of course, one being that it helps to "goyify" Jews in an inauthentic way, and another is that it destroys an opportunity to build solid partnerships with diasporic Jewish filmmakers who might thereby be less inclined to shrink from defending Israel in tough moments, especially in Hollywood. Outside of picking up or adapting some Israeli series, it's stunning to me the degree to which these relationships have been neglected. A well-known Israeli actress told me not long ago that even after recently starring in a popular and lauded series, she could scarcely get a meeting in LA, let alone a part. This should never be the case in Hollywood, no matter the geopolitical situation, and it is that way seemingly because Israeli advocates have neglected to do the hard work of sustained diplomacy and relationship-building, never mind making Israeli a better shooting location with tax credits etcetera. Israel has incredible homegrown talent— focus on making good movies that are authentic rather than pandering to clumsy interpretations of what Netflix wants and global audiences will reward you.
Of all the things that are important, this silly article hits the “ are you serious?” Tone with me. You promote silly fluff.