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The Emmys enter the age of ethnicity

[additional-authors]
July 16, 2015

This year, once again, there are plenty of Jews and Jewish-themed shows among the Emmy nominees — pointing them out would be pointing out the obvious. But what really sets apart this year’s crop of nominees from years past is how much more deeply and authentically Judaism is reflected in these shows and their showrunners. 

Consider one of the main storylines of this season’s “Orange Is the New Black,” the Netflix hit about a women’s prison. It revolves around the inmates’ revelation that the prison’s kosher food option is way heartier than the normal fare, prompting a mass attempt among Black and Latino inmates to convert to Judaism. 

This overt ethnic plot point is typical of modern entertainment. And, I should add, it was followed by a deeply moving conversion-to-Judaism story that included really funny, really honest and insightful dialogue about Jewish tradition and belief. It was like “Fiddler on the Roof” in lockup. 

Stereotypes and tokenism are not completely gone from popular shows, but they’re fading away, thus giving rise to a new era of entertainment that is unashamed of ethnicity. 

Over the last decade or so, Hollywood has become more and more comfortable with representing ethnic specificity. Whitewashing, neutralizing, downplaying or even negating the nuances of ethnicity seems so passé in a culture that is more obsessed than ever with “reality.” We can no longer confront images of police beatings, shootings and abuse of Black men and also accept the charmed, unrealistic world of Will Smith in “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” Instead, give us “Treme,” give us “Empire,” give us “The Wire.” And give us women: Give us Olivia Pope and Annalise Keating and Cookie Lyon. Give us Shonda Rhimes. 

And who deserves a good deal of credit for the new era of ethnic television? Those so-called secular, self-hating, Israel-ambivalent Hollywood Jews. Because today’s “Hollywood Jews” are responsible for catalyzing this shift in the culture — one that is allowing more and more entertainment-loving Americans who identify with an ethnic group to see those identities reflected in the culture of our nation. Over time, as Jews became more and more comfortable depicting themselves and their idiosyncrasies on flatscreens and movie screens — from Mel Brooks to “Seinfeld” to “Will & Grace” to “Weeds” — it has opened up the possibility for other ethnic groups to follow suit. 

For the first time, Hollywood is expressing the infinite richness of America’s diverse and deep cultures rather than pretending there is some sole generic, ordinary “American” it needs to appeal to. 

A few examples from this year’s Emmy nominations to illustrate: 

• “Orange Is the New Black,” created by Jenji Kohan, features an outstanding ensemble of actors from the white, Latino, Russian, Asian and African-American communities and contains truly authentic dialogue, dialects, accents and use of slang. It is rich in realism, treating the issues, relationships and themes it explores in much the same way: avoiding stereotypes altogether or actively lampooning them.

• “Transparent,” created by Jill Soloway, is a witty and moving tale of one Jewish family adjusting to the gender transformation of its patriarch. There is nothing generic or uncomplicated about it: It is not a catch-all tale of gender transformation that aims to represent every transgender person who ever lived, or every Jewish family that exhibits dysfunction. It is not trying to be a story for everyone. But through its intense and specific focus on one character and his-her family, universal themes and experiences are made manifest for a broad audience.

• “Mad Men,” created by Matt Weiner, owes much of its success not simply to Weiner’s vision or his writing, but in the choice to ground the series in such a distinct and specified world: midcentury Manhattan. From the time period to its fashions, current events and social problems, the show never wavered in depicting New York City’s cloistered, male-dominated world of white privilege even as it explored hidden injustices, racial and religious prejudices, and open secrets. The show’s limited-but-honest depictions of race were true to the spirit of the times, as were the show’s portrayals of women, their triumphs and their struggles. For seven seasons, Weiner was unflinching in his illustration of the atmosphere of his setting; “Mad Men” was itself, without hiding or ignoring the myopia of its era.

And for the first time in Emmy history, two African-American women are nominated in the category for lead actress in a drama series: Viola Davis for “How to Get Away With Murder,” executive produced by Rhimes, a champion of racially nuanced storytelling; and Taraji P. Henson for her role on “Empire,” a series about the hip-hop industry with a predominantly African-American cast. (More to the point, the L.A. Times noted that a win for one of these women “would be a fitting cap to the 2014-15 television season, which has been a watershed year for diversity on TV thanks to Fox’s smash hit ‘Empire’ and ABC’s ‘How to Get Away With Murder,’ ‘black-ish’ and ‘Fresh Off the Boat.’ ”)

This year’s Emmy nominations make a compelling case that Hollywood has finally awakened to the glories of tradition. The specifics of ethnicity, race, class and religion are not something to “whitewash” but to flesh out. Being “other,” being “marginal” or being “ethnic” is no longer a source of shame, but a point of pride, and an ever-flowing stream of rich, real, good entertainment.

To my mind, the greatest gift “Hollywood Jews” bestowed upon American culture is that in shedding their own self-shame, they made room for others to do the same.

Correction: An earlier version of this article miscredited Shonda Rhimes as creator of the show “How to Get Away With Murder.” Rhimes is an executive producer of the show; Peter Nowalk is its creator.

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