Is this anti-semitism?

Xpost fwiw I was in those communities my entire youth through adolescence and there was definitely a non-zero number of people who meant it the other way, particularly in the Fundie church. Not a majority by any means but between them and neo-Nazi trolls on mIRC, there's a reason I was very familiar with the "JEWS KILLED JESUS" trope by age 19

Anyway given the explanation I don't think that's how he meant it and it should be dropped by any decent person at this point

in case I said something I didn't mean to say - by people I meant european christian antisemites and their descendents and allies; by baggage I meant their guilt and moral responsibility; in europe the projection I tried to describe is often barely hidden and a lot of mainstream european liberals will just come out and say (with minimal pushback) the kind of shit that american conservatives tend to dance around when it comes to racist/antisemitic conspiracy theories that purport to explain the presence of antisemitism in their midst despite "defeating" it being central to their national and continental identities

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/aug/16/bradley-cooper-in-jewface-storm-after-leonard-bernstein-trailer-reveals-prosthetic-nose

The family of Leonard Bernstein has released a statement defending Bradley Cooper after online backlash begun about Cooper’s appearance for Leonard Bernstein in ‘MAESTRO’. pic.twitter.com/rcM8IOWdx7

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) August 16, 2023

apparently Bernstein's children, who were involved in the making of the movie are pro the nose? But it still seems like an odd decision, if Cooper had used his real nose I can't imagine that people would be complaining that he didn't look enough like Leonard Bernstein. If I was Bradley Cooper I wouldn't have gone with the prosthetic nose even if Bernstein's kids were ok with it, just seems not worth the hassle aside from anything else.

As the person quoted in the Guardian points out, if Cooper was able to play the Elephant Man without prosthetics, he could play Bernstein without prosthetics.

yeah, but his resemblance to Joseph Merrick is already uncanny.

I think part of the problem is even before you get to the anti-semitism angle, prosthetic noses are inherently comical, like everyone had fun of Nicole Kidman's prosthetic nose in that fil where she played Virginia Woolf. Are there any examples of acclaimed non-comedy films that feature a lead actor wearing a prosthetic nose?

Raging Bull?

Lawrence of Arabia?

It's completely stupid as Bernstein didn't have a big nose anyway.

Quite a handsome nose if you ask me...

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMmY3NDE3MTUtMzIzMy00M2NhLWFmOTAtMTFhNmFlZjBjN2NmXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMDc2NTEzMw@@._V1_.jpg

Fun fact, Leonard Bernstein actually had a fake nose, and this film is totally true to life. Cooper did his research.

Are there any examples of acclaimed non-comedy films that feature a lead actor wearing a prosthetic nose?

Citizen Kane:

https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/orson-welles-obsession-with-his-nose/#

Quite a handsome nose if you ask me...

his children agree

It happens to be true that Leonard Bernstein had a nice, big nose.

Yes, we all know about Raging Bull, Citizen Kane and Lawrence of Arabia, but tbf the original question did ask about *acclaimed* films.

The real problem with that prosthetic nose is that it looks totally unnatural on him, so his appearance becomes a cartoon jew, which may not be the effect they were looking for, but it's what they achieved. They should have noticed that in the rushes and axed the prosthetic as a failure.

I think Bradley Cooper knows what he's doing. He is a graduate of the Actor's Studio after all.

it does seem like a bizarre decision - like, it seemed a stretch to me when people were complaining about a non-Jewish actor playing Robert Oppenheimer, because Cillian Murphy looks convincing enough in the role, it's not like getting a white guy to play Nelson Mandela or something, it seemed like a weird essentialism - but in this case, if you need to stick a fake nose on Bradley Cooper it's like you're accepting that he doesn't look enough like Bernstein to be convincing in the role, it seems like that should be the point where you cast someone else to play Bernstein? (though I think he'd have been fine sans prosthetics anyway, which just makes it weirder)

both Bernstein and Oppenheimer were way more handsome and sexy than the stupid bland actors that have played them this year, an amoeba with a fake nose and a pallid walnut eating freak. This is where I agree with Baddiel tbh - so I probably need to stop posting!

I saw some people on twitter who were unhappy about Carey Mulligan playing Bernstein's wife, who was born in Costa Rica and raised in Chile, so maybe Cooper wore the nose to take the heat off her

the fake nose also has the effect of making Cooper look distractingly like Steve Martin in Dean Men Don't Wear Plaid

As long as Tom Wolfe is played by a dildo, I'm okay

the fake nose also has the effect of making Cooper look distractingly like Steve Martin in Dean Men Don't Wear Plaid

LOL I was thinking he looked like Steve Martin too!

an homage?

As the person quoted in the Guardian points out, if Cooper was able to play the Elephant Man without prosthetics, he could play Bernstein without prosthetics.

― Josh in Chicago,

This person's wrong, I think? The Elephant Man requires the actor to play without prosthetics.

It was Tracy Oberman, she's a fucking idiot.

xpost The more you know! The general point still stands, though. If one can portray Merrick, a person famous for his appearance, without makeup, then one could certainly portray Bernstein, a person not nearly as famous for his appearance, without makeup. It's not like anyone would have complained that Cooper looked nothing like Bernstein, or at least it likely would not have seriously hurt the film. It's like Philip Baker Hall in "Secret Honor." The looks are the least of it.

Quite a handsome nose if you ask me...

It also looks nothing like the fake one.

This "controversy" is so fucking dumb

People are pulling a single screenshot out of the trailer, in which the nose looks weird mostly due to stark lighting and the scene being in black-and-white, and acting like he's wearing a Toucan Sam mask throughout and speaking in a Jerry Lewis voice. In every other scene included in the trailer, the nose doesn't call any attention to itself at all.

I hope the movie starts with Cooper having a tiny button nose which grows through the movie to a full Cyrano de Bergerac.

none of this gets to the point of why need a biopic of Leonard Berstein

no one nose

This is why:

When he was not composing and conducting, Bernstein enjoyed skiing, playing tennis, and engaging in all manner of word games, especially cutthroat anagrams.

there are already movies about leonid brezhnev, lenny bruce, and lester bangs

To clear up any lingering confusion between him and Elmer Bernstein, in my mind at any rate

the nose is bad, but i saw some people saying that only a jewish actor should play a jewish character. i think this is a very strange position.

Only a Libra should play a Libra

Very upset when right handed actors play left handed characters

i saw some people saying that only a jewish actor should play a jewish character

I'm Jewish and that is absurd. As is the fake nose controversy. There's plenty of anti-semitism in 2023 but this does not qualify.

Only Al Pacino should play Jewish characters

the italian-jewish alliance, sometimes embodied

I'm a retired investor living on a pension

the movie looks like a horrible piece of shit for vacuous film school dorks, nose the least of the problems but obviously horrible if not exactly antisemitism

only Al Pacino should play gay men who visit the Mineshaft.

Talk about versatile

the nose is bad, but i saw some people saying that only a jewish actor should play a jewish character. i think this is a very strange position.

Wait till they hear about Norman Jewison.

I'm torn, because the Jewface issue is legit, imo, but I'm not sure where the line should be drawn (or if) on actors altering their appearance or affect to appear a different race or ethnicity or anything, let alone use an accent as well. There was another minor kerfuffle a week or so ago of Hugh Grant getting shrunk to play an Oompa Loompa in the new Willy Wonka, with little actors complaining it was an insult that further limits their work, but of course this stuff happens all the time, to varying degrees. Brendan Fraser for playing obese. Zoe Saldana getting criticized for playing Nina Simone. Straight actors getting criticized for playing gay characters, etc. The crux of the Jewface debate, per Sarah Silverman at least, was that Jewish actors often get typecast as much as any minority actor, so seeing non-Jewish actors get roles as Jews by embracing or playing up stereotypes is a bit of an insult, but because Jews are typically considered white, they don't get the same sympathy that's extended to other minorities. And that Jews, perhaps used to decades of discrimination and micro-aggressions, don't often stand up for themselves.