“Nobody wants that” is a little anti-Semitic

Photo: Saeed Adyani/Netflix

In the eighth episode of Netflix's new rom-com series Nobody wants thatRomantic lead and “Hot Rabbi” Noah Roklov (Adam Brody) and his brother Sasha (Timothy Simons) hatch a plan to wow Noah goyishe – or non-Jewish – friend Joanne (Kristen Bell) about the prospect of converting to Judaism to make her life easier. The brothers agree that this task entails only one thing: “Making Judaism seem really, really great.”

In any other context, or on a 30-minute romantic TV show, this could be pretty easy. But Nobody wants that is preparing for disaster: The series has shown in its last seven episodes – and two more to come – that being Jewish is pretty much everything But really, really great.

Created by author and podcaster Erin Foster, the show is loosely based on her own courtship with talent manager and all-but-Rabbi Simon Tikhman, a relationship and marriage that ended with her own conversion to Judaism. The “big C” as Nobody wants that refers to “conversion” and becomes one of many possible solutions to the show's central problem – that no one on the show itself seems all that interested in being Jewish and how it dictates people live their lives . According to this comedic universe, Judaism is terrible: it's a religion made up of nagging women and lazy men, driven by archaic rules that don't allow reform rabbis to have shiksa girlfriends, but do allow those reform rabbis to act as amateurs play basketball league on Saturday mornings. It would be one thing if the Jewish life Noah's family participates in was unique to their experience, and perhaps provided a little backstory to explain how and why they are so rigid and inconsistent in their beliefs. Instead, however, the show traffics in tired stereotypes about modern Jews: the overbearing mother, the family obsession with how people make money, and a strict insularity of the community.

The Roklovs also speak about Joanne in shockingly regressive ways, frequently referring to her as a “shiksa,” a derogatory term for a non-Jewish woman, instead of the more neutral goyim or goy. Their small-minded nature is justified by their closeness, but in reality everyone seems unhappy because their connections to Judaism are only social status. Very few, if any, Jewish characters (other than Noah, who is human) behave with any kind of piety – toward Joanne or even each other. Although Noah's mother Bina (Tovah Feldshuh), his sister-in-law Esther (Jackie Tohn) and his ex-girlfriend Rebecca (Emily Arlook) conspire to break up Noah and Joanne, Joanne finally decides in the final episode – at least for a while – to convert to maintain their relationship. Or as one of her friends puts it, “Conversion is perfect because you don’t stand for anything or have strong beliefs.”

This throwaway joke is far more indicative of the show's overall outlook, as well as its view of modern Judaism. Joanne's lack of ideals somehow gives the show a deep and pervasive cynicism. It's not just that she thinks religion is kind of stupid, but that belief permeates every type of subculture depicted in the series. Joanne and her sister Morgan (a very funny Justine Lupe) are relationship podcasters, a career that the series views with complete disdain, often making them the show's two most naive and sophisticated characters. (It takes five episodes, for example, for Joanne to finally ask Noah what “Shalom” means.) Joanne and Morgan's clever mother Lynn (Stephanie Faracy) dabbles in the metaphysical to the point of constant ridicule; Her gay father Henry (Michael Hitchcock) can rarely enjoy his own happiness. Even Noah and Joanne's actually nice, if not embarrassing, visit to a sex shop ends in an uncomfortable conversation about their greatest fears, which causes Joanne to shut down completely. Her cynicism comes from her personal defense mechanisms: she wants to avoid getting hurt at all costs. But the show doesn't abandon that attitude – it's not a “turn into a man” type narrative, and in return Joanne's cynicism largely hardens. Not only does she find the world stupid and naive, but an entire series based on this worldview. If this is all nonsense, conversion is also nonsense.

In the series' third episode, Joanne and Morgan sit down with a “doctor” (with a degree from the University of Turks and Caicos, her mother promises) who reads auras for her podcast and comes to the conclusion that Joanne has no aura – or at least one that cannot be found. “Do you think it's possible that you can't find it because it's not real?” Joanne asks him. The two argue, the conversation revolves around the question of whether it is right for the so-called doctor to wear a kimono (the verdict has not yet been decided), but the evidence is there. Joanne – and Nobody wants thatalso in the title – don’t believe in that shit or anything that requires a leap of faith. Judaism is impossible to explain in part because it requires a genuine interest in what religion is and why people—in an age of smartphones and streaming television—continue to turn to it for moral guidance. When Vulture asked Foster what attracted her to being a convert, she admitted that “she liked being encouraged to doubt and ask questions; she liked that her rabbi told them that their discussions during the car ride home were the most important thing.” “I particularly liked hearing that converts were closest to God.” This has little to do with Judaism itself, and in return the series cannot bring itself to address one of its core themes to be taken seriously, she is too cynical to deal with religion at face value. In turn, Judaism consists not of a constant conversation about faith and morals, but of tired, misanthropic tropes.

The Nobody wants that I can't find a way to make Judaism seem funny feels like a fundamental flaw in its otherwise charming core romance. Although Noah is undeniably a sweet guy – we're talking about Adam Brody here, to be clear – it seems like he's more of an anomaly in his religion than a shining example. Nevertheless, in the final moments of the episode, Joanne breaks her promise to convert. She sees this major step in her life as an ultimatum, something Reform and other progressive approaches to organized religion seem to largely avoid in their teachings. What seems most anti-Semitic is the profound rigidity of the series' view of Judaism, which is a religion steeped in it ors instead and so on. “An integral part of the Jewish experience is the struggle over what God is and what he is not, the not knowing,” Noah explains to Joanne the night they meet. Sure, there's cultural skepticism in this struggle, but also a sense of hope – if only Joanne knew that this is also part of the Jewish experience.