Bradley Cooper and 'Jewface'

[Shimto]

His biopic of Leonard Bernstein, and the release of the trailer show BC wearing a prosthetic nose to play Bernstein.

Leonard Bernstein's family have issued a warm, supportive and beautiful statement supporting BC's commitment to the role and rejecting the criticism.

I was really surprised to see the prosthetic. I understand the cries of Jewface. I think BC is an intelligent, talented actor and producer. My initial reaction was 'what was he thinking?' while also finding the family's statement so heartfelt.

Sorry if there's another thread - my quick search didn't find one. I guess my AIBU is whether BC was right or wrong here - I've been pondering it today.

Seems really unnecessary to me if nothing else as BC already has a pretty prominent nose that isn't unlike that of the man he's portraying. I think it seems worse that they've exaggerated it by giving him a prosthetic.

I fully agree. Utterly pointless.

If it was a made up character then I'd feel it was more inappropriate as it's needlessly playing into the stereotype, but as its a biopic about a real person it's not unusual at all for actors to wear prosthetics to closer resemble them. I also find the well someone who is Jewish should play him as a bit of a slippery slope, does that mean acting, in which the very essence is playing someone else should be limited to actors playing someone of the same religion etc as them? Isn't the story itself the important part? Its obviously for those who are Jewish to conclude whether they take offense to it or not, so far on social media personally I've only seen people who say they aren't Jewish explain how its offensive.

On todays episode of what shall we find offensive today!

He is an actor, it’s his job.

I think calling it 'Jewface' is actually the most offensive thing here. Continually repeating this word, whilst pretending to care about it, is perpetuating stereotypes way worse than a prosthetic to look like a particular individual.

I think if you’re playing a fictional character than racial stereotypes of all kinds should be avoided. They’re unhelpful and often inaccurate.

If you’re casting an actor to play the part of a real person, you should choose someone who looks as much like them as you can, and then get even nearer with costumes, make up, wigs and even yes, prosthetics as needed.

But you maybe have it with this comment;

A "big fake nose" would 100% be antisemitic
A prosthetic that makes you look more like the person you are playing?

Actors wear prosthetics all the time to look like a character, cheek pads, noses, contact lenses, wigs, eyebrows....

The prosthetic doesn't look like LB's nose, it just looks like a weird triangle.

I'm Jewish and I have no issue with BC using prosthetics to look more like LB, but it doesn't seem to have been very well done.

Which leads to the question: was he wearing it to look more like LB, or was he wearing it to look more like a stereotyped Jew?

LB seems to have been a very handsome man!

Not really. Drag is a deliberate caricature of womanhood. There is rarely any warmth or affection in it. Often crude jokes about fishy genitals etc.

Although sometimes women dress up as men for performances but there isn't a whole movement where women do it as a pisstake.

For what it's worth I think Sarah Silverman is the first one who used the term "Jewface"

and of course we don't agree about it: Jews don't agree on anything except not believing in Jesus!

I think the racism/antisemotosm comes in much earlier in the process when deciding what someone's "defining characteristics" are which an actor playing the role "needs" to acquire in order to be recognisable/convincing as playing that character.

Each human actually has hundreds of unique characteristics - the racism/antisemitism/other-ism is in which ones are "noticed" as being the "most important" because that will be chosen with reference to preconceived ideas of who is "normal/default" (ie a white anglosaxon male) and those 1 or 2 characteristics being applied as a costume to a white anglosaxon male being supposed to convince us that the costume is convincing.

In blackface obviously the costume trait chosen is skin colour and a white man in blackface looks nothing like a real person of african or caribbean origin. They are an insulting caricature.

In drag the costume trait is enormous fake boobs and garish makeup likewise caricaturing in the same way.

The nose isn't "just" a costume in jewface - it's the fact that the nose was chosen as a trait that needed to be part of the costume when other less "part of the stereotype" traits that might be just as unique to the person being portrayed (cheek bone size, eye colour) are not part of the costume because they aren't part of the stereotype.

This is in spades. Also going by this thread, clearly the Leonard Bernstein's family are supportive over the portrayal? Isn’t that enough?

Let's play a little bit of spot the difference with some different pictures(not carefully selected to look as bad as possible).

Isn't there a group called 'Jews 4 Jesus'?😀

YABU. He isn't wearing a big nose in order to look Jewish, he's wearing a big nose in order to look more like a man who had a big nose.

Actors have worn prosthetics for years... I dispair.

Or perhaps those who keep on going about the stereotype of Jewish people are the ones who are perpetrating it?

People on this thread have given examples of other acts who have also worn prosthetics. It would be different if the nose, which is a prominent part of anybody’s face, was somehow exaggerated. But if it’s accurate to the actual person then is that wrong? Isn’t that why actors wore masks and or use prosthetics do that? To make it as accurate as possible to the person they are trying to emulate?

there is -- but sadly it's actually a Christian front organisation designed to convert Jews. I wish I could joke about it.

I didn’t know that, just goes to show you really do learn something new every day.

It's a shame this whole film has now verb reduced to the nose and his whole life performance will be based on could he haven't done that without the nose...

Oh is it? I didn't realise that. My bad 👎

And none of the complainers see the irony of a Jewish man's life being reduced to his nose. Was it, wasn't it?

@angrycat2768 they are a Christian missionary organisation.

I don’t see the problem, I think intentions and nuance are important. It’s standard practice to wear prosthetics and he hasn’t done it to mock, by all accounts he’s really respectful of LB.

Completely agree!

He’s not wearing the nose to play ‘a typical Jew’ - he’s wearing it to look more like a specific person whose character he is playing. The person happens to be Jewish, but he also happens to have a distinctive nose. He is wearing it so he looks more like Bernstein fgs, not so he looks like ‘a Jew’. Same way Charlize Theron wore brown lenses and fake teeth to play Eileen Wuornos.

Bernstein’s family aren’t remotely offended because they understand it really is that simple so I’m not sure why other people feel they can step in and be offended on their behalf.