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| - For a minority forming less than one quarter of one percent of the world's population, Jews are massively disproportionately represented in the media both as characters and creatives (i.e. actors/writers/directors). This is mostly because much of the most popular media are created in the USA, and specifically in the two parts of the USA with the highest per capita Jewish populations, Los Angeles and New York City, making this trope, in part, Big Applesauce. Contrast White Male Lead, although in many genres they do intersect. This usually results in All Jews Are Ashkenazi.
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| abstract
| - For a minority forming less than one quarter of one percent of the world's population, Jews are massively disproportionately represented in the media both as characters and creatives (i.e. actors/writers/directors). This is mostly because much of the most popular media are created in the USA, and specifically in the two parts of the USA with the highest per capita Jewish populations, Los Angeles and New York City, making this trope, in part, Big Applesauce. Of course, like so many others, this rather sensitive and in no way value-judgemental trope began as an inversion of another trope. There was a time when working in media was one of the few options for ambitious, intelligent, well-educated people who happened to be Jewish. Anything considered to be academic or high art would be under considerable pressure to appear "respectable," and cater to the segregationist views of the time. Anyone who was not (or could not pass for) white, American- or British-born, heterosexual, Christian (most likely Protestant), and often times male might be considered a risk to the company's reputation. Since radical new media, such as Film, Radio, Comic Books and, later, Television were often callously dismissed as vulgar, they tended to hire the people no one else would take -- i.e. Jews. Despite the doomsday warnings of segregationist Moral Guardians, new media took off and people who once had to scramble for an employer became part of history. In short, many might say that the Jewish people who ran Hollywood did so because they were the ones who built it. Creative types usually write what they know, and despite the ever-lingering specter of anti-Semitism in the early twentieth century, many writers, directors, producers, etc. most certainly would have passed on their own perspective into their work, intentionally or not. This trope does not lend itself to a simple list of examples, as such a list might smack of anti-semitism ("what's with all these Jews?"). This is not what this trope is about at all. It is, nevertheless, noticeable to viewers and readers who live in areas where Jewish populations are much smaller (e.g. the UK, where Jews were, according to the 2001 census, outnumbered three to two by Jedi). Therefore, please add examples only where this trope is lampshaded, or possibly Averted Trope if it's really incongruous. Contrast White Male Lead, although in many genres they do intersect. This usually results in All Jews Are Ashkenazi. Examples of You Have to Have Jews include:
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