Though fans have generally fallen in love with “Nobody Wants This,” the show is facing criticisms for its portrayal of a Jewish family, and Jewish women in particular. But series creator Erin Foster — who based the show on her own life as a “shiksa” who converted to Judaism and married a Jewish man — stands by what’s on screen.
Now streaming on Netflix, the series centers on Joanne (Kristen Bell), an agnostic podcaster who unexpectedly falls for Noah Roklov (Adam Brody), a rabbi. At the start of the series, Noah is in a long-term relationship with a Jewish woman, but he breaks things off after meeting Joanne, a firebrand podcaster.
When Noah and Joanne meet, the chemistry is instant, but they learn pretty quickly that Joanne not being Jewish is a huge hurdle, especially considering Noah has literally devoted his life to his faith. Noah’s family is reluctant to accept her, even after she says she’s willing to convert to Judaism.
Since its premiere, “Nobody Wants This” has received blowback about its portrayal of Jewish women in particular, as most of the women in Noah’s life are vehemently against his relationship with Joanne.
Writing in Time, critic and writer Esther Zuckerman lamented that the Jewish women in the show “are portrayed as nags, harpies, and the ultimate villains of this story,” while Jessica Radloff noted in Glamour that, “We come off as controlling, marriage-hungry women who want to plan dinner parties and alienate anyone who doesn’t share those same dreams.”
“Would it be too much just to see Jewish characters in shows without feeling othered?” Radloff lamented.
Zuckerman concluded, “What should be a show about a woman’s entrance into and embrace of Jewish culture instead perpetuates the worst ideas about Jewish women.”
In a new interview with the LA Times, series creator Erin Foster didn’t address the portrayal of women specifically, but when asked about criticism of stereotypes she said she found the response to the show “interesting.”
“I think it’s interesting when people focus on, ‘Oh, this is a stereotype of Jewish people,’ when you have a rabbi as the lead. A hot, cool, young rabbi who smokes weed,” she said. “That’s the antithesis of how people view a Jewish rabbi, right?”
Foster said that she likely would’ve gotten criticism if she went in a different direction anyway, particularly with regards to Noah’s family.
“If I made the Jewish parents, like, two granola hippies on a farm, then someone would write, ‘I’ve never met a Jewish person like that before. You clearly don’t know how to write Jewish people, you don’t know what you’re doing, and that doesn’t represent us well,’” she continued.
The creator also revealed that her real-life relationship with her husband’s parents is actually very good and always has been, but needed to create a conflict for the TV show. She felt it was important that Noah’s parents be immigrants and less immediately accepting of Joanne “because immigrant culture is very different than American Jewish culture.”
“That is why I don’t feel that the parents are stereotypes as much. Immigrant culture can be very insular and fearful of outsiders, and there’s a good reason for that,” Foster explained. “I wanted to play into that, because it’s an added layer of cultural differences between these two people.”
Foster also noted that “we need positive Jewish stories right now,” especially in a time where antisemitism is on the rise in the U.S., but she said that “Nobody Wants This” was never intended to “address the political climate” of the moment.
“I don’t think that it’s OK to speak for so many people. What I really wanted to do was shed a positive light on Jewish culture from my perspective — my positive experience being brought into Jewish culture, sprinkling in a little fun, [and] educational moments about things in Judaism that I love without it being heavy-handed.”
“Nobody Wants This” is now streaming on Netflix.
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