Jenny Slate “never felt” her Everything Everywhere All At Once character was antisemitic
Jenny Slate's role in Daniels' verse-jumping hit as a dog-wielding laundromat customer faced backlash for being credited as "Big Nose"
Aux News Slate
Since her first episode of Saturday Night Live back in 2009, Jenny Slate has been no stranger to controversy. Whether facing criticism for a stray F-bomb or voicing a Black character on Big Mouth, Slate has had to address various missteps across her career thoughtfully and directly. But in response to backlash against her Everything Everywhere All At Once character—a dog-wielding, athleisure-clad patron of Evelyn’s (Michelle Yeoh) laundromat—Slate stands steadfast in her defense of directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s decisions.
The backstory: Slate’s character, a clear representation of the Jewish American Princess stereotype, was initially credited as “Big Nose,” a choice some viewers read as antisemitic. Daniels have since explained that “Big Nose” is a moniker often used in Chinese culture to describe white people, but recognized the “blind spot” they encountered in using the descriptor for a Jewish character.
Slate, who is a Jewish woman herself, says clear communication from the directors meant she never interpreted the character as derogatory. “[The Daniels] explained it to me,” she tells The Independent in a new interview. “They explained it to me right away, so I never felt it was antisemitic.”
Although Slate is “not on social media much,” by her own description, she said Kwan and Scheinert reached out to her after the character received backlash to talk things through.
“They made me aware of it, like, ‘There’s this discussion and it sort of breaks our hearts that you would ever feel that there was something antisemitic or that we were commenting on you, or saying that you’re not beautiful’,” she recalls. Slate “And I was like, ‘You guys explained this to me right away. I thought it was funny.’”
In response to the criticism, Slate’s credit has since been changed to “Debbie The Dog Mom.” But per Slate, “on my end, I was always very clear and I made the decision to play the character knowing what the name or non-name was.”
156 Comments
Damn people just working hard to get offended by everything.
You’re the other side of that same coin, dude.
I’m confused. Am I supposed to be outraged now or not? Give me clear instructions, AV Club!
Around here, you usually err on the side of outrage.
err on the side of outrage- the A.V. Club
Am I supposed to be outraged now or not? Give me clear instructions, AV Club!Yes. The answer, on AV Club, is always yes.
Eespecially at ellie kemper, that cross burning monster
Yes
You clicked on the article. Mission accomplished. Await further instructions.
movie has been anointed as this year’s mediocre crap that gets elevated not because it’s good but because it’s “important.” Covering this sort of thing is this website’s beat. So of course they get a pass here!
In the absence of clear instructions, and speaking as an official, fully bar mitzvahed Jew, no.
Let’s be honest… you’re already outraged.
its ok to think for yourself and not be the millionth person to make this kind of comment
So…people criticized her character in EEAAO, did they also criticize her character in Parks and Rec who was a LOT more over-the-top?
It doesn’t sound like they’re criticizing the character. It sounds like they just noticed that the Jewish character was named “Big Nose” and were like “what’s up with that?”
But her nose is yuge!
Their problem wasn’t with the character per se, it’s that the only name she was ever given, even in the credits, was Big Nose.Evelyn called her that in Chinese. It was a microaggression, like Dierdre’s assumption Evelyn would bring Joy along to translate.
I would say it’s more than a microaggression, but yes, I took that as the reason she was titled that. I thought it fit with the whole ethos of the film, TBH.
No aggression is too small for the alert wokester!
That wasn’t an assumption on Dierdre’s part though? At the last meeting Evelyn told her she would bring Joy to help translate but then at the day of the meeting, Evelyn is thrown by the idea that Becky would stay behind to take care of her father so she instead insisted that Joy not come with her.
Evelyn called her that in Chinese. It was a microaggressionYou know, you’re allowed to just say “I’m a moron”.
“Money pweeease!”
A few years ago, shit like this would have clearly been the work of Harvey Weinstein playing press games to try and drag down EEAAO’s Oscar chances. Like, smellable from ten miles away. But now it’s just the internet.
I don’t know, I see the hidden hand of the Reverse Vampires in this one…
I don’t know…I mean is it commonly known that “Big Nose” is a Chinese term for white people? I feel like the derogatory Jewish description is much more well-known and I feel it’s at least noteworthy that they named their Jewish Character “Big Nose.” But now they’ve explained it, apologized for the blind spot, and it seems pretty much squashed? This isn’t like some campaign to ruin anyone.
I did a fast search, it didn’t really clear it up.
Yeah idk. Maybe it’s one of those things that’s commonly known if you live in an area with a large Chinese population, which I don’t so I truly have no idea. I do live in a place with a whole lot of racists, though, so I’m very familiar with the big nose and Jewish thing.
and when you factor in that one can be chinese AND racist…well, the rabbit hole gets deeper…
I always knew Hillary Clinton was anti-semitic. Or she was chinese. Or anti-chi… hey look, a bird!
Sorry to hear you live in a black neighborhood
I do live in a place with a whole lot of racists, though, so I’m very familiar with the big nose and Jewish thing.Can’t help but think of this:
Gosh, I haven’t seen that movie in ages. I completely forgot about that part.
Can confirm this is true. 大鼻子 in China and 阿啄仔 in Taiwan are both pretty well-known phrases. Both mean big nose, and both are used for generic ‘foreigners’ (which really means white people), but not specifically for Jewish people.EDIT: Sourceshttps://www.chinese-tools.com/chinese/slang/?q=%E5%A4%A7%E9%BC%BB%E5%AD%90https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E9%98%BF%E5%95%84%E4%BB%94
In Japan as well, although there isn’t a specific nickname for it that I’m aware of, people often comment on the size of white guys’ noses.
I’d think it would be more Iranian than Jewish, but whatever.
I did know the Chinese meaning, so there’s one, but I wouldn’t expect it to be common knowledge. An error, worth a small apology, everyone can move along now.Jenny, loved you in “The Sunlit Night.” Even bought the book!
In the many, many places of the world where there are lots of Chinese people and not a lot of Jews, yes. “Big Nose” for white people is far from an unknown pejorative. Should someone have flagged the credit? Also definitely (leaving aside the possible Jewish connection, seems like pejorative terms for characters is a bad idea.)
It’s clear in the movie that Evelyn is being racist. But, like… that’s the point? She’s an older immigrant who hasn’t assimilated as much as her family. She’s also homophobic. That’s just who she is at the beginning of the movie and we’re not supposed to see it as a good thing. She’s bitter and frustrated and takes her shit out on other people. That’s literally the point of the story.They probably should have used a different name in the credits but I think the OP’s first assumption was correct: This feels exactly like dirty Oscar mud-slinging.
“How dare those Asians develop their own culture.”
I hadn’t heard of it before, but based on SoftSack’s reply, it’s probably because I speak Cantonese. Instead, white people are casually called ghosts/devils :’)
Well that’s much better!
I seriously doubt it’s well-known among non-Chinese, but in this case I’m pretty sure that’s how Yeoh referenced her in the movie to her husband. So Big Nose in the credits at least makes some sense.
That does make sense if that’s the only way she’s known in the movie.
Like, smellable from ten miles away.What’re you trying to say, huh? That a big nose can smell things from far away? How dare you!/sarcasm
This is precisely what this feels like. Oscar political nonsense.
Jewish character named Big Nose. Just so it’s clear for the ones who skipped the article what’s being “everyone’s offended by everything these days etc. etc.”’ed away.“But-” Yes. We know what the explanation was. Look over first sentence again.
Good thing the Jews dont run Hollywood anymore. Thanks Ye and Ilhan Omar for drivin them into da sea!
7/10
Meh
your life is worth less than an open pack of hot dogs
maybe he should do some wacky blackface again to protest it
I had this explained to me decades ago, by a college professor who had spent time in China. Not Jewish at all, he was still called Big Nose by the local villagers.
“No talent” would have been a better name.
Granted, I had no idea Slate was actually Jewish, but it never once occurred to me that the character could be seen as a stereotype. Unless there’s some “Jews abuse dogs” thing I’m not aware of.
I don’t know what part of “the problem is the character’s name” is so fucking hard to understand. Did you read the article at all? Seriously, did you? Because I have no idea how you would have walked away with the impression that something about the character’s personality or behavior was problematic. Is it that you don’t understand English and made this comment with the help of Google Translate? Did a friend nick your phone and make the comment to embarrass you? Because it’s real fucking embarrassing. Does every bowl of cereal you make burst into flames? I really want to get to the bottom of why the point sailed so far over your head. It doesn’t feel like it should be possible, and yet here we are. It’s like seeing a double rainbow, I’m utterly entranced by the mystical majesty of something so rare. If your comment was an art piece hanging in a museum, people would study it for centuries. It’s unique in just how ignorant it is. Like, it’s aggressively ignorant, almost like you went out of your way. Was it, indeed, an art project? It’s almost unbelievable that it wasn’t made with malicious intent. I want to believe you were trolling, but I’m too blackpilled with cynicism. As astonishingly depressing as it is, it’s entirely plausible that your comment was made with complete sincerity. Your comment represents everything wrong with in a nutshell, a microcosm of the flawed, malfunctioning monkey brains that leads to things like bigotry and war. From your brow springs all that drags humanity into the black, slimy pit of tar that is life in 2023. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
Ironically, abusing dogs is more of a Chinese thing!
limp
Yes, as someone who’s neither White, Asian, nor Jewish, I was also unaware of whether or not Jenny Slate was Jewish. I just assumed they called her character “Big Nose” because she literally just had a bigger nose than they did, and they didn’t like her so they were ridiculing her behind her back. Sometimes a hot dog finger is just a hot dog finger.
This will go down as a minor footnote on a mess of a film. EEAAO is a headache-inducing 2.5 hours. I couldn’t get past the first 25 minutes. I asked fellow critics, “does the film get any better after Evelyn punches Diedre?” The consensus was that I had seen a really good sample of how the rest of the film plays out.
wait so we arent suppose to be offended that white people are called “big nose” unless that person is jewish? am i understanding things correctly?
Now you have me intrigued. What do Chinese people call the various BIPOC groups? Or how about South Asian? Or Japanese? Would any of these names be considered derogatory since “Big Nose” isn’t meant to be offensive in any way?I actually appreciated the “Big Nose” name since it indicated a clearly different cultural context for the way this Asian American family viewed their fellow American’s, but the Daniels aren’t doing themselves any favors by trying to walk back the use of the term.
how is referring to the size of a physical feature of a group of people not derogatory?
It’s a compliment indicating good smelling ability.
When it’s not referring to a group of people.
But in this case it is…The entire point they made was that they know the term as one used to describe white people. In the case of one single character, it’s different, but the explanation said that it’s a race-based description. I’m not personally offended, but your answer doesn’t make sense in the context of this conversation.
This is a tricky question to answer but, first off: yes, it is absolutely racism.
I lived in China and Taiwan for a while. My experience is that in Chinese culture (which for the purposes of this comment includes Taiwan, even though it’s its own country) there’s far, far less social taboo when it comes to pointing out/mocking aspects of people’s physical appearance. That’s not to say it’s not mockery, but it is considered ‘fair game’ and no big deal to say, and a lot of people will bluntly reference each other’s physical characteristics without necessarily intending to be hurtful.
Saying that, terms like ‘big nose’ can absolutely be used in a derogatory or ‘othering’ way. And it is absolutely an example of internalized, subconscious racism. It’s just a kind that a lot of people don’t even think about, and don’t necessarily mean to be hateful, if that makes sense.
In EEAAO, Michelle Yeoh’s character is definitely the kind of person who would use those terms without a second thought, and I think her use of that term speaks to her character – she’s still half-steeped in a traditional and inward-looking Chinese culture. It’s racism the same way a lot of white people’s grandparents are racist – i.e. they don’t really harbor any genuine animosity towards X group of people, but they have a lot of assumptions they don’t question and offensive terms they might use. So, being charitable, I can forgive the producers for using that term as it makes sense for who she is in the movie.My guess is that before they found out Slate’s character was Jewish, people just thought it was a reference to her individually. My other guess is that they won’t be so bothered when they find out what the term really means, because the people most likely to be outraged by this are also the type to say: ‘You can’t be racist to white people.’ But we’ll see.
You can be racist to white people in China and Taiwan because they’re the powerless minority there. It’s not that hard to understand. Christians suffering in some parts of the world doesn’t mean Western Christianity’s victimization complex is valid.
Damn fine response. Summed it up perfectly, especially the comparison to white people’s grandparents.
The outrage isn’t because the character called her that – a character can be racist without the creators also having those same views – but because she was actually named that. But I think that’s the only way she’s referred to in the movie. I still don’t really see why that’s offensive other than people enjoying being offended. And just for the anecdotal support, I’m part Jewish, my girlfriend is Jewish, we both have big noses, both of us assumed Jenny Slate was called Big Nose because she was Jewish, neither of us cared. That’s not to say other people shouldn’t feel offended, just that in my viewing party of two it seemed appropriate for the character and didn’t seem like a big thing.
I mean, when I watched the movie, I thought the casual “nice guy” racism was part of the point, part of showing Evelyn’s growth as a character in the long run.
Its not rayciss when its against whitey!
if you grew up with a Chinese mom, you would know exactly what she would call all of those aforementioned groups, and in every case, it wouldn’t be printable here… Chinese parents in the US are not exactly politically correct or sensitive nor do they care to be, sorry you had to find out this way
Da Asians are not woke! They remember the thug lootin at Koreatown!
This is an issue with art and political correctness. It’s a derogatory term, but it’s true to what the characters would say/think. Characters are going to have flaws and that may be following cultural norms.
One chinese book i read that was fan translated, had the chinese familys daughter marry a black man, and made constant references to how they had to put bright shirts on the kids lest they lose them at night, or get scared when a shadow moved and it turned out to be one of the little kids was naked.so at least that author was what i would consider had racist attitudes towards them
I bet the Chineses got some good slurs for Africans. Da Asians are not woke! Dats why they do well in America.
I mean anyone is free to be offended, but it’s less problematic if it’s used for white people in general instead of taking a feature that has been used in anti-semitic caricatures for… I don’t even know how long and using it towards a Jewish character (or at least a character played by a Jewish woman).
I’m white and I do have a big nose. I’d just be like “yes? Can I help you?”Can we just go off of whether we actually are offended instead of whether we’re supposed to be?
The Daniels are cool, so I believe their explanation as it being a stupid mistake, stupid because…they had a Jewish character called “big nose.” However, the caucasian Daniels apparently called Malcolm X a “Crime movie” when he was in the Criterion closet…I guess we knew they were weird but that is a pretty weird description. Pardon me while I go watch my favorite movie about opera, The Godfather: Part 3.
Looking at the comment in context where he spoke about being uncomfortable with true stories, I suspect he meant to liken it true crime and biopics – still a bad description – but it’s not like he explicitly said “like the Godfather,” but I’m sure I’ve said dumb things in off the cuff conversations without cameras around.
I mean I just rewatched it to make sure…he says “crime movie” and then “crime saga”…it’s just like…what the hell does that even mean? is the crime the assassination? is the answer to the whodunit white capitalism? is the crime the formation of the Nation of Islam as an organization? it really does sound like it merits some kind of explanation.
NOTE: he did post a tweet where he was like “I was 100% wrong” which is cool but still what the heck was he thinking? I sure do love my favorite movie about high school, Heat.
Jonah Hill as Vincent, Michael Cera as Neil, with Anthony Michael Hall in the John Voight role.What address should I send the dumptrucks full of money to?
I’m mostly saying that based on the sentences before he calls it a crime movie, I’m guessing that he misspoke while trying to discuss a film. There is a good amount of stuff in the film – and in the reality of Malcolm X’s life – about crime, violence and the intersection of race – where I can see someone speaking off the cuff and having a bad take in describing what’s so good about it.
Nation of Islam are a particularly dumbfuck combo of thugs and camel humpers
I was confused by him saying that he was a big fan of Spike Lee right before saying that he hadn’t seen (crime movie, crime saga) Malcolm X until recently. It’s like my weird coworker who hates Spike Lee movies — except for Summer of Sam and 25th Hour…
haha…Actually I rewatched 25th Hour and it was better than I remembered it…I still can’t believe it won best of 2000-2010 at the Village Voice or wherever the hell it was. i’ve always hated Summer of Sam.
25th Hour definitely ages well. It’s an important time capsule of post 9/11 NYC, and Norton is excellent.Summer of Sam was awful.
I’m a big Edward Norton hater but he’s great in this. I’m Canadian and I saw it years after release, but I still immediately felt the way 9/11 looms over the movie; it’s a really well done snapshot of New York in that period.
I like 25th Hour quite a bit, but if you met my coworker, it would not surprise you that the only Spike Lee movies he likes are the ones with majority white casts, lol.
“Say Inside Man is better than Do the Right Thing again, muthafucka! I dare you!”
Hot take: the 25th hour is the only spike joint I liked in his entire collection, besides the documentary about Katrina. And I really like the dude too, I just think he’s not as great as…well, as everyone does. point noted: I know I’m in the minority on this one. Please refrain from making “tweets deniros ____” jokes
Rayciss Blacks always makin it about them
The Godfather Part 3 isn’t anyone’s favorite movie of any kind.
I have a big nose and was not offended. There certainly was no anti-Semitism in the character’s usage of the word. The character is a close minded individual that says whatever she is thinking with no filter. It is her flaw as a human and part of the movie’s plot. It is just a bit of comic relief.
Hard-hitting fluff, I mean stuff.
Why do people engage with these BS “controversies” in the first place?
More non-controversy but my god people have so much time to waste being outraged and meanwhile there are endless real issues we could be fixing
Jenny Slate has been no stranger to controversy. Whether facing criticism for a stray F-bomb or voicing a Black character
Don’t forget voicing a floating dismembered unicorn head..
Ponyhead has nothing to apologize for, she is perfect
Well, it would be weird (and a vanishly rare case of “reverse discrimination”) to have a character in your script called “Big Nose” because that’s a common appellation within Chinese culture for White People and to say “well, we absolutely cannot cast a Jewish person for this role since that would be a bad look.”And if you’re talking about how the script should have instead shown more restraint and not had this at all because of how it could be be viewed negatively, I would like to remind everybody that this movie features an fight scene in which people try to insert things into their anus to gain power as well as a love story set in a universe where people have hotdogs for fingers.
Yeoh’s character was a bitter and resentful person, so her use of a derogatory term towards a customer was hardly shocking. Whoever put “Big Nose” in the credits probably thought they were being funny.
I for one am outraged, as this is outrageous.
This week’s edition of “white people on the internet explain to minorities why they are wrong for not being offended about things”
This actually touches on an interesting point. Who decides when something is or isn’t racist/sexist/anti-Semitic etc etc? This actress might not think so but clearly other people did. So then what clinches it?
The Supreme Court of Wokester
your life is worth less than an open pack of hot dogs
“Slate’s character, a clear representation of the Jewish American Princess stereotype,”Says who? What specifically marked that character a stereotype?
I’m always reminded that the woman who looks like Ira Flatow’s twin sister, dated Chris Evans.
Some white gentiles absolutely love white Ashkenazi Jews (and presumably other Jews but I’ll only speak from experience.)
Ragheads like Omar hate all Jews equally though!
your life is worth less than an open pack of hot dogs
Your use of reminded and commas are equally baffling.
It’s a pause, meant to build suspense. Ira Flatow’s twin sister did something, but what?!?
voicing a Black character on Big MouthThe character is mixed-race: Black father, white mother. Originally voiced by a white woman, she is now voiced by a Black woman. Neither is an exact match for the character, but I guess half-Black counts as more Black than white somehow?
Unfortunately, in the US, generally if you’re any bit Black, you’re all Black, whether you like it or not. So…yes, half Black literally “counts” as more Black than white.
Those are the wokester rules, homie. Questioning them makes you rayciss. Stop thinking and stay woke!
your life is worth less than an open pack of hot dogs
Because half-Black people are famously granted the same treatment as both parents. The one drop rule means that if you have even one white ancestor, you count as white!
Those are Jim Crow rules. We’re applying the same standard to Hollywood voice acting?
I know it’s polite to assume good faith, but you simply have to be willfully ignoring that half-Black people are effectively treated by society as Black unless they pass, and even if they do that can always come out. You worded “I guess half-Black counts as more Black than white somehow” like it’s an obviously bad position, but yes, that’s essentially correct. I’m assuming you even accept the premise that Black people are still discriminated against in the United States, though, and that it’s preferable to have Black actors play Black (or, as the case may be, half-Black) roles. If you’re just a chud who believes racism is over, or has been replaced by racism against whites, or whatever, then the above argument doesn’t apply.
I’m honestly trying to understand how you get from Jim Crow-era legislation to contemporary standards for voice casting. If you had said, “a half-Black girl in our society experiences life as more Black than white,” I would have seen where you were coming from. It still wouldn’t have entirely answered the question of why this applies to voice work rather than representation in the writers’ room – which seems far more pertinent to me – but those are two dots that can reasonably be connected. But the fact that southern states used the 1/16th rule as a basis for discrimination does not hold water for why Jenny Slate should not have voiced the character.I do think it’s a little problematic that – almost universally – people describe this fictional child as “Black” when her ethnicity is, in fact, mixed. I think that’s an unexamined assumption, and might even serve the old racist agenda of separating whiteness from anything that isn’t completely white. From what I heard, Slate voluntarily stepped away from the role, and that’s fine – but the ongoing implicit shaming of her, as in this article, for allowing herself to be in that position in the first place, when the actor who replaced her is also not a match for the character’s ethnicity, is self-righteous and unfair. That’s where I stand. If you want to write me off as a bigot, go ahead. That doesn’t make a difference in my life; if it does something for you, go for it.
The reference to the One Drop Rule was sarcasm in response to the idea that someone who’s half-white counts as white, pointing to a demonstration of that being historically untrue.
You would cross the street at night to avoid a mixed person. And you wouldn’t be doing it because they’re half white.
I don’t have any problem with this article, as written, though as its editor, I might have added a final phase to the penultimate sentence:“In response to the criticism, Slate’s credit has since been changed to ‘Debbie Dog Mom,’ thus, bringing to a close, a terrible national tragedy.”
According to a six year old discussion on stackexhange it is an older Chinese term for white people used predominantly in the northeast, originally describing Russians and definitely pejorative. Nothing about Jews specifically.Before I post the link I should warn that the questioner asks if the term is like the n-word but they write the whole word.https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/23363/is-big-nose-really-used-for-westerners
It’s hard to believe this was ever on TV.You can always spot a Jew boy / By his great big Jew boy nose
That raised eyebrows 20+ years ago. How Harrelson got through “I’m glad I’m not a girly boy, with a big ol girl vagina!” is beyond me.
I love that now everyone is on constant high alert for anything that could be perceived in any way shape or form as offensive. Really healthy way for a society to exist and thrive.
your life is worth less than an open pack of hot dogs
“Voicing a black character”I think you mean, ‘Voicing a black Jewish character’. Pretty sure erasing the character’s Jewish identity is incredibly anti-Semitic. Or do you think black people can’t be Jewish? Tell that to Sammy Davis Jr. and Lenny Kravitz.
Ilhan Omar knows black people cant be Jewish!
your life is worth less than an open pack of hot dogs
Speaking as a fellow big-nose-haver (who loved this movie), uh…this seems fine.
If it became a chronic blind spot I’d be a bit more concerned, but stepping in it accidentally, apologizing, reaching out to the person affected by it to make sure she’s okay, and then promising to do better and moving on, seems like a fine thing to do to me.
Be like Waymond, y’all. Lead with kindness.
I mean, I can definitely confirm from firsthand experience that “big nose” and – my personal favourite – “goat eyes”, are used in Japan as generic “white person” descriptions, so I have no trouble believing it’s used in other parts of Asia.“Goat Eyes” still cracks me up, 30 years later.
Goat eyes! That’s brutal… I’ve never heard that one before. Lol.
So to be clear, I just read an article about a character that wasn’t intended to be antisemitic played by an actress who knew the character wasn’t intended to be antisemitic and that character’s name has since been changed so people won’t be confused and think it’s antisemitic? WHAT. A. ROLLERCOASTER. Truly a controversy for the ages…
I still haven’t found my monocle.
This is all kind of funny in a way.
Group 1: “How dare they not know that term is anti-semetic.”
Other Group: “How dare group 1 not know it’s actually just racist.”
Group 1: “Well I had no idea and would have never known that…but now I’m mad about that too!”
Me: “Haha, I thought they just let Jenny Slate give her character a funny name or something. Oh so now she’s just named Debbie, well that’s kinda anti-climactic.”
“Big Nose” is a moniker often used in Chinese culture to describe white people“Racism by Chinese people is ok” -Wokesters
You are white fragility personified.What a pathetic whiny baby you are.
your life is worth less than an open pack of hot dogs
Whether facing criticism for a stray F-bomb or voicing a Black character on Big Mouth
I love Jenny Slate (because of Gifted), and I loved this movie. I’m embarrassed that I had no idea she was in it.
It’s just a language thing. I don’t speak Chinese but I do speak Japanese, and Japanese people talk about (and often fetishize) people with a “high/big nose,” meaning the bridge of the nose is prominent, as is common with Caucasian people. This is in contrast to many (most? but not all!) East Asian folks who often have a flat nose bridge. Imagine this: a person laying down and a tiny bug on their left eye. To traverse to the right eye, would the bug have to climb a big ridge of nose? Or would it be flat? That’s the difference.
Never notices the character was supposed to be Jewish and I am Jewish. By the way this movie is one of the most overrated movies I ever saw. The movie is basically “family is important and it’s better to be nice to other people”, things I agree with but that’s all there is here, no profound philosophy, nothing about the multiverse (I think it’s pretty clear that it’s all in her head and nothing happens for real) or sci fi. Even the visuals where nothing special.
Well you felt wrong Jenny Slate!
You tell her!Seriously, she has to be set straight here.
so not anti-semitic specifically yet still racist.
I spent the better part of 30 years traveling to China for work, and I burst out laughing in the movie theater at that scene, mostly because I figured some people would freak out. Yes, “Big Nose” is a thing but it’s not anti-semitic, it’s more an old-school, catch-all phrase for “whitey,” more like something you’d hear your grandparents use, rather than common vernacular. It’s nothing to get even slightly upset about.
Oh thank God for a moment I thought that daniels WERE anti semites and then I read the article to learn that they’re NOT antisemitic, it was just that someone somewhere said they were but luckily its been proven now, they were just NOT doing antisemitic things so it appears everything is ok.This fucking place, man…