Watching Gentleman's Agreement in 2021, 74 years after it was made and released, made my heart heavy. It's a black and white movie which I saw on TV broadcast in the afternoon like many other pictures from the 1940s. If I had seen it as a teenager back in the 1980s I would have found it dated and too earnest about its moralizing. I grew up in a large Jewish community and I thought anti Semitism like the kind Peck opposes was a thing of the past. I didn't know any restricted hotels; no one I knew had problems getting a job or finding housing just because they had a Jewish name.
The Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, the killing of Jews in Poway, and Neo Nazis chanting at Charlottesville that "Jews will not replace us" scared the hell out of me: I couldn't believe that in the 21st century American Jews are facing a rise of hatred and a rise of assaults, attacks, and vandalism of synagogues and Jewish spaces. So much of the dialogue from the film sounded like what I've seen on social media: I've seen many "nice" people express horrible things online and when challenged, exclaim that what they said wasn't anti Semitic and they weren't bigots, they were life long anti racists. I never thought I would live to see American magazines and newspapers publish articles debating whether American Jews should be as "white" in the sense of "benefiting from white privilege". I've told several people about my grandparents facing prejudice and discrimination at work and being barred by restrictive clubs and university quotas for Jewish students. Gentleman's Agreement was very hard hitting for its day for calling out anti Jewish bigotry: few films during the era dared to show openly Jewish characters, let alone speak about anti Jewish discrimination. (As for people who debate if Jews are "white" in the sense of oppressing minorities, I'd like to also mention the decades of support from Jewish leaders and the Jewish community for the Civil Rights movement and immigrant rights .) The exchange about Zionism and Palestine is pertinent for today as well: Phil Green asks Dr Lieberman, the world's greatest physicist (evidently modelled on Albert Einstein) about Palestine and Lieberman responds, "Which? Palestine as a refuge...or Zionism as a movement for a Jewish state?" After Phil answers, " The confusion between the two, more than anything" Lieberman replies, " If we agree there's confusion, we can talk.
We scientists love confusion..." I don't want to get into politics, but Gentleman's Agreement made me realise how much confusion there still is about what is legitimate criticism of Israel and and what is the reflection of age old hateful ideas about Jews. I wish more people were familiar with history and were more aware of the echoing of hateful tropes.
But most of all, I wish more people would realise like the characters in this film that Jewish people face prejudice, that they're not making it up or exaggerating complaints of anti Semitism for personal or political gain. Gentleman's Agreement is a timely reminder that discrimination and bigotry against any group was never seen as part of the American ideal, that it's not right for Jewish people to be made to feel rejected or threatened or afraid or belittled. It calls out for everyone not to accept bigotry but oppose it, to be unafraid to speak out against it. As one character says at the final, " I know its not the whole answer, but its got to start somewhere, and it's got to start with passion. Not pamphlets, not even your series. It's got to be with people. Rich people, poor people, big and little people. And it's got to be quick."
The Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, the killing of Jews in Poway, and Neo Nazis chanting at Charlottesville that "Jews will not replace us" scared the hell out of me: I couldn't believe that in the 21st century American Jews are facing a rise of hatred and a rise of assaults, attacks, and vandalism of synagogues and Jewish spaces. So much of the dialogue from the film sounded like what I've seen on social media: I've seen many "nice" people express horrible things online and when challenged, exclaim that what they said wasn't anti Semitic and they weren't bigots, they were life long anti racists. I never thought I would live to see American magazines and newspapers publish articles debating whether American Jews should be as "white" in the sense of "benefiting from white privilege". I've told several people about my grandparents facing prejudice and discrimination at work and being barred by restrictive clubs and university quotas for Jewish students. Gentleman's Agreement was very hard hitting for its day for calling out anti Jewish bigotry: few films during the era dared to show openly Jewish characters, let alone speak about anti Jewish discrimination. (As for people who debate if Jews are "white" in the sense of oppressing minorities, I'd like to also mention the decades of support from Jewish leaders and the Jewish community for the Civil Rights movement and immigrant rights .) The exchange about Zionism and Palestine is pertinent for today as well: Phil Green asks Dr Lieberman, the world's greatest physicist (evidently modelled on Albert Einstein) about Palestine and Lieberman responds, "Which? Palestine as a refuge...or Zionism as a movement for a Jewish state?" After Phil answers, " The confusion between the two, more than anything" Lieberman replies, " If we agree there's confusion, we can talk.
We scientists love confusion..." I don't want to get into politics, but Gentleman's Agreement made me realise how much confusion there still is about what is legitimate criticism of Israel and and what is the reflection of age old hateful ideas about Jews. I wish more people were familiar with history and were more aware of the echoing of hateful tropes.
But most of all, I wish more people would realise like the characters in this film that Jewish people face prejudice, that they're not making it up or exaggerating complaints of anti Semitism for personal or political gain. Gentleman's Agreement is a timely reminder that discrimination and bigotry against any group was never seen as part of the American ideal, that it's not right for Jewish people to be made to feel rejected or threatened or afraid or belittled. It calls out for everyone not to accept bigotry but oppose it, to be unafraid to speak out against it. As one character says at the final, " I know its not the whole answer, but its got to start somewhere, and it's got to start with passion. Not pamphlets, not even your series. It's got to be with people. Rich people, poor people, big and little people. And it's got to be quick."