Bookstagram Backlash for The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, a 2006 novel about the son of a fictional commandant of Auschwitz who befriends a Jewish inmate his own age, has been made into a film, a ballet and an opera. The hugely successful novel was described by its author, John Boyne, as a Holocaust “fable,” or morality tale, but it has faced sharp criticism by Holocaust educators and others in the Jewish community for distorting history and putting a feel-good overlay on a tragedy.  The book has been denounced by the Auschwitz Memorial and Museum for its inaccuracies and unrealistic imaginings of what Auschwitz would have been like both for Bruno, the Nazi commandant’s son, and Shmuel, the Jewish boy who Bruno befriends. The main gripe shared by many readers and reviewers is that the pathos of the novel...

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ChaiFlicks, a Santa Monica-based service that acquires and distributes content focused on Jewish culture

ChaiFlicks: Jewish TV and Film on Demand

Moment brings you essential independent reporting from the Jewish community and beyond. But we need your help. Your support is critical to the work we do; every tax-deductible gift, of any amount, keeps us going. Thank you for reading and thank you for your help. Donate here.  Seemingly out of nowhere, the pandemic lockdown has fueled the unprecedented popularity of Jewish-themed streaming series, some with unexpected crossover appeal to broader audiences. Think Unorthodox, Shtisel, The Spy, Fauda and HBO’s The Plot Against America. So it’s only natural that a boutique streaming service has emerged to try to catch this wave, providing engaging, smaller, independent alternatives to the big- and mid-budget blockbuster limited series. ChaiFlicks, a Santa Monica-based service that acquires and distributes content focused on Jewish culture, launched August 12. The new service costs $5.99 per month, roughly what the BBC-overflow Acorn...

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Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? (The Great Gatsby Edition)

Been on the Internet today? My guess is yes. In that case, you've probably seen the trailer for Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of The Great Gatsby. Oh, you want to see it again? Okay! Spot the cameo from Meyer Wolfsheim, Gatsby's seedy Jewish associate? You can't see his human-molar cufflinks in the clip, but you can read more about the fictional hoodlum and his culinary tastes--and how they, and those of other Jewish characters from fiction, highlighted their otherness.

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