Could a Movie Like “Joy Ride” Be Made About Israel?

I absolutely loved “Joy Ride.” The new movie accompanies Audrey (Ashley Park), a Chinese-American lawyer embarking on a life-changing trip to China. As an adoptee raised by White parents, this marks Audrey’s first return to her birth country. Accompanying her are her loyal best friends, Kat (Stephanie Hsu) and Lolo (Sherry Cola), along with the quirky yet lovable Deadeye (Sabrina Wu). The movie is hilarious, surprising and heartfelt. However, amidst all the fun, I couldn’t help but ask—was it too one-sided?

Can a movie about a woman connecting with her heritage in China really justify a 92-minute runtime that makes no mention of China’s ruthless suppressive government? What about China’s ongoing genocide of the Uighur Muslim population, or its encroachment on Hong Kong’s independence? Should they have mentioned China’s aggressive silencing of dissent at home and in America on the subject of Taiwan?

The reason I’m asking this, if it isn’t already obvious, is because I couldn’t help but wonder what people would say if someone made a movie about four Jewish American women on an “unapologetically raunchy” trip through Israel with no mention of Palestinian refugees or the occupation.  

I couldn’t help but wonder what people would say if someone made a movie about four Jewish American women on an “unapologetically raunchy” trip through Israel with no mention of Palestinian refugees or the occupation. 

Such a film would not solely be hailed as “an amusingly rude and high-spirited romp.” Rather, it would be assailed by anti-Israel keyboard activists as propaganda, as apologetics for colonialism, and undoubtedly, as “one-sided.” If I had to guess, this would even be the case for favorable reviews, which would no doubt reserve at least one paragraph to bemoan the film’s lack of nuance on the matter of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

For comparison, when Abbi and Ilana went on a “Birthmark” trip in the show “Broad City,” (an episode that ended up taking place entirely on a plane due to the outbreak of hostilities in Israel when they were slotted to film), reviewers were quick to politicize the trip even though the show hadn’t.

Describing the episode in GQ, Eric Thurm wrote, “If you’re unfamiliar with the concept: Taglit, the nonprofit behind Birthright, sponsors free (yes, free) ten-day trips to Israel for young diaspora Jews, who are then supposed to learn about their heritage and connect with their ancestors [while] avoiding talking about Palestine.”

In an article that was bizarrely featured in both the Forward and the anti-Israel publication Mondoweiss, Iranian-American journalist Alex Shams wrote, “To my pleasant surprise, ‘Broad City’ addressed Birthright — and the Jewish American relationship to Israel — in an extremely critical way.”

One can only imagine what would have been written had Abbi and Ilana actually made it to Ben Gurion Airport. 

Meanwhile, not a single “Joy Ride” review that I’ve read has made even a passing mention of the Uighurs or the CCP. 

Also, while “Broad City” roundly mocks the entire concept of a Jewish heritage tour in Israel, ascribing cynical and gross motivations to Birthright, “Joy Ride” sees the experience of connecting with one’s roots as not merely profound, but absolutely necessary for Audrey’s development as a character. “If you do not know where you’re from,” a character asks her early in the film, “how do you know who you are?”

Considering this, it seems fair to say that either China should be held to the same standard as Israel and “Joy Ride” condemned for its “one-sided” portrayal, or that Israel should be held to the same standard as China and people should be able to travel there, perform there, and make art that takes place there without referencing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

The very framing of this dichotomy, however, elides the fact that China and Israel are not equivalent. Israel, despite the baseless accusations of its critics, is not engaged in genocide. China is. Israel, despite what is so often repeated, does not silence critique abroad. China does. If you want proof, go watch videos of American actors and athletes apologizing in heavily-accented Chinese for the great offense of calling Taiwan “a country” or some such thing. 

Generally speaking, I think that it’s OK for a movie to be one-sided now and again. Not every movie has to be about every thing and the choice to set a movie in a particular country, or to celebrate that country’s history and culture, does not necessarily obligate one to address every political issue that the country is dealing with. 

That said, nuance is a good thing, and people want to know the real Israel. They want to grapple with its shortcomings and contradictions. They want to learn about the occupation and hear the Palestinian narrative. Lucky for us, there is no shortage of opportunities to do so. It has become increasingly impossible to mention Israel without also mentioning Palestine, and this is especially true in Jewish spaces. For many American Jews, their relationship with Israel is primarily mediated through activism and awareness of the conflict. 

Considering this, perhaps we could stand to watch a movie about Israel that’s just about having fun in Tel Aviv and crying at the Western Wall. After all, there are countless other opportunities throughout the year when the media prompts us to reflect on Israel’s “complexities.” 

When it comes to China and Hollywood, however, considering the chilling effect that the former has had on the free expression of the latter, it would have been bold and powerful for “Joy Ride” to be a little less “one-sided.”

Matthew Schultz is the author of the essay collection “What Came Before” (2020).