In June 2021, entertainment journalist Malina Saval wrote an exceptional and highly-discussed critique of how Hollywood has caricatured Jews and reinforced harmful stereotypes. When reading the essay, many Jewish writers, myself included, couldn’t believe their eyes; Saval had captured what many of us believed, but felt helpless in verbalizing beyond Jewish eyes and ears. And she had made her case in Variety, a premier publication for entertainment news.

The essay, titled “Too Jewish For Hollywood: As Antisemitism Soars, Hollywood Should Address Its Enduring Hypocrisy In Hyperbolic Caricatures of Jews,” went viral and in February 2022, won Saval, a features editor for Variety, first place in commentary for gender/diversity at the National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards. 

To understand the significance of her first-place award, one ought to imagine how many commentaries are written each year addressing issues related to gender and diversity; the fact that an essay that unabashedly defended Jews — the accused purveyors of everything that is allegedly white, powerful and privileged — won first place in the gender/diversity category at a major national journalism competition reveals the power of Saval’s essay. But it also highlights a distinctive trademark of Saval’s work: when it comes to standing her ground on antisemitism, it’s not easy to prove her wrong. 

Saval, who is based in Pasadena, begins the essay with a story of a non-Jewish film producer who, several years ago, casually informed her that “Jews control Hollywood.” In response, she highlights that while Jews may have essentially founded Hollywood because they were excluded from so many other white-collar industries in this country, the majority of those who actually shaped early American cinema weren’t Jewish. “In short,” she wrote, “there is a core etymological difference between invent and control.”

It’s an argument she’s apt to repeat to anyone who suspects otherwise, and one that she made again in a CNN interview this past February. When interviewer Nick Watt informed Saval that “20% of managers, agents, executives in Hollywood are Jewish,” she coolly responded, “There’s no hard facts to back up that number,” adding, “Say we come up with the numbers and we do find out that there are a disproportionate number of Jews working in Hollywood, just for argument’s sake?” When Watt pressed her to continue, she responded with two simple words: “So what?” 

Saval could have stopped there. She had convinced Watt, who then observed, “If 20% of Hollywood big wigs are Jewish, 80% are not.” But Saval isn’t one to abandon a cliffhanger, and after observing that many non-Jews play many Jewish roles, concluded her argument with one question: “We don’t even cast Jews as Jews. So, where is the control?”

”Jews in Hollywood are not looking for control. What we are looking for is a voice.”

During my interview with Saval, she observed that she “doesn’t personally know a single Jewish artist, writer, actor or filmmaker who is angling to have complete control over the entertainment industry. The very notion of that is ludicrous. Let’s dispel that entirely. Jews in Hollywood are not looking for control. What we are looking for is a voice.”

The Jewish role in Hollywood has always been complicated, and today, the contrasts are disturbingly extreme. On one hand, the immigrant, Jewish “founding fathers” of American cinema were shockingly left out of any exhibits when the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles opened. Far from controlling Hollywood, Jews, apparently, weren’t even there when the industry began. 

On the other side, there are the likes of rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, who has more social media followers than there are Jews in the world, and who, among other antisemitic libels, has claimed that “the Jewish community, especially in the music industry … they’ll take us and milk us till we die” and has alleged that “every celebrity has Jewish people in their contract.”

The canards never get old. Jews are in control; Jews are helpless. Jews victimize others and society must prioritize the real victims (this, despite the fact that, according to the FBI, Jews are the No. 1 target of hate crimes in this country). It’s time to ask if and how depictions of Jews on screen have rendered us excluded, stereotyped and worst of all, unsafe. 

In her 2021 essay, Saval, who has served as a features editor at Variety since 2013, mentions that in the late 1990s, her then-agent informed her that a script she had written based loosely on her Jewish upbringing in the Boston area needed to be “less Jewish.” Could the Jewish characters be changed to Irish ones? asked the agent. The story was set in Boston, after all. Saval acquiesced and landed a deal at a major motion picture company, only to realize the essence of the script had been lost. “From that moment on,” she wrote, “the message was clear: you can be Jewish in Hollywood, but not too Jewish.”

“A Very Strong Jewish Identity”

Saval was born to Ashkenazi parents in Boston in the 1970s, and lived in the Boston suburb Revere, before moving to Stoughton. Her extended family had escaped Ukraine, Poland and Russia and settled in new homes in Boston, Toronto and South Africa. Her great-grandmother, Jenny, lost many family members in the Holocaust. 

“I definitely grew up with a very strong understanding of what the Holocaust was, what it meant and what had happened to my paternal great-grandmother’s family,” she told the Journal. 

At home, Saval grew up with a “very strong Jewish identity.” One of the most important values in her family was a commitment to philanthropy within the Jewish community. Her great uncle, Maurice Saval, was an insurance tycoon who donated vast sums to Maimonides School in Brookline, MA, a Modern Orthodox Jewish day school founded in 1937 by Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik and his wife, Tonya. Her uncle also contributed generously to Solomon Schechter schools and to Brandeis University.

“Growing up in the Boston area, I felt kinship with Irish people, culture and playwrights,” said Saval, “but it was a very Catholic city. Being in a public school in a South Shore suburb of Boston in the eighties, I definitely experienced antisemitism in that it made me feel like I didn’t belong, wasn’t accepted and wasn’t good enough.”

One day at school, a classmate turned to Saval and said, “All you talk about in Hebrew school is all the people that want you dead.” Another student tried to stuff Saval into a locker while spewing antisemitic slurs. 

The antisemitic stereotypes were pervasive and worse, normalized. Students would throw pennies at Saval to see if she would pick them up. That reinforced the stereotype of the miserly Jews. Yet her sixth grade teacher openly called her a “Princess in Training” (PIT), suggesting a privileged wealthy Jew. Saval’s parents met with the teacher, but to no avail, and young Saval continued to feel isolated.

“The antisemitism made me feel depressed in the literal sense of the word,” she recalled. “I didn’t feel like getting out of bed… When you’re an adult, you’re better equipped to process these emotions.”

“The antisemitism made me feel depressed in the literal sense of the word,” she recalled. “I didn’t feel like getting out of bed; going to school felt like I had weights on my ankles. I felt worthless. When you’re an adult, you’re better equipped to process these emotions.”

I asked Saval how her experiences with antisemitism as a child fueled her clear-minded advocacy on behalf of Jews for the past several decades. 

“In some way, I still haven’t processed it,” she said. “But when I encounter antisemitism today, it hurts in a physiological way; it does something to my body that I remember feeling even back then. To feel like the other. To be the other. To be made to feel different and even ugly, not in an aesthetic sense, but as someone who’s made to feel they don’t belong.”

But despite such difficult childhood experiences, Saval’s love for Boston has never waned. “I love Boston. I feel like a person born of two cultures; having always felt my neshama was Jewish, but another part of me is all Boston,” said Saval, who describes herself as a “huge Boston sports fanatic.”

Saval’s father was a public school teacher and her mother was a homemaker who cared for Saval and her two younger brothers. “I was living proof that assumptions about Jews and wealth weren’t true,” said Saval. 

The ’90s (and moving away from antisemitic peers) proved beneficial for Saval, who left the Boston area and graduated from Cornell University in 1995 with a bachelor’s degree in English Language and Literature. As an undergraduate, she studied abroad in Israel in 1993-1994, attending the Rothberg International School at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she studied Hebrew Language and Literature, as well as Jewish Studies (she claims her Hebrew is “fairly good” and that she can “get by,” but I know better; her Hebrew is excellent). With the signing of the Oslo Accords, it was a unique time to have lived in Israel.

“Israel was always a topic of conversation in our home,” said Saval, who first visited the country during an organized trip when she was 14. Back home, she attended Jewish girls’ summer camps “with a heavy emphasis on Israel.”

In 1995, Saval arrived in Los Angeles to attend graduate school at the University of Southern California, and in 1997, received a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Screenwriting. At USC Film School, she gained a deeper understanding of the power of visual imagery, which she would retain in the decades to come as she began paying closer attention to how Jews were depicted on film. 

In the years after graduate school, Saval worked as a journalist and editor, writing for many Jewish and non-Jewish publications, including LA Weekly, Los Angeles Times, Glamour, Forward, Variety, The Jerusalem Post, Ha’aretz and Tablet. For The L.A. Weekly, Saval wrote a cover story that would prove essential to her next career move: author.

“God forbid, Jews like being Jewish”

Saval’s acclaimed first book, “The Secret Lives of Boys: Inside the Raw Emotional World of Male Teens” (Basic Books, 2009) told the real-life stories of 10 teenage boys who opened up to her about everything from girls to society’s harsh pressures. She spent three years of research to write the book, which, for many readers, was a first-time venture into the hearts and minds of American boys. It even earned Saval the nickname, “The Boy Whisperer” and was lauded by dozens of reviewers, including The New York Times and The Boston Globe, for offering one of the first looks into what makes boys tick. 

“The Secret Lives of Boys” also reinforced one of Saval’s most unshakeable commitments in the realms of storytelling and identity: allowing people to speak for themselves. This commitment would also inform her future advocacy for Jews on screen. 

I asked Saval whether a specific incident motivated her to write the “Too Jewish For Hollywood” essay. The originality and hard truth of the story connected Saval on social media with many Jewish readers, including Anti-Defamation League Director Jonathan Greenblatt, who reached out to Saval to discuss antisemitism. 

“I’m an entertainment journalist and avid consumer of pop culture,” Saval told me regarding her decision to write the essay. “And every time I turned on the TV or went to a movie, I saw caricatures and stereotypes of Jews. I knew I needed to write about it because it was so frustrating. And I’m not saying I was the first to do it, but I’m happy that it received a lot of interest.”

Saval was arguably the first to write about Jewish representation in Hollywood with such candor, common sense and clarity. The fact that it appeared in Variety was no less important. When asked if she had any hesitation in writing the story, Saval responded, “None.”

The brilliance of the essay lies in Saval’s direct, but eloquent ability to write what so many Jews believe about how they are depicted on screen. She was particularly disturbed by the dangerous stereotype of Jewish power in Hollywood; during her years in the film industry, her experiences had mostly been characterized by a lack of decision-making powers on her part.

“Jews were left out of the DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) conversation, and in a lot of ways, they still are.”

In contemplating those experiences, Saval told me, “Jews were left out of the DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) conversation, and in a lot of ways, they still are.”

She takes particular issue with who gets to play Jews on screen (in recent years, the term “Jewface” has been used to describe non-Jews who play distinctly Jewish characters). In one astute observation in the 2021 Variety essay, she wrote:

“Are there Jewish characters on screen? Of course. From Jerry Seinfeld to Fran Drescher’s nanny and Debra Messing’s Grace, there are Jewish protagonists that are writ large in the American pop cultural canon. But for every Larry David, there’s a Cheryl Hines, a non-Jewish spouse, friend — foil, if you will — to offset the Jewishness. To make it more ‘accessible’ for American society at large. (Unless the storyline is about the Holocaust; then Hollywood seems to be OK with an entire family being Jewish, especially if they die at the end.) When there is a Jewish actor playing a Jew, Hollywood effectively demands said actor to express at least slight moral disdain and psychological discomfort with one’s Jewishness. The edgy, neurotic misfit Jew has become synonymous with Jews in film and TV, from Woody Allen in every movie he’s made to every actor playing Woody Allen’s surrogate to Seth Rogen’s nebbish-y pothead slacker in ‘Knocked Up.’ Because, God forbid, Jews like being Jewish. Far more fashionable to be a little self-hating.”

Regarding portrayals of Jewish women on film, Saval wrote, “Hollywood seems to find an almost obsessive, near-pathological need to dilute female Jewish characters. Or erase.” A notable and recent example is Helen Mirren, who plays Golda Meir in Guy Nattiv’s 2023 “Golda.” Regarding Mirren, Saval recognized her talent as an actress, but wrote that “nothing says Kiev-born, Milwaukee-raised kibbutznik-turned-’gray-bunned grandmother of the Jewish people’ — a political figure who embraced her ‘ugliness’ as a political asset and whom David Ben-Gurion was fond of calling ‘the best man in the government’— than a regal British Dame with ancestral ties to Russian nobility.”

The fact that Saval was perturbed by Mirren’s portrayal of Meir reminded me of a story that Jewish producer and screenwriter Jonathan Prince told Variety in March 2022 about an older Jewish writer. When Prince was new to the industry, the older writer advised him to “Write Yiddish, cast British.”

#MeJew

The Variety essay led Saval to meet Allison Josephs, Founder and Executive Director of Jew in the City (@jewinthecity). Josephs founded the organization in 2007 to change the negative ways in which Orthodox Jews are presented in Hollywood and to help content creators portray more Orthodox Judaism in more realistic ways. “Malina has been an amazing resource to our work and a wonderful addition to my life,” Josephs told me.

In March 2022, Jew in the City launched a Hollywood Bureau for Jewish Representation. Josephs told Variety that she was motivated to create the Bureau upon learning that other minorities had previously been launched by NAACP, the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) and the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE).

Though Josephs, who is Orthodox, launched the bureau to ensure that Orthodox Jews had a seat at the table when their portrayals were discussed, it wasn’t long before non-Orthodox Jewish writers and producers reached out to her as well to share that they weren’t happy with how Jews were being depicted in general, whether by non-Jews or worse, by fellow Jews. 

“Malina is the best combination of brilliant, brave and hilarious,” Josephs said. “Her award-winning article about tropes in Hollywood Jewish characters inspired me to cold-message her two years ago and find out how Jew in the City could help. Without realizing it, her passing mention of the Muslim PAC Hollywood Bureau created something revolutionary. Once I knew that every other minority group had formally organized to advocate for authentic depictions in Hollywood, we built the first and only Hollywood Bureau for Jews.”

JITC is currently raising funds to commission an “Impact Study” with a major academic entertainment group and building a fact sheet about Jews with Think Tank for Inclusion and Equity. “We’ve been going to DEI summits in Hollywood and are in talks with some studios about training showrunners and bringing in consultants when the strike ends,” said Josephs.

In January, Saval and Josephs spoke together on stage at the first-ever panel on Jewish representation in TV and film at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, titled, “#MeJew: Antisemitism, Authentic Representation and Jewish Identity in Hollywood.“ The two spoke to a standing-room only crowd. 

Regarding representations of Orthodox Jews, Josephs told Sundance blogger Vanessa Zimmer, “You never hear the story of a happy Orthodox Jew.” Josephs and Saval spoke together again on May 31 for a Jewish National Fund (JNF) event in Los Angeles titled “Hollywood, Antisemitism & Israel Exposed,” continuing their conversation from Sundance by dissecting Hollywood’s complicated history with Jews.

Saval’s connection with Israel is practically second nature, and she consistently uses social media to expose anti-Zionism. 

Saval’s connection with Israel is practically second nature, and she consistently uses social media to expose anti-Zionism. In February, a CNN tweet about a terrorist attack in Israel said, “A car drove into people at a bus stop in Jerusalem Friday, killing a man and a young child in what Israeli police described as a ‘ramming terror attack.’” Saval was quick to correct such blatant bias, replying to CNN on Twitter, “A terrorist drove the car intentionally into a bus stop with the intention of killing Jews. The car did not drive itself.”

When I asked Saval if she considers herself a Jewish activist, her response was typical of her “get things done” mentality, as well as her innate humility. “I’m not big on labels. If you’re Jewish and you’re not an activist, then what are you doing?” she responded. “I never woke up one day and declared I’ll be an activist. I consider myself a Jew. The ‘activist’ part waters it down; if you’re not part of the solution, I think you’re part of the problem. For me, doing something is an involuntary response.”

Saval is especially committed to sharing how many Jewish customs “are filled with fun and joy.” She loves all Jewish holidays (though Passover cleaning arouses some anxiety), but feels most connected with Hanukkah. “If people really understood the meaning of Hanukkah, it’s an anti-assimilationist holiday,” she said. “It’s all about collective pride” (though she’s “not big on presents”). Saval also delights in the literal and metaphoric lights of Hanukkah. “The candles represent flickers of home, promise and community. As an avid photographer, you cannot get better photo props than a Hanukkiah.” 

Her paternal grandfather, Samuel Saval, was a photographer and he gave Saval her first camera when she was eight years old. She especially loves portraits. Her photographs, many of which may be found on Instagram (@malinasaval) convey Saval’s fascination with all kinds of people.

As an author, entertainment journalist and storyteller herself, Saval is also bothered by what she describes as the sheer “unoriginality” on the part of antisemites, as well as those who create Jewish stereotypes on screen.

Nothing New

Many in the Jewish community take issue with how Jews are presented in Hollywood. But as an author, entertainment journalist and storyteller herself, Saval is also bothered by what she describes as the sheer “unoriginality” on the part of antisemites, as well as those who create Jewish stereotypes on screen. “You People,” a 2023 Netflix film about two families, one Jewish and the other Black, “wasn’t even funny,” said Saval. 

As for Dave Chappelle’s controversial November 2022 monologue on “Saturday Night Live,” it was nothing new. “What was original about that SNL monologue?” Saval asked. “It’s not like he came up with new antisemitic jokes. Why do you need to express antisemitic lies to get laughs? It’s mind-blowing how many gifted artists acquiesce to this. And it brings down the overall quality of the work.”

“You People” was particularly disturbing to Saval. “You People” is what happens when our people are silenced,” said Saval. “There’s literally no Jewish mother who acts that way. It’s as if that character has never met a Black person before.” Saval added, “A lot of people are being extra cautious with that film and not talking about how antisemitic and dangerous it is. What is most dangerous about “You People” is that the Jewish stereotyping goes unchecked; the characters in the film don’t even have a chance to fully respond. It’s a manipulative tactic of slipping in nonsense about Jews and folding in with other points [about race] that are actually valid. And it continues to drive a wedge between Black and Jewish communities.”

Ever astute, Saval understands what many Jews may take for granted: Works such as “You People” are not only seen in America, but worldwide, given that Netflix is available in 190 countries. “There were people in Japan, Turkey or other countries watching it who may not even know that it [negative portrayals of Jews in the film] are a joke,” said Saval. “I understand that there’s a fear about standing up to this. But Jews are in trouble because we are afraid to stand up in defense of our own people.”

A Bright Future

Though she loves American comedies such as “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” Saval is a “huge fan of Israeli TV due to its authenticity,” and that includes the hit show, “Shtisel,” which debuted in 2013. Saval described the show as “not perfect, but at that point, it was the only show that showed an authentic representation, granted the characters were ultra-Orthodox.”

Capturing the human experience is essential for Saval, who has won numerous awards for her writing in Variety, including first place awards for essays ranging on topics such as what television gets right and wrong about autism, Canadian filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée, and the passing of Howard Stern’s father, Ben, who died in 2022. 

That explains why she has traveled to Slovakia three times to gather research for a book she is writing about state-sanctioned parental kidnappings in that country, and why she is also working with producers on adapting “The Secret Lives of Boys” as a TV pilot. In late June, Saval will bid adieu to her ten-year role as features editor at Variety to serve as editor-in-chief of Pasadena Mag which along with Los Angeles Magazine and Orange Coast, were sold to attorneys Mark Geragos and Ben Meiselas in December 2022. 

Shirley Halperin, executive music editor at Variety since 2017, has worked with Saval on various essays. Halperin recently stepped away from Variety to become editor-in-chief of Los Angeles Magazine. Regarding Saval, Halperin told me, “I love her editorial judgment. She was one of the first people I met when I got to Variety, and of course, we completely hit it off. And we also had Israel in common,” said Halperin, who was born in Jerusalem. 

In Saval, Halperin found a “willing partner to explore ideas; Malina was the one to actually do it, not as a martyr, but because she knows a good story when she hears one.” Halperin and Saval worked together to conceptualize Saval’s award-winning essay on Ben Stern.

“In the last few years, the conversation has changed to being inclusive. She [Saval] and I, as Jews, we really feel an empathy toward that,” said Halperin. 

Saval described her upcoming move to Pasadena magazine as “a great opportunity for me to execute a creative vision from start to finish.” And that includes making space for stories about the city’s growing Israeli and Jewish community, including Chabad of Pasadena and Israeli post-doc students at CalTech.

“The new owners really wanted someone who knew the city inside and out,” said Saval, who described leaving Variety in late June as a “hard decision.”

“Pasadena needs her,” said Halperin. “They need her editorial view.” The two will work together, and both magazines share some resources.

For Pasadena magazine, Saval will cover everything from the city’s culture and diversity to culinary arts and fashion. “Of course,” she said, I’ll be continuing to write about my passion, the Jewish community.”

Saval has no plans to stop writing, creating visual content and speaking until Jewish caricatures on screen are obsolete. “When it’s time to report for duty, some people will not be there,” she said. “But there are those of us who will show up, and who will answer that call.”

Fast Takes with Malina Saval

Jewish Journal: Without naming names, have you met self-hating Jews in Hollywood?

Malina Saval: Yes. They’re either scared to express their Jewish pride, or afraid or unwilling to share thoughts about Israel on social media. They say they don’t identify closely enough with their Jewish identity. It’s an internalized shame.

JJ: What can American TV and filmmakers and writers learn from their counterparts in Israel?

MS: Israeli TV, when it comes to Jewish characters, are so much more nuanced. And there are some dud Israeli shows that we don’t get in the States. But on the whole, many American shows about Jews keep relying on these age-old stereotypes that are just lazy.

JJ: What has changed for boys in the 14 years since you wrote “The Secret Lives of Boys”?

MS: In 2009, there wasn’t social media like there is today. It’s just a different world today, with a veritable assault of stimuli; it’s overwhelming. One of the boys whom I interviewed later passed away from a drug overdose. You could do a comparison, but it wasn’t like it was easy being a teenage boy back then in 2009, either. What has changed the most is that no one was talking about teenage boys back then.

JJ: Why don’t more Jews answer the call to expose antisemitism and defend fellow Jews?

MS: It’s fear. There’s an internalized self-fear.  As a result of antisemitism, if you tell a Jewish person enough times that they don’t count, they will eventually internalize it. Some are worried about losing their livelihoods if they speak out; they don’t want to get fired, or don’t think or trust that they’ll have the support, because for the most part, they won’t.

JJ: Are you afraid that you will ever be fired or canceled for speaking out about Jews and Israel?

MS: “Zionist” has become such a dirty word. Of course, I’m a Zionist. And if someone is going to stop reading my work and wants nothing to do with me because I’m Jewish, then good riddance. That’s not my problem; that’s their problem. I can’t pretend to be something I’m not. It’s a fool’s errand. It’s exhausting enough dealing with antisemitism, but to pretend you’re not as Jewish as you are is even harder. 

JJ: What does Jewish joy look like in your home?

MS: My daughter attended Camp Ramah and made best friends there. Israel comes up a lot at home and I’m hoping for a family trip this fall. I speak Hebrew to my son and daughter when I can; they both had both a bar and bat mitzvah and Chabad of Pasadena has been supportive. We enjoy Shabbat dinners and lighting candles, and also have a very strong Jewish identity that is anchored to pop culture and good representations of Jews.

JJ: How did it feel when Howard Stern discussed your Variety essay about his father on-air?

MS: It was a dream come true. I meant everything I wrote in that essay. And Howard is an absolute genius; no one does a better interview than he does. He’s the best. I grew up listening to him talk about his relationship with his dad, and it affected my relationship with my dad. It was incredibly flattering that he spoke about the essay. If I ever had a fangirl moment, that was it. 

JJ: Do you own any cherished Jewish heirlooms or items?

MS: My great-grandmother’s candlesticks from Galicia, Poland; travel [Shabbat] candlesticks from Brookline, MA; and tealight holders from an Arab shuk in Old City [of Jerusalem].

JJ: If you could visit a Jewish community in any country that you haven’t visited before, where would you travel?

MS: I’ve never been to Cuba and I’d love to go. And it would be an amazing place to photograph. 

JJ: How do you define joy?

MS: Israel. Israel is my happy place. It’s not a perfect place. I’ve been there enough to know. But to me, it is the place where I feel most at home and connected, and it has the funniest people on planet earth. Because I’m a writer, when I visit Israel, everything is creative fodder.

Tabby Refael is an award-winning writer, speaker and civic action activist. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @TabbyRefael