10.13.21 SALLY ROONEY, TEMPLE MOUNT, GAY SUPERMAN
Culture, politics, and religion from a Jewish perspective.
CULTURAL OY-COTT
Irish novelist Sally Rooney has decided to deny Hebrew translation rights to an Israeli publishing house. Her decision was surrounded by the usual flurry of takes and counter-takes. Did she boycott Hebrew or Israel? Is the move antisemitic? Or is it just anti-Israel?
Truthfully, I’m not sure if Rooney’s move is antisemitic. Moreover, I don’t think it needs to be antisemitic in order to be wrongheaded. Israelis are people, too, and they are worthy of being defended when they are targeted with demonization and discrimination. It shouldn’t always matter whether that discrimination is rooted in their Jewishness.
SUPERBOI
DC Comics has revealed that the reigning Superman (son of the OG Superman, Clark Kent) is bi. And people are pissed.
Here’s a Tweet from an actual US elected official: “Superman loves Louis [sic] Lane. Period. Hollywood is trying to make Superman gay and he is not. Just rename the new version Thooperman so we can all know the difference and avoid seeing it.“
Those who agree with her “point” think that this whole thing is just DC trying to virtue signal — performing wokeness for wokeness’ sake. As someone who grew up gay and reading comics, however, I can say that it’s much deeper than that.
In 2002, a very special issue of Green Lantern had Green Lantern’s personal assistant come out to him as gay. This was a non-super, non-hero, very minor side character. After this shocking disclosure, Green Lantern went home and processed the news with his hot, green-skinned girlfriend.
As far as queer representation goes, these are scraps. But I savored them nonetheless because they were all I had to work with. I read the issue over and over and over again.
This is why representation matters. Because it literally MATTERS to the people who are represented. Green Lantern’s gay assistant mattered to me, and I’m happy for today’s LGBTQ nerds who get to have a queer superman who matters to them.
BOTH SIDES NOW
This is truly insane. A school administrator in Texas has advised teachers to teach “both sides” of the Holocaust, stating “that if they have a book about the Holocaust in their classroom, they should also offer students access to a book from an ‘opposing’ perspective.”
This is clearly a result of antisemitism and stupidity. I wonder, however, if it’s also a result living in our particular media environment. In America in 2021, every issue has two acceptable takes for citizens to choose from. It is polite and professional to present them both as equally valid.
This is why the dress and yanny/laurel are the seminal symbols of our time.
We forget that not everything fits this framework. Notably, the holocaust doesn’t fit.
There are many, many lenses one can use to study the Holocaust. There is not, however, more than one side.
MOUNTING PRESSURE
Recent events in Israel have stoked a familiar debate about whether or not Jews should be allowed to pray on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
I’ve long felt that there is an aspect to this thorny issue that is actually quite simple. Israel is a democracy, and in a democracy, freedom of religion should be guaranteed. Jews, therefore, should obviously be allowed to pray at the Temple Mount, which is the holiest site in Judaism.
That said, in our pursuit of equality, we can’t pick and choose. Yes, the Temple Mount’s status quo is unfair to Jews and it should be changed. But the lion’s share of structural inequalities in Jerusalem are faced by Palestinians. This idea is powerfully expressed by Anshel Pfeffer in this recent op-ed in Haaretz.
The argument for equality on the Temple Mount speaks to me. But it would speak to me more if those promoting it were equally passionate about equality in the rest of Jerusalem, too.
OTHER ARTICLES
Anshel Pfeffer also has a good take on Sally Rooney. Here.
