‘Nobody Wants This’ Sparks Backlash Over Jewish Women in Netflix Series

“Nobody Wants This,” Netflix‘s new romantic-comedy series about the burgeoning relationship between a rabbi (Adam Brody) and a sex podcaster (Kristen Bell), has come under fire since its Sept. 26 release for including what some viewers perceive as “stereotypical” Jewish characters. Series creator Erin Foster responded to the backlash in an interview with the Los Angeles Times and said the show’s goal is to “shed a positive light on Jewish culture.” Foster converted to Judaism after falling in love with her husband.

Several days after “Nobody Wants This” started to stream, author and Glamour senior west coast editor Jessica Radloff published an essay titled “Netflix’s ‘Nobody Wants This’ and the Persistent Jewish Stereotype” in which she wrote that the show’s Jewish characters “come off as controlling, marriage-hungry women who want to plan dinner parties and alienate anyone who doesn’t share those same dreams.”

Radloff also took issue with the show’s pilot episode for the scene in which Brody’s character’s mother refers to Bell’s character as a “shiksa,” a negative descriptor for a non-Jewish woman.

“This scene at the temple is the exact opposite of what we Jews are taught to do — welcome thy neighbor,” Radloff wrote. “At a time when antisemitism is at the highest levels we’ve seen since the Holocaust, scenes like this hit me hard.”

Radloff was not alone in her criticism. Time magazine’s review of the series called out the show’s “mean-spirited depiction of Jewish women,” adding: “The series seems to loathe Jewish women, who are portrayed as nags, harpies, and the ultimate villains of this story.”

“I think we need positive Jewish stories right now,” Foster said in her response to claims the show has “stereotypical” Jewish characters. “I think it’s interesting when people focus on, ‘Oh, this is a stereotype of Jewish people,’ when you have a rabbi as the lead. A hot, cool, young rabbi who smokes weed. That’s the antithesis of how people view a Jewish rabbi, right?”

Foster added, “If I made the Jewish parents, like, two granola hippies on a farm, then someone would write, ‘I’ve never met a Jewish person like that before. You clearly don’t know how to write Jewish people, you don’t know what you’re doing, and that doesn’t represent us well.’”

The creator stressed that “what I really wanted to do was shed a positive light on Jewish culture from my perspective — my positive experience being brought into Jewish culture, sprinkling in a little fun, [and] educational moments.”

Head over to the Los Angeles Times’ website to read Foster’s full interview. “Nobody Wants This” is now streaming on Netflix.