America 1987

Chapter 13 Prejudice

Although Hong Kong Island is known as the "Hollywood of the East," for a long time it was a makeshift operation with very incomplete systems.

Hollywood established the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) system in the 30s, and by the late 80s it had been operating for half a century, with contracts guaranteeing catering, working hours, and minimum wages.

Under this system, there is no authority to approve "who is eligible to receive the boxed lunch and who is not," and naturally, there is no room for staff to humiliate lower-level employees by deducting from their boxed lunches.

However, Stephen Chow is actually using the boxed lunch here to represent "the recognition of an actor's identity," rather than simply revealing the cruel ecology of the industry. Dwelling too much on this point is meaningless.

Moreover, strictly speaking, this plot in "The King of Comedy" is not original, but directly borrowed from the 1976 Hollywood film "Rocky"—in which Sylvester Stallone plays a down-on-his-luck boxer who is refused a wardrobe symbolizing his identity by his coach.

However, Rocky's approach is to "not give the wardrobe" (a symbolic representation) rather than "not give the food" (a threat to survival), which to some extent reflects the basic bottom line that under the protection of American labor unions, lower-level workers are at least spared from hunger and humiliation.

Stephen Chow's localization of "wardrobe" into "boxed lunch" precisely exposes that the Hong Kong film and television industry has not even adhered to this basic principle.

So, it seems there's a reason why Hong Kong's film industry declined so quickly after a brief period of glory.

However, that's not something David should be concerned about right now...

Let's return to Catherine's question.

Before the other could answer, David explained, "Of course it's because of the church. After all, everyone knows the doctrines of Christianity, and using Heaven as Sam's final destination is the best possible ending."

“But…” Catherine looked at him strangely, “Aren’t you Jewish?”

David Ovitz was initially puzzled as to what this had to do with whether he was Jewish or not.

Yes, he was Jewish, something David quickly confirmed after traveling through time.

His uncle Michael Ovitz was of pure Jewish descent (both his parents were Jewish), and given that Jewish professionals often form close-knit networks through marriage, his parents, who died in a plane crash when he was nine, were also Jewish.

David was filled with mixed emotions of joy and sorrow when he learned of his true identity.

Sadly, my identity in a web novel would probably be seen as a major flaw by some readers, causing them to abandon the book.

After a new round of Israeli-Palestinian conflict broke out on October 7, 2023, extreme remarks such as "too few Jews died back then" and "Hitler killed too few people back then" began to appear on the Chinese Internet.

A group of online trolls went to Bilibili to maliciously give "Schindler's List" low scores, bringing it down to below 5 points. Spielberg's Jewish identity even became a target of attack.

What's most ridiculous is that those online trolls who sympathize with Palestinians and hate Jews because of this conflict are unaware of what's going on.

Palestinian polls show that 41.9% of Palestinians have a “very negative” attitude toward the East China Sea, while 33.1% have a “slightly positive” attitude.

They didn't appreciate it at all, yet they still went out of their way to please them... I really don't know how to describe these people.

The good thing is that in Hollywood, having this identity is an incredibly valuable asset.

In the early 20th century, a large number of Jews immigrated to the United States due to anti-Semitic violence in Europe. Excluded from traditional industries, they could only devote themselves to the then-emerging and lowly film industry. By the 20s, all the film studios that would later define the Golden Age were controlled by Jews.

This monopolistic advantage has continued to this day. Statistics from 1983 showed that the 12 major Hollywood studios were controlled by 25 people, 21 of whom were Jewish, accounting for a staggering 84%. A Google search for "who controls Hollywood" also points to Jews.

This high degree of concentration at the top implies the existence of a natural group identity within the decision-making circle.

Of Hollywood's three top commercial film directors—James Cameron, Steven Spielberg, and Christopher Nolan—Spiro is more successful at the Oscars than the other two. Besides his own talent, his lineage is certainly a major hidden advantage.

He has just figured out why Catherine was confused about David's Jewish heritage and the film's plot.

"I'm Jewish, but that doesn't completely conflict with my incorporation of Christian elements into the film, Cathy."

David Ovitz put down his cutlery, smiled, and replied, "First, I am only of Jewish descent; I do not practice Judaism, nor do I follow other religions."

Jewish identity has a dual nature—religious Judaism and ethnic/cultural Judaism.

The former is defined by faith, while the latter is defined by bloodline or cultural identity. You are considered Jewish if you meet either of these criteria.

"Secondly," he looked at the other person with a hint of mockery, "you don't think the concepts of heaven and hell are exclusive to Christianity, do you?"

"Um?"

When Catherine asked that question, that was indeed what she was thinking, but judging from David's tone now, it seems that's not the case.

Of course this is not the case.

Traditional Judaism does not lack a concept of the afterlife. According to records, Jews believe that "the souls of good people will enjoy glory in heaven and be with God," while "the souls of wicked people will be burned at the stake and subjected to other punishments in hell."

There is even an intermediate state similar to "purgatory"—"unless a Jew has committed heresy or certain crimes prescribed by a rabbi, he will not spend more than a year in purgatory."

This is similar to the Christian binary of "heaven and hell." Therefore, the film's plot of "good people go to heaven after death and bad people go to hell after death" does not violate Jewish taboos.

Moreover, Jewish filmmakers in Hollywood often see themselves as secular, ethnic individuals, with religion playing a very small role in their personal lives, and almost none of them practice Judaism in any form.

Therefore, even if David Ovitz were to convert to Judaism and become a member of the church, it would still be possible to make this film.

Catherine's initial concern that the film's "heaven and hell" setting would conflict with his Jewish identity had a certain historical context.

In medieval Europe, Christianity generalized Judas's personal betrayal into an accusation against the entire Jewish people, and the idea that "the Jews were the murderers of Jesus" became a tool for the church to reinforce its identity.

Furthermore, Christianity considers Jesus to be the savior, while Jews refuse to acknowledge this and insist that the Messiah has not yet come.

One is making sweeping generalizations and exaggerating individual behavior into group accusations, while the other is a difference in beliefs.

In fact, the latter was more serious. After all, the strict control over the minds of the masses in medieval Europe can be seen from the case of the scientific fighter who was burned alive for adhering to the heliocentric theory.

The combined effect of these two factors was predictable: Christianity systematically suppressed Jews, depriving them of land ownership, prohibiting them from holding public office, and forcing them to live in ghettos, among other things.

Given all this, it's easy to imagine how Jews would view Christianity.

However, after World War II, in the modern era of rapid scientific and technological advancements and the gradual weakening of the influence of various religions, the relationship between Jews and Christians has greatly eased.

The days of fighting to the death and bloodshed over doctrinal disputes are almost over.

Moreover, most people in Hollywood don't bother with those trivial matters; they basically look to the future!