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‘Marty Supreme’ Is a Gift to Jews

JL;DR SUMMARY Rich Cohen reflects on the representation of Jewish characters in media, highlighting both historical stereotypes and evolving portrayals, particularly through the film "Marty Supreme" by director Josh Safdie. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Jewish IdentityChicagoJewish RepresentationStereotypesPop Culture1980sMedia CriticismJosh SafdieTimothée ChalametMarty Supreme

Places mentioned

Chicago, Illinois, United States
"I found the stereotype affixed to Jews in my time and placethe Chicago suburbs in the 1980swhich was all about our suitability as husbands and excellence at math, narrow to the point of suffocation."
New York, United States
"For my book Tough Jews, I took as source material the gangster stories my Bensonhurst-born father told in lieu of traditional bedtime fare."
Bensonhurst, New York, United States
"For my book Tough Jews, I took as source material the gangster stories my Bensonhurst-born father told in lieu of traditional bedtime fare."
Los Angeles, California, United States
"Gangi Cohen, who fled the mob for LA, sought work in the movies, and was hauled back in cuffs after a cop saw him in the boxing picture Golden Boy."
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Cairo Item ID 77649
Cairo Source ID 51
Retrieved 2026-03-14 05:30:40 UTC
Curated 2026-03-14 08:30:47 UTC