The Rocky Mountain Jewish Historical Society hosted the fourth annual Professor John C. Livingston Memorial Lecture on American Jewish history on last week.

Professor Stephen Whitfield, a professor of American Studies at Brandeis University spoke about “Hollywood’s Image of American Jews.”

In his speech, Whitfield spoke of the ways in which Jewish culture and American culture are intertwined. The field of movies is very striking in this subject. He quoted many film makers and critics.

For early film makers, Judaism was something to escape; they did not want to be known as Jewish. However, many film makers and actors at the beginning of the film era were Jewish.

Whitfield addressed the different stereotypes of Jews. One of the stereotypes he mentioned is how eating for Jewish people is an emotional experience. A major stereotype of Jews portrayed in film is about Jews making a lot of money.

Jewish nationalism impacted what was portrayed in films and novels of Jews. The question of Jewish identity is formed in the early films of Jews.

In the 1930s, every studio was run by Jews. At this time, there was an ease with Jews in society. When the Holocaust became part of history, this all changed. The Holocaust was a phenomenon that has only recently been recorded on film.