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The Leonard Bernstein biopic ‘Maestro’ has been plagued by ‘Jewface’ controversy. Many Jewish fans don’t care.
NEW YORK (JTA) — Like many other fans heading into Monday night’s New York Film Festival screening of “Maestro,” Alexander Gorlin was aware of the “Jewface” controversy that has plagued the film.
But acting is a “cross cultural” exercise, said Gorlin, who is Jewish. His architectural firm has designed several Jewish houses of worship.
“If you’re talented enough to play the role, you should do so,” Gorlin told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in the lobby outside of Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall. “You’re not limited by your birth identity. The greatest actors are the ones who transcend that.”
“Maestro,” a biopic about Leonard Bernstein starring and directed by Bradley Cooper, took heat for months over its non-Jewish star’s use of a prosthetic nose. Online discourse was so intense that Bernstein’s three children issued a statement defending Cooper, saying he included them in “every step” of the production process. The makeup artist who created the prosthetic apologized for hurting people’s feelings. Even the Anti-Defamation League got involved.
But the atmosphere in the David Geffen lobby between the film’s two screenings on Monday night — which marked the film’s North American premiere — was light and celebratory. Granted, many in attendance were avowed fans of Bernstein, Cooper and classical music. Still, most were well read on the details of the nose controversy and decidedly over it.
“I thought it was appropriate and I have no problem. The nose seemed right for the movie,” said Scott Drevnig, who is Jewish and is the deputy director of the historic Glass House in Connecticut. He spent a large chunk of the screening that he attended trying to figure out if Cooper was sitting directly in front of him (he was).
Many ticket holders were more occupied with other aspects of the film and its plot, which focuses heavily on Bernstein’s marriage to actress Felicia Montealegre. Even though the two had an understanding about Bernstein’s love life and a genuine romantic connection, their relationship strains under the weight of Bernstein’s many gay affairs and his scrutiny in the public eye.
“I grew up loving Bernstein, and it felt totally fine,” Greg Outwater, who is not Jewish and works in fundraising for Northwestern University, said about the prosthetic nose. “I thought it was going to be a little bit more about the music and his conducting, that’s the only thing that I wasn’t expecting.”
Sarah Silverman, who a few years ago was one of the voices who helped amplify the “Jewface” criticism of non-Jewish actors playing Jewish characters, co-stars in “Maestro,” as Bernstein’s sister Shirley. Silverman hasn’t been able to publicly comment on the film due to the ongoing actor’s guild strike.
Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre’s three children, from left, Nina, Alexander and Jamie, at the New York Film Festival screening of “Maestro,” Oct. 2, 2023. (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for FLC)
The film makes Bernstein’s Jewish identity clear early and often. At the party where Bernstein first meets Montealegre, who is played by Carey Mulligan, the two bond over having Jewish parents. Montealegre, who was born in Costa Rica and raised in Chile, had a Jewish American father.
As Bernstein’s career picks up speed, a Russian-Jewish composer tells him he will find much more success if he changes his name to the less Jewish-sounding “Burns” (Montealegre convinces him that it’s bad advice). And later in the film, Bernstein is shown wearing a sweater with Hebrew on it. The movie’s closing credits feature Jewish prayers set to classical music melodies.
Its opening credits feature some of Hollywood’s biggest names as producers, notably Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese. Spielberg had hand-picked Cooper to helm the project after watching “A Star Is Born.”
The Spielberg-Cooper bid to buy the rights to use Bernstein’s music ultimately defeated a bid by another prominent Jewish actor: Jake Gyllenhaal.
In 2021, not long after using the bid battle, Gyllenhaal commented on the ordeal to Deadline. “That idea of playing one of the most preeminent Jewish artists in America and his struggle with his identity was in my heart for 20 some odd years,” he said.
That storyline was more disturbing than the nose controversy for Melissa Tomczak, a 24-year-old who works at a literary agency.
“I don’t necessarily think that non-Jewish people can’t play Jewish people or make films about Jewish people,” said Tomczak, who is not Jewish. “But it kind of sucks that [Gyllenhaal] is someone who is a stage actor, and he admires Bernstein, and wasn’t able to make the film.”
Bernstein — who is widely considered the first great American orchestral conductor and who composed music in different genres, from classical to the Broadway style of his “West Side Story” — was very engaged with Judaism throughout his life. In 1963, he wrote a symphony titled “Kaddish,” dedicated to the late John F. Kennedy. He and legendary choreographer Jerome Robbins collaborated on a ballet called “Dybbuk,” based on S. Ansky’s early 20th-century Yiddish play “The Dybbuk.” And after Israel’s Six-Day War in 1967, Bernstein conducted a historic concert on Jerusalem’s Mt. Scopus.
(Leonard Bernstein, behind the piano, plays a recital in the Negev with the Israel Philharmonic, Dec. 6, 1948. (Bettmann/Getty Images)
For Annalise Pelous, a 23-year-old film production coordinator at Monday night’s screenings, the Bernstein family’s embrace of Cooper’s vision went a long way. Bernstein’s elder daughter Jamie helped introduce the film at a podium before both screenings, saying almost breathlessly that the audience was “in for a treat.”
“The family was totally fine with it,” Pelous said about the nose backstory. “I don’t know, it’s like … whatever.”
The film as a whole seemed to split Monday’s audience — some found it to be a masterpiece, others found it trite. Many were awed by the way the film’s soundtrack boomed through a specially designed Dolby sound system.
“It felt a little bit hollow. I feel like a lot of the things that Netflix is helping make kind of all have the same look, and I keep waiting for something to break free from that,” Pelous said of the movie. After the film debuts in theaters on Nov. 22, it heads to Netflix on Dec. 20. “But a lot of the music was incredible,” she added.
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The post The Leonard Bernstein biopic ‘Maestro’ has been plagued by ‘Jewface’ controversy. Many Jewish fans don’t care. appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Trump Insists US Will ‘Take’ Gaza, Jordan’s King Stays Mum on Palestinian Relocation During White House Visit
US President Donald Trump meets with Jordan’s King Abdullah at the White House in Washington, DC, Feb. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
US President Donald Trump insisted that America will “take” Gaza and that other countries in the Middle East will absorb the Palestinians currently residing in the enclave while meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan in the White House on Tuesday.
“There’s nothing to buy. We will have Gaza. No reason to buy. There is nothing to buy,” Trump said.
The president suggested that the damage incurred by the ongoing Israel-Hamas war has corroded Gaza’s value and that the United States will simply seize the enclave. However, he did not detail how he plans to facilitate or finance the reconstruction of Gaza.
“It’s Gaza. It’s a war-torn area. We’re going to take it. We’re going to hold it. We’re going to cherish it,” Trump added.
Nonetheless, the president vowed that the US will energize Gaza’s economy and turn the territory into a “diamond” and “tremendous asset” for the Middle East. Trump maintained that Gaza possesses the potential to become a “great economic development” for the region, touting its scenic location on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
However, the president lamented that seemingly “every 10 years” Gaza erupts into explosive warfare, resulting in “death and destruction” for its civilians.
Trump added that he believes “99 percent” that the United States could strike an agreement with Egypt to relocate the residents of Gaza, where the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas ruled before the war and remains the strongest faction.
When asked what he thought of Trump’s ambitions to transfer Palestinian civilians to Egypt, Abdullah revealed that Egypt and other Arab countries are planning to meet in Saudi Arabia to discuss the future of Gaza. Abdullah refused to speak extensively about Trump’s stated goal of removing Palestinians from Gaza, advising reporters to “not get ahead of ourselves” and wait for Arab countries to deliberate about the matter.
“It’s hard to make this work in a way that’s good for everybody,” Abdullah said.
Though the Jordanian king would not commit to taking in large numbers of Palestinians, he said Jordan would be willing to “take 2,000 children that are cancer children or are in [a] very ill state” while Arab countries “wait for the Egyptians to present their plan on how we can work with the president to work on Gaza challenges.”
During Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the White House last week, Trump called on Egypt, Jordan, and other Arab states in the region to take in Palestinians from Gaza after nearly 16 months of war between Israel and the Hamas. Arab leaders have adamantly rejected Trump’s proposal.
Last week, the US president expressed similar sentiments as he did on Tuesday, saying that the US would “take over” the Gaza Strip to build the war-torn Palestinian enclave back up. However, many members of the US Congress across both parties pushed back on Trump’s declaration, accusing him of endangering American troops, destabilizing the Middle East, and floating an ethnic cleansing campaign in Gaza. Trump has also stated that Palestinians would not have the “right to return” to Gaza after being relocated and said no US troops would be needed for his plan without elaborating.
Following his meeting with Trump, Abdullah took to social media to call for a permanent end to the war in Gaza and the creation of a Palestinian state.
“This is the unified Arab position. Rebuilding Gaza without displacing the Palestinians and addressing the dire humanitarian situation should be the priority for all,” he wrote on X/Twitter.
“Achieving just peace on the basis of the two-state solution is the way to ensure regional stability. This requires US leadership. President Trump is a man of peace. He was instrumental in securing the Gaza ceasefire. We look to US and all stakeholders in ensuring it holds,” the Jordanian king added.
The post Trump Insists US Will ‘Take’ Gaza, Jordan’s King Stays Mum on Palestinian Relocation During White House Visit first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Bowdoin College Clears ‘Gaza Encampment’
Anti-Zionist Bowdoin College students storming the Smith Union administrative building on the evening of Feb. 6, 2025, to occupy it in protest of what they said are the college’s links to Israel. Photo: Screenshot
Bowdoin College in Maine has negotiated an end to an anti-Zionist group’s occupation of an administrative building without acceding to any of its demands for a boycott of Israel, The Bowdoin Orient reported on Monday.
The group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP)had installed an encampment inside Smith Union on Thursday night in response to US President Donald Trump’s proposing that the US “take over” the Gaza Strip and transform it into a hub for tourism and economic dynamism. The roughly 50 students who resided inside the building vowed not to leave until the Bowdoin officials agree to adopt the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.
Following the action, Bowdoin officials promptly moved to deescalate the situation by counseling the students to mind the “gravity of situation” in which they placed themselves, with senior associate dean Katie Toro-Ferrari warning that their behavior “could put them on the path where they are jeopardizing their ability to remain as Bowdoin students.” No sooner had it sent this communication than it began issuing temporary suspensions to students who rejected appeals to leave Smith Union and return to normal student life.
“You will be placed on temporary suspension, effective immediately, pending a college disciplinary process,” Bowdoin vice president Jim Hoppe wrote to the protesters in a letter, copies of which were sent to their parents. “During your immediate suspension, you may not attend your Spring 2025 courses … Your family will receive a copy of this letter. This temporary status will continue until further notice.”
Facing threats of severer sanctions, SJP agreed to vacate Smith Union on Monday and shared that they had issued a plea for mercy in discussions with college officials which called for them to “understand a context of good faith for the students who have engaged in this action.” By that time, several students had already left the building, according to the Orient.
Republicans in Washington, DC have said that disruptive and extremist political activity on college campuses “will no longer be tolerated in the Trump administration.” Meanwhile, the new US president has enacted a slew of policies aimed at reining in disruptive and discriminatory behavior.
Continuing work started during his first administration — when Trump issued Executive Order 13899 to ensure that civil rights law apply equally Jews — Trump’s recent “Additional Measures to Combat Antisemitism” calls for “using all appropriate legal tools to prosecute, remove, or otherwise … hold to account perpetrators of unlawful antisemitic harassment and violence.” The order also requires each government agency to write a report explaining how it can be of help in carrying out its enforcement. Another major provision of the order calls for the deportation of extremist “alien” student activists, whose support for terrorist organizations, intellectual and material, such as Hamas contributed to fostering antisemitism, violence, and property destruction.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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Hamas Rebuffs Trump’s ‘Worthless’ Call for Israel to Resume War if Terror Group Refuses to Release Hostages
Then-US President-elect Donald Trump makes remarks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, US, Jan. 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
Hamas has rebuffed US President Donald Trump’s warning that he’ll “let hell break out” if the Palestinian terrorist group does not release all the Israeli hostages still being held in Gaza, saying that the American leader’s threats are “worthless and only complicate matters.”
“Trump must remember that there is an agreement that must be respected by both parties, and this is the only way to get the prisoners back,” Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhr told multiple press agencies, referring to the Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal between the terrorist group and Israel. “The language of threats is worthless and only complicates matters.”
On Monday, Trump advised Israel to cancel the ceasefire and said he would “let hell break out” if Hamas refused to release the remaining hostages. Trump’s comments echoed statements made by his national security adviser, Mike Waltz, last month that the White House would support Israel resuming the war in Gaza if Hamas violated the ceasefire agreement.
“As far as I’m concerned, if all of the hostages aren’t returned by Saturday at 12 o’clock … I would say, cancel it [the hostage deal] and all bets are off and let hell break out,” Trump told reporters on Monday. “I’d say they ought to be returned by 12 o’clock on Saturday, and if they’re not returned — all of them — not in dribs and drabs, not two and one and three and four and two — Saturday at 12 o’clock. And after that, I would say, all hell is going to break out.”
Trump cautioned that Israel might want to override him on the issue and said he might speak to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump’s comments came after Hamas announced on Monday that it would stop releasing Israeli hostages until further notice over alleged violations of the ceasefire deal. Hamas spokesperson Abu Obeida claimed that Israel has prevented Palestinians from returning to northern Gaza, conducted strikes throughout the Gaza Strip, and impeded the delivery of humanitarian goods.
“The resistance leadership has closely monitored the enemy’s violations and its failure to uphold the terms of the agreement,” Obeida said.
The Israel Defense Forces has insisted that its strikes were conducted for defensive purposes, saying that its soldiers have “operated to distance suspects who posed a threat to them in different areas of the Gaza Strip.”
“The IDF is committed to fully implementing the conditions of the agreement for the return of the hostages,” the military wrote in a statement, adding that their forces are “prepared for any scenario and will continue to take any necessary actions to thwart immediate threat to IDF soldiers.”
Meanwhile, Israel said last week that 12,600 trucks of aid had arrived in Gaza since the beginning of the deal on Jan. 19.
Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists started the war in Gaza when they murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 hostages during their invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Israel responded with a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in the neighboring enclave. The conflict raged for nearly 16 months until both sides agreed to last month’s ceasefire and hostage-release deal, the first phase of which is set to last six weeks.
Under phase one, Hamas agreed to free a total of 33 Israeli hostages, eight of whom are deceased, and in exchange, Israel would release over 1,900 Palestinian prisoners, many of whom are serving multiple life sentences for terrorist activity. Meanwhile, fighting in Gaza will stop as negotiators work on agreeing to a second phase of the agreement, which is expected to include Hamas releasing all remaining hostages held in Gaza and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the enclave.
So far, 16 of the 33 hostages in Gaza have been released within the first phase of the ceasefire.
The three latest hostages were released on Saturday. Their strikingly thin and emaciated bodies sparked international outrage about Hamas’s treatment of the hostages, with Trump comparing the captives to Holocaust survivors.
The details of the second phase of the ceasefire are still being negotiated. However, Israel has reportedly presented the White House with a plan to advance the truce with Hamas.
The post Hamas Rebuffs Trump’s ‘Worthless’ Call for Israel to Resume War if Terror Group Refuses to Release Hostages first appeared on Algemeiner.com.