Nobody Wants This on Netflix

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree that their age is ambiguous. But the the main characters are all immature, so it feels like they are trying to play younger characters.

These issues are all things people face in their late 20s/early 30s, not mid 40s (which is usually about divorce & blended families)

I agree that this aspect of the premise felt off to me as well. I am the PP who took the actors ages at face value and assumed we were watching a story about single 40 somethings. But I guess it’s not that different than sex in the city in that sense - i certainly wondered why Adam Brody’s character was still single at 40+, but I suppose for people who’ve never been married or had kids, their issues would be generally similar to singles a decade younger.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I like it, but I’m unfortunately distracted by the fact that something has changed with her face that almost makes her look like a different person. It could just be that she’s shaping her eyebrows differently. I know, I know, this is absurd.

To be fair, he also looks different, but still looks like himself.

She looks really weird and I think it’s because she’s a 44 year old woman who is playing a 30-35 year old or something. She needs to move past the overgrown 20somerhimg role. I loved her in the good place and I think she has some acting skills, but she needs to stretch her wings a little and also let her face age more naturally. She’s gonna look llle a total plastic face by 50.

Is she actually playing a 35 year old? When I watched, I assumed they were both 40 something singles similar to their real life ages. The rabbis brother had a teenage daughter and was clearly meant to be late thirties/early forties.

I think he is supposed to be the younger son. Rebecca looked much younger than Joanne. Kristin Bell was just too old for the part. And Brody without the beard easily can pass as 35.

Both Bell and Brody are 44. They look their age, what’s wrong with that? I don’t understand the hyperfixation on their ages and why the female lead is supposed to be so young.

Justine Lupe (the sister, who I think is a great comedic actress) is 35.

It's because everyone here is obsessing about them having baaaabies. Because that's the most important thing in a marriage.

In a show full of clunky stereotypes, yes, everyone would have been obsessed with the rabbi having children.

But no one was.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like it, but I’m unfortunately distracted by the fact that something has changed with her face that almost makes her look like a different person. It could just be that she’s shaping her eyebrows differently. I know, I know, this is absurd.

To be fair, he also looks different, but still looks like himself.

She looks really weird and I think it’s because she’s a 44 year old woman who is playing a 30-35 year old or something. She needs to move past the overgrown 20somerhimg role. I loved her in the good place and I think she has some acting skills, but she needs to stretch her wings a little and also let her face age more naturally. She’s gonna look llle a total plastic face by 50.

Is she actually playing a 35 year old? When I watched, I assumed they were both 40 something singles similar to their real life ages. The rabbis brother had a teenage daughter and was clearly meant to be late thirties/early forties.

I think he is supposed to be the younger son. Rebecca looked much younger than Joanne. Kristin Bell was just too old for the part. And Brody without the beard easily can pass as 35.

Both Bell and Brody are 44. They look their age, what’s wrong with that? I don’t understand the hyperfixation on their ages and why the female lead is supposed to be so young.

Justine Lupe (the sister, who I think is a great comedic actress) is 35.

It's because everyone here is obsessing about them having baaaabies. Because that's the most important thing in a marriage.

If they’re too old to have children, it actually makes the central theme around conversion a lot less important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kristen bell has something weird with her mouth - it’s the same issue due to filler or something that Christa miller has from scrubs.

The actors are good looking 40yo who are playing young 30s and it doesn’t work.

A worldly woman who grew up in Sherman oaks does and does not know what Shabbat is or anything about Judaism is not believable.

The emigration timeline for his parents does not really work with history, but whatever. Nor does the promotion politics of his job with the senior rabbi.

Seth cohen is beautiful.

I didn’t know who he was before this so I just looked him up. He’s attractive in this one but WAY more attractive without the beard.

He was in the OC. They should have cast Marissa as the flaky sister.

Justine Lupe is perfect at the sister. She is hilarious.

[Anonymous]

Aren't any or you bothered by the language? The crude language is so over the top, and not necessary.

[Anonymous]

I thought this was adorable and laugh out loud funny. I think it is obvious the characters were supposed to be in their 40s. And I loved that it featured 40somethings as desirable, full of life and figuring out their next steps. I do not think it is implied at all that neither Kristin nor Adam are playing young 30somethings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Aren't any or you bothered by the language? The crude language is so over the top, and not necessary.

Didn’t seem over the top to me.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I like it, but I’m unfortunately distracted by the fact that something has changed with her face that almost makes her look like a different person. It could just be that she’s shaping her eyebrows differently. I know, I know, this is absurd.

To be fair, he also looks different, but still looks like himself.

She looks really weird and I think it’s because she’s a 44 year old woman who is playing a 30-35 year old or something. She needs to move past the overgrown 20somerhimg role. I loved her in the good place and I think she has some acting skills, but she needs to stretch her wings a little and also let her face age more naturally. She’s gonna look llle a total plastic face by 50.

Is she actually playing a 35 year old? When I watched, I assumed they were both 40 something singles similar to their real life ages. The rabbis brother had a teenage daughter and was clearly meant to be late thirties/early forties.

I think he is supposed to be the younger son. Rebecca looked much younger than Joanne. Kristin Bell was just too old for the part. And Brody without the beard easily can pass as 35.

Both Bell and Brody are 44. They look their age, what’s wrong with that? I don’t understand the hyperfixation on their ages and why the female lead is supposed to be so young.

Justine Lupe (the sister, who I think is a great comedic actress) is 35.

It's because everyone here is obsessing about them having baaaabies. Because that's the most important thing in a marriage.

If they’re too old to have children, it actually makes the central theme around conversion a lot less important.

Are Jewish people not able to use donor eggs? Adopt?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like it, but I’m unfortunately distracted by the fact that something has changed with her face that almost makes her look like a different person. It could just be that she’s shaping her eyebrows differently. I know, I know, this is absurd.

To be fair, he also looks different, but still looks like himself.

She looks really weird and I think it’s because she’s a 44 year old woman who is playing a 30-35 year old or something. She needs to move past the overgrown 20somerhimg role. I loved her in the good place and I think she has some acting skills, but she needs to stretch her wings a little and also let her face age more naturally. She’s gonna look llle a total plastic face by 50.

Is she actually playing a 35 year old? When I watched, I assumed they were both 40 something singles similar to their real life ages. The rabbis brother had a teenage daughter and was clearly meant to be late thirties/early forties.

I think he is supposed to be the younger son. Rebecca looked much younger than Joanne. Kristin Bell was just too old for the part. And Brody without the beard easily can pass as 35.

Both Bell and Brody are 44. They look their age, what’s wrong with that? I don’t understand the hyperfixation on their ages and why the female lead is supposed to be so young.

Justine Lupe (the sister, who I think is a great comedic actress) is 35.

It's because everyone here is obsessing about them having baaaabies. Because that's the most important thing in a marriage.

If they’re too old to have children, it actually makes the central theme around conversion a lot less important.

Are Jewish people not able to use donor eggs? Adopt?

I went to NYU. The biggest advertisers in our school newspaper were fertility clinics willing to pay top dollar for young Jewish women's eggs. This was back in the early 2000s and the numbers advertised were big.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kristen bell has something weird with her mouth - it’s the same issue due to filler or something that Christa miller has from scrubs.

The actors are good looking 40yo who are playing young 30s and it doesn’t work.

A worldly woman who grew up in Sherman oaks does and does not know what Shabbat is or anything about Judaism is not believable.

The emigration timeline for his parents does not really work with history, but whatever. Nor does the promotion politics of his job with the senior rabbi.

Seth cohen is beautiful.

I didn’t know who he was before this so I just looked him up. He’s attractive in this one but WAY more attractive without the beard.

He was in the OC. They should have cast Marissa as the flaky sister.

Justine Lupe is perfect at the sister. She is hilarious.

Yeah she’s great. Another thing that’s funny about her character in this show is that she actually played an overzealous Jewish convert wife on the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel - which I think was her funniest role ever - but here she plays such a wasp.

[Anonymous]

I was shocked to see people saying "it's so refreshing, such an honest story". Um, no, it's the exact same romcom as every other one. Girl with issues cries about her issues to boy with issues.

[Anonymous]

My dream for season two: the sister makes a pass at Sasha, gets rebuked. She lands a part on a big sitcom and becomes a star. Sasha and his wife have another baby. Rebecca meets a gorgeous, ultra rich Jewish surgeon and marries him. Hot rabbi and Joanne elope to Vegas, have a fun couple weeks, and then realize they have zero in common aside from getting way enthusiastic way too quickly about each other. She falls in love with an Elvis impersonator (played by her horrid dh Dax Sheppard) and moves to Joshua Tree with him, and becomes exactly her mother. Hot Rabbi ends up going to NYC as a distraction, meets a beautiful, hip, fun and smart NYU Jewish professor from Queens in a meet-cute at some little restaurant in Chinatown. She is played by Scarlett Johansson. Her mom is hilarious, warm and gorgeous like Fran Fine (she is played by Fran Dresher). They get married. He decides that he actually wants to be a pre-k teacher and not a rabbi after all. They live happily ever after. The end.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:The reality is this show could have been made with any religious or cultural or racial groups.

I observed the following IRL:

-Chinese friend’s entire family didn’t attend her wedding because they were outraged that she was marrying a non-Chinese man. Same religion, same advanced level of education, and the guy is awesome on all levels. Didn’t matter. Pretty sure we’ve seen movies about how this plays out in Asian culture, right?

-A white friend’s family threatened to cut her off when she got engaged to a black man. His family wasn’t any better: his family was blatantly hostile to her the first time he brought her to a family party. She wasn’t deterred despite leaving in tears. She kept showing up and being kind, and they eventually came around. Ditto for her family.

-A Muslim friend’s family did cut her off (stopped paying her tuition) when she got engaged to a catholic white American. She was American too btw—despite her American-born parents considering themselves as “Insert other Muslim country here.” That marriage was a disaster thanks to the unwillingness of her family to accept him. She caved eventually and her parents rewarded her with a new life in another city: fancy new place, new wardrobe, new car, etc.

I could go on, but I’ll stop here. As a shiksa whose future MIL enlisted the help of relatives to try to dissuade us from marrying (I won’t say how, but it was heavily orchestrated and blatant), I chalk it up to loss of control and fear of the unknown that some rigid older women have. It’s a thing, which is why the evil MIL stereotypes exist in every culture, etc.

Wow. I gently offer to you another explanation: since her son has married someone non-Jewish she literally will not have Jewish grandchildren. I’m not saying that it’s right to put pressure on your kids; it certainly isn’t. But it’s not very mysterious why she felt this way. It’s actually a huge, huge cultural loss. Hopefully realizing that can lead you towards some compassion.

If folks feel this way, then why raise your kids in the U.S.? Move to Israel, India, Saudi Arabia, Kenya, China, or wherever if having ethnically pure “[insert] grandchildren” is so important to you.

That’s the trade off you make when you come to America to live the good life. Don’t emotionally traumatize your otherwise lovely and competent adult kids/grandkids about it.

It’s not about ethnically pure kids at all. It’s about fearing total disappearance of a community and thousands of years of traditions and culture. That actually is traumatizing especially given the Holocaust because that fear came so close to reality. I converted partly because I understood the importance of that. I don’t think it’s the same at all as a culture with many people to keep it going. I am from such a culture myself and my parents were not fearful of any loss.

Thank you for explaining this so eloquently and compassionately. I think a lot of people just can’t understand.

I agree. Nicely done and compassionate.
But is there discussions about being more evolution minded? I know the community is in many other ways. Not proselytizing but making conversions or intra-faith easier. Carrying on meaning and tradition without a "do or die" attitude.
I mean most of us perform pagan rituals on holidays. Lots of ways to instill traditions.

+1 this. I understand the supposed reasoning, but realistically, as a white woman if I brought home a POC and my family asked why I brought them home/I can’t marry them, they would be racist. If I brought home a Jewish partner and they asked who is the Jew and told me I couldn’t date them, they would be anti-Semitic. So while I understand the reasoning, that doesn’t mean the Jewish mother/shiksa trope should be accepted. And maybe that is what the show is trying to point out.c because it’s very cringe

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reality is this show could have been made with any religious or cultural or racial groups.

I observed the following IRL:

-Chinese friend’s entire family didn’t attend her wedding because they were outraged that she was marrying a non-Chinese man. Same religion, same advanced level of education, and the guy is awesome on all levels. Didn’t matter. Pretty sure we’ve seen movies about how this plays out in Asian culture, right?

-A white friend’s family threatened to cut her off when she got engaged to a black man. His family wasn’t any better: his family was blatantly hostile to her the first time he brought her to a family party. She wasn’t deterred despite leaving in tears. She kept showing up and being kind, and they eventually came around. Ditto for her family.

-A Muslim friend’s family did cut her off (stopped paying her tuition) when she got engaged to a catholic white American. She was American too btw—despite her American-born parents considering themselves as “Insert other Muslim country here.” That marriage was a disaster thanks to the unwillingness of her family to accept him. She caved eventually and her parents rewarded her with a new life in another city: fancy new place, new wardrobe, new car, etc.

I could go on, but I’ll stop here. As a shiksa whose future MIL enlisted the help of relatives to try to dissuade us from marrying (I won’t say how, but it was heavily orchestrated and blatant), I chalk it up to loss of control and fear of the unknown that some rigid older women have. It’s a thing, which is why the evil MIL stereotypes exist in every culture, etc.

Wow. I gently offer to you another explanation: since her son has married someone non-Jewish she literally will not have Jewish grandchildren. I’m not saying that it’s right to put pressure on your kids; it certainly isn’t. But it’s not very mysterious why she felt this way. It’s actually a huge, huge cultural loss. Hopefully realizing that can lead you towards some compassion.

If folks feel this way, then why raise your kids in the U.S.? Move to Israel, India, Saudi Arabia, Kenya, China, or wherever if having ethnically pure “[insert] grandchildren” is so important to you.

That’s the trade off you make when you come to America to live the good life. Don’t emotionally traumatize your otherwise lovely and competent adult kids/grandkids about it.

It’s not about ethnically pure kids at all. It’s about fearing total disappearance of a community and thousands of years of traditions and culture. That actually is traumatizing especially given the Holocaust because that fear came so close to reality. I converted partly because I understood the importance of that. I don’t think it’s the same at all as a culture with many people to keep it going. I am from such a culture myself and my parents were not fearful of any loss.

Thank you for explaining this so eloquently and compassionately. I think a lot of people just can’t understand.

I agree. Nicely done and compassionate.
But is there discussions about being more evolution minded? I know the community is in many other ways. Not proselytizing but making conversions or intra-faith easier. Carrying on meaning and tradition without a "do or die" attitude.
I mean most of us perform pagan rituals on holidays. Lots of ways to instill traditions.

+1 this. I understand the supposed reasoning, but realistically, as a white woman if I brought home a POC and my family asked why I brought them home/I can’t marry them, they would be racist. If I brought home a Jewish partner and they asked who is the Jew and told me I couldn’t date them, they would be anti-Semitic. So while I understand the reasoning, that doesn’t mean the Jewish mother/shiksa trope should be accepted. And maybe that is what the show is trying to point out.c because it’s very cringe

I say this as a shiksa married to a Jewish man, but...

The analogy you make is faulty. Religion is different from race. Both my parents and my DH's parents had deep concerns about our relationship. And I don't blame them. If religion is an important part of who you are, your belief system, and in some ways heaven/hell, there are valid concerns about compatibility that are very very different from race-based concerns. We overcame them, obviously. But they are not akin to racism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reality is this show could have been made with any religious or cultural or racial groups.

I observed the following IRL:

-Chinese friend’s entire family didn’t attend her wedding because they were outraged that she was marrying a non-Chinese man. Same religion, same advanced level of education, and the guy is awesome on all levels. Didn’t matter. Pretty sure we’ve seen movies about how this plays out in Asian culture, right?

-A white friend’s family threatened to cut her off when she got engaged to a black man. His family wasn’t any better: his family was blatantly hostile to her the first time he brought her to a family party. She wasn’t deterred despite leaving in tears. She kept showing up and being kind, and they eventually came around. Ditto for her family.

-A Muslim friend’s family did cut her off (stopped paying her tuition) when she got engaged to a catholic white American. She was American too btw—despite her American-born parents considering themselves as “Insert other Muslim country here.” That marriage was a disaster thanks to the unwillingness of her family to accept him. She caved eventually and her parents rewarded her with a new life in another city: fancy new place, new wardrobe, new car, etc.

I could go on, but I’ll stop here. As a shiksa whose future MIL enlisted the help of relatives to try to dissuade us from marrying (I won’t say how, but it was heavily orchestrated and blatant), I chalk it up to loss of control and fear of the unknown that some rigid older women have. It’s a thing, which is why the evil MIL stereotypes exist in every culture, etc.

Wow. I gently offer to you another explanation: since her son has married someone non-Jewish she literally will not have Jewish grandchildren. I’m not saying that it’s right to put pressure on your kids; it certainly isn’t. But it’s not very mysterious why she felt this way. It’s actually a huge, huge cultural loss. Hopefully realizing that can lead you towards some compassion.

If folks feel this way, then why raise your kids in the U.S.? Move to Israel, India, Saudi Arabia, Kenya, China, or wherever if having ethnically pure “[insert] grandchildren” is so important to you.

That’s the trade off you make when you come to America to live the good life. Don’t emotionally traumatize your otherwise lovely and competent adult kids/grandkids about it.

It’s not about ethnically pure kids at all. It’s about fearing total disappearance of a community and thousands of years of traditions and culture. That actually is traumatizing especially given the Holocaust because that fear came so close to reality. I converted partly because I understood the importance of that. I don’t think it’s the same at all as a culture with many people to keep it going. I am from such a culture myself and my parents were not fearful of any loss.

Thank you for explaining this so eloquently and compassionately. I think a lot of people just can’t understand.

I agree. Nicely done and compassionate.
But is there discussions about being more evolution minded? I know the community is in many other ways. Not proselytizing but making conversions or intra-faith easier. Carrying on meaning and tradition without a "do or die" attitude.
I mean most of us perform pagan rituals on holidays. Lots of ways to instill traditions.

+1 this. I understand the supposed reasoning, but realistically, as a white woman if I brought home a POC and my family asked why I brought them home/I can’t marry them, they would be racist. If I brought home a Jewish partner and they asked who is the Jew and told me I couldn’t date them, they would be anti-Semitic. So while I understand the reasoning, that doesn’t mean the Jewish mother/shiksa trope should be accepted. And maybe that is what the show is trying to point out.c because it’s very cringe

I say this as a shiksa married to a Jewish man, but...

The analogy you make is faulty. Religion is different from race. Both my parents and my DH's parents had deep concerns about our relationship. And I don't blame them. If religion is an important part of who you are, your belief system, and in some ways heaven/hell, there are valid concerns about compatibility that are very very different from race-based concerns. We overcame them, obviously. But they are not akin to racism.

I'll add that if one person has made their religion so central to who they are that it is their profession, it is even more of a reason for concern.