Reply to My Unorthodox Life on Netflix

Forum Index » Entertainment and Pop Culture

Reply to "My Unorthodox Life on Netflix"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Julia sounded much more cogent on The View today, I was  actually somewhat  more impressed, but I really think her Netflix show's producers had a really poor vision  for  what could have been an insightful and balanced show, and instead  created yet another vapid and shallow reality show. It doesn't serve any purpose other than to shock. Aren't we beyond that? I don't like the children, all, being exploited with these script set ups. We aren't seeing an accurate portrayal of Orthodox Jewish  life, and we aren't seeing a portrayal of secular life. They don't exist in the way the show is trying  to purport- at all.

The only character I enjoy on this show is Robert  and his story. He needs an  Emmy just for dealing with this whole business, and he is the only true character! [/quote]

What is not authentic about orthodox life? She has explained it perfectly. I know personally the group she came from All her words are correct.

That community she is from doesn't educate daughters, they are treated as second class citizens. Many of the men have sketchy jobs. Lot's of welfare payments. It's a cult period. And the slut shaming online because they don't like being called out is so pious of them those godly women.

As for her children. All are over 18 except one meaning adults. They are not being exploited. Maybe the youngest. Even that is questionable since both parents signed on.

[/quote]

Several aspects of the show seem exploitative,  as just  about every reality show there is. The "discussions " and  events are contrived.  Yes, her children are adults,  but I really doubt that they  knew what they  were getting into. The middle daughter's journey of identity and expression is definitely being forced for camera. None of this is organic, so I'd like to say that it's the secular side of this which is the most inauthentic, and we really don't  see the Monsey side at all. 
The youngest kid should  have been off limits, period.

With regard to the orthodox side, there is a whole lot of context missing.  Please  be aware that most girls really  do go to  college. Rarely are they  married at 19 now, in fact, shidduchs are preferred with educated girls.  Many of the women have jobs, professional jobs, and jobs that require education.

Are the K to 12 schools on par with public schools? No. There is a definite emphasis on religion over skills, no question, but  they  are educated enough to manage college.   What she  means is the Torah education becomes less for girls, they play second in studying Torah, obligations,  etc. They  have their own  set of mandates. You and I would  not be  comfortable with this expression of Judaism- the role of women in everything,  expectations,  strict  moral codes which benefit men more for sure ( it exists for 
men, too ),  presumptions,  homophobia, marriage expectations, you name it, but there are many happy families in these communities,  and probably  unhappy ones- but it is interesting to note that there are as many who  choose  it, both  Jewish ( non or less religious) and not Jewish , as there  are who leave it. That is true. 
No, it is not for  me,  and I can list more reasons why than Julia can, but this show doesn't display the whole picture.

It's just like any other religion and/or culture which,  if it doesn't appeal to us, might look like a cult. I happen to think most religions, or even capitalism can be a form of a cult. There are reasons people are drawn  to  structures. [/quote]

I’m one of the previous posters who was raised modern orthodox. I went to an excellent Jewish private school that focused more on “secular” education and had excellent college placement. I dressed normally and looked normal to the outside world. That said, as a woman, I was vocally questioning things in my religious studies classes by high school. An orthodoxies teacher from the world Julia comes from, teaching a course called “Jewish thought”  failed me for writing a paper disagreeing with a right wing lecture she had forced us to listen to on Jewish laws prohibiting touching before marriage. It compared unmarried women touching and tempting men to prostitutes. I had to take the issue to the administration, where I was forced to repeat the assignment with a different right wing lecture on a law I could “agree” with. We had another religious class called “Jewish women” where on the first day, we were told our obligations as women were “lighting sabbath candles, baking challah and Nidah (a term used to describe two weeks a month where a woman is impure because she has her period and is infertile, and therefore must refrain from intimacy with her husband.)

There are some people like PP who are happy with that lifestyle, but for the most part, kids are being taught cult like ideas in an extremely insular environment and see nothing else. They are then shipped off to extremely right wing yeshivas in Israel for a year post college to hammer it in and really brainwash them. That’s what keeps the cycle going. There are beautiful parts of Judaism, but this is not one of them.
[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics