He Said ‘Vagner’, Max.

I found Anne Thompson’s latest indiewire post intriguing, especially in light of the recent spate of Jew hate popping up on the net surrounding the Polanski case.¬† If you read the comments carefully you’ll find a lot of freaky Jew haters out there, posting anonymously of course, especially in reference to Hollywood “being Jewish” and “looking out for their own.” There is a mood in this country now. It reminds me of dogs and cats on the eve of an electrical storm — there is a whole lot of crazy conspiring at once. Here is what Thompson says:

Jews are popping up all over. The Coens based A Serious Man, which is an affectionate yet scabrous portrait of Jewish suburban family life, on their 60s Minnesota upbringing. An Education‘s Nick Hornby relied on Lynn Barber’s two-year old memoir and faithfully included the sleazy seducer played by Peter Sarsgaard, who is Jewish. Suffice it to say, he’s a money-grubbing entrepreneur with less-than-impeccable values. Even Tim Blake Nelson includes the Jewish mafia in his midwestern comedy, Leaves of Grass, which recently played Toronto.

As Thompson points out, this was a necessary, and true, plot element to An Education. The story could have been told as well if the Peter Sarsgaard character had a gentile. The only reference made to his being Jewish in his how the girl’s family views him with suspicion, suspicion, mind you, he quickly sweeps away with his charm.

Thompson omits one Jew who towers above all others. And she’s putting out fire with gasoline.