The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in LA announced on Monday that it will revise its new exhibit on Hollywood’s Jewish roots after receiving an outpouring of criticism from a group of Jewish activists.
When the museum opened in 2021 with exhibits featuring the diverse history of the film industry, it was criticised for omitting Jews from the story of Hollywood’s founding. In response, the museum introduced its first-ever permanent exhibit, Hollywoodland: Jewish Founders and the Making of a Movie Capital, on 19 May this year, highlighting the work of Jewish film giants like the Warner brothers, Samuel Goldwyn, Louis B. Mayer and Adolph Zukor.
Now, a group of more than 300 Jewish industry professionals have written an open letter expressing outrage over the Academy Museum’s purportedly negative portrayal of those Jewish figures.
“We wish to express our extreme disappointment in, and frustration with, The Academy Museum’s Jewish Founders exhibit,” the open letter, organised by the United Jewish Writers coalition, stated. “Using the words ‘tyrant,’ ‘oppressive,’ ‘womanizer,’ ‘predator,’ ‘offensive,’ ‘racial oppression,’ ‘nepotism,’ and ‘prejudices,’ it is the only section of the museum that vilifies those it purports to celebrate.
“While we acknowledge the value in confronting Hollywood’s problematic past, the despicable double standard of the Jewish Founders exhibit, blaming only the Jews for that problematic past, is unacceptable and, whether intentional or not, antisemitic.”
The letter called on the Academy Museum to “thoroughly redo this exhibit so that it celebrates the Jewish founders of Hollywood with the same respect and enthusiasm granted to those celebrated throughout the rest of the museum.”
In response to public outcry, the museum released a statement on Monday acknowledging the concerns from members of the Jewish community.
“We take these concerns seriously and are committed to making changes to the exhibition to address them,” said the statement, released just before the open letter arrived.
It added that these unspecified changes would be made “immediately” and would “allow us to tell these important stories without using phrasing that may unintentionally reinforce stereotypes.”
The museum also said they “are convening an advisory group of experts from leading museums focused on the Jewish community, civil rights, and the history of other marginalized groups to advise us on complex questions about context and any necessary additions to the exhibition’s narrative.”
Described on the Academy Museum’s website as an “immersive gallery,” the exhibit “conveys the evolving topography of Los Angeles along the timeline of the developing movie industry,” “spotlighting the impact of the predominantly Jewish filmmakers whose establishment of the American film studio system transformed Los Angeles into the global epicenter of cinema.”
While the exhibit initially drew positive reviews, some critics reportedly decried what they saw as the implication that Hollywood’s Jewish founders had discriminated against other marginalised groups to gain power in the industry, noting the exhibit’s discussion of blackface in “The Jazz Singer.”
According to the New York Times, Keetgi Kogan, a Hollywood writer and producer, wrote to the museum: “Nothing is said of D.W. Griffith’s or Walt Disney’s infamously racist depictions or questionable leadership methods. It is only the Jewish founders who are accused of oppressive control, of being white washers, tyrants, womanizers, predators, social climbers, and of course, racists.”
