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Homelyface
The whole megillah started with a rant from comedian Sarah Silverman on her October podcast. Silverman kvetched about something she called “Jewface,” apparently annoyed that actress Kathryn Hahn, a non-Jew, was being cast to play the late Jewish comedian Joan Rivers in a Showtime series. I’m guessing that Silverman wanted the role for herself, one Jewish standup comic to portray another. But let’s face it, Silverman, you are far too pretty to play Rivers.
If only Jews are to be allowed to play Jews, only homely actors should be permitted by the motion picture and television industries to play homely people. Should Charlize Theron, certainly one of the most beauteous actresses to ever grace a screen, have been allowed to play the ungainly snaggle-toothed murderer Aileen Wuornos in “Monster”? Think of how many fewer hours would have been required in the makeup chair to camera-ready a homely woman. Of course, pretty playing unpretty is Oscar bait.
And what of the attractive British actor, the late John Hurt, being cast as “The Elephant Man”? Yes, he was wonderful in…
