Entertaining America: Jews, Movies, and Broadcasting

Over the past century, the various connections between American Jews and the nation's entertainment media have generated a discussion that has been extensive, passionate, and, at times, contentious. This topic has been addressed by media-industry professionals, critics, scholars, politicians, and clergy - as well as by members of the general public, Jews and non-Jews alike. It is a conversation that is sometimes proudly pro-Jewish, sometimes virulently anti-Semitic, often highly ambivalent; it is anything but trivial. Indeed, it constitutes one of the most significant public conversations on identity and culture in American life. Therefore, it is the discussion itself - rather than something inherent in either Jews or the American entertainment industry - that is the subject of this exhibition.