Nobody Wants This creator Erin Foster responds to criticism of show amid online controversy

Nobody Wants This creator Erin Foster has pushed back against critics and fans who have said that her Netflix rom-com show depicts stereotypes of Jewish people.

The Los Angeles native, 42, was asked Monday by the Los Angeles Times about how she felt about allegations that stereotypes were evident in some of the show’s Jewish characters.

Foster responded, ‘I think we need positive Jewish stories right now. 

‘I think it’s interesting when people focus on, “Oh, this is a stereotype of Jewish people,” when you have a rabbi as the lead. A hot, cool, young rabbi who smokes weed.’

Foster asked, ‘That’s the antithesis of how people view a Jewish rabbi, right?’

The show, according top a logline, ‘follows the unexpected relationship between a rogue rabbi (played by Adam Brody) and an irascible, loud, agnostic woman (played by Kristen Bell)’

Foster explained the difficult balance she faces as a creative in trying to accurately flesh out characters culturally.

‘If I made the Jewish parents, like, two granola hippies on a farm,’ Foster said, ‘then someone would write, “I’ve never met a Jewish person like that before. You clearly don’t know how to write Jewish people, you don’t know what you’re doing, and that doesn’t represent us well.”‘

Foster based the show in part on her romance with her husband Simon Tikhman, who is Jewish. 

She told the paper that she converted to Judaism more than four years ago, adding, ‘I’m Jewish, but I didn’t grow up Jewish … it’s a different thing.’

The show, according top a logline, ‘follows the unexpected relationship between a rogue rabbi (played by Adam Brody) and an irascible, loud, agnostic woman (played by Kristen Bell).’

It is off to a successful start, having landed in the top spot on Netflix’s Top 10 list shortly after it began streaming, the newspaper reported.

Glamour’s Jessica Radloff said in a September 27 review of the show, ‘I can’t imagine any guy who watches this show who would then say, “I really want to date a Jewish girl!”

‘We come off as controlling, marriage-hungry women who want to plan dinner parties and alienate anyone who doesn’t share those same dreams.’

Foster based the show in part on her romance with her husband Simon Tikhman (pictured), who is Jewish

The show is off to a successful start, having landed in the top spot on Netflix’s Top 10 list shortly after it began streaming 

Foster said she converted to Judaism more than four years ago, adding, ‘I’m Jewish, but I didn’t grow up Jewish … it’s a different thing’

Bloomberg News Tech Reporter Dina Bass wrote on Twitter Sunday, ‘So do I want to watch Nobody Wants This? I love the two main actors – Veronica Mars and the OC are two beloved shows for me.

‘But like I’m not dying to be bombarded by Jewish stereotypes and particularly not nasty and lazy ones revolving around Jewish women.’

In a Time review September 26, author Esther Zuckerman said she ‘couldn’t help but feel let down’ after watching the show.

‘While it offers up the fantasy of the ideal Jewish man in Noah, the series seems to loathe Jewish women, who are portrayed as nags, harpies, and the ultimate villains of this story,’ Zuckerman said. ‘I wanted to be swept away by a rom-com. Instead, I was faced with the reality that maybe this show actually hates me.’

Zuckerman said that ‘the ultimate letdown of Nobody Wants This’ is that ‘what should be a show about a woman’s entrance into and embrace of Jewish culture instead perpetuates the worst ideas about Jewish women.’

Other users echoed similar sentiments, citing different aspects of the series that rang offensive or inauthentic.

Critics and social media users pointed out aspects of the series they found problematic 

One X/Twitter user wrote in response to Zuckerman’s review: ‘Co-sign it all and the Tovah eating prosciutto bit was actually offensive. Plus – what kind of Jewish bball team practices on Saturdays??? I’m shocked a Rabbi consulted on the series.’

Another user said, ‘Thank you for this. I wanted to love it but I really disliked the portrayal of Jewish women. I didn’t see myself in any of them.’

Said another user: ‘Netflix just released a trailer for a show about an agnostic woman who falls in love with a rabbi. 

‘I’ll withhold judgement until it actually debuts but the trailer was a drop with a whole lot of classic Jewish stereotypes. It is aptly titled, Nobody Wants This.’