đđđ on Nostr: youtube was promoting some 30 year old documentary with the subtitle "how the jews ...
youtube was promoting some 30 year old documentary with the subtitle "how the jews built hollywood", and it sort of illuminated how pivotal the word "the" in that phrase is for determining whether the movie was going to be antisemitic BS
like, a movie with the title "how jews built hollywood" seems like a story of flawed, ambitious people overcoming social pressures in order to build an important part of the modern world, and how their background as jews influenced their choices
but a movie with the title "how THE jews built hollywood" immediately screams "neonazi propaganda"
does this apply generally? i think it probably does. like, if somebody says something (even pretty neutral) about "the manx", i would assume that person was racist against residents of the isle of man, even though i've never heard of anyone having that particular form of bigotry. adding the definite article to the name of a group somehow makes that group seem both more homogenous and more fixed in nature, and the assumption of homogenity and stasis in a group is important for dehumanization.
like, a movie with the title "how jews built hollywood" seems like a story of flawed, ambitious people overcoming social pressures in order to build an important part of the modern world, and how their background as jews influenced their choices
but a movie with the title "how THE jews built hollywood" immediately screams "neonazi propaganda"
does this apply generally? i think it probably does. like, if somebody says something (even pretty neutral) about "the manx", i would assume that person was racist against residents of the isle of man, even though i've never heard of anyone having that particular form of bigotry. adding the definite article to the name of a group somehow makes that group seem both more homogenous and more fixed in nature, and the assumption of homogenity and stasis in a group is important for dehumanization.