Note: I wrote this essay for RELST 147 Judaism at Allegheny College in spring 2023, as a film response to School Ties (1992). Lightly formatted for the web, otherwise as submitted.
School Ties, directed by Robert Mandel, set in 1959 Massachusetts, follows high school senior, David Greene, as he tries to hide the fact that he is Jewish from the rest of his class, and it covers the aftermath of when they discover his secret. This film gives the audience a first-hand view of antisemitism in America in the 1950s. From this film, I was able to grasp a fuller picture of the many forms antisemitism takes including hate crimes, slurs, jokes, and jury bias. In addition, I also gained a greater understanding of the discrimination Jews in America continued to face after World War II, and the impact it had on their daily lives.
Hate Crimes After the War
One of the most surprising things to me is that this film’s setting is after World War II, yet there are still clear cases of antisemitism. Almost immediately into the film the protagonist, David, is attacked by motorcycle gang members for being Jewish. It was extremely shocking that adults would attack a high school student for no logical reason. Tragically, this is not too far from reality because hate crimes are not limited to impacting adults. Even more the film takes place after WWII, yet some people still continue with those antisemitic conspiracy theories and stereotypes which continues to this day (Krone, “Antisemitism Today”). It is mind-boggling to think about how some people continue to blame Jews for “killing Jesus”. Obviously, people alive today had no involvement in the decision to crucify Jesus, yet in the minds of antiemetics it is an easy justification for the continual abuse of Jews.
Jokes and Stereotypes
Additionally, the film also shows the audience that antisemitism is not limited to biker gangs and criminals, as it can also be instilled into as unassuming people as high schoolers. David throughout his stay at St. Matthew’s High School is surrounded by insolent jokes about Jews. Some of the most recurring jokes were about the Jewish stereotype of being greedy. Many did and still do not realize this stereotype is the direct result of non-jews dictating what jobs Jews could and could not have (Krone, “Antisemitism Today”). Since around the European medieval times, one of their only options was to be a moneylender. This led to the rise of the stereotype of Jews being greedy and surrounded by money. In the movie, the high schoolers would often make references to Jews when talking about buying something or haggling. This immediately showed David that he was not welcomed as a Jew into their clique which led him to take off his Star of David Necklace. This scene was very emotional for me because of how he had to choose to give up a major part of himself to fit in. This peer pressure is a struggle I am sure many Jews have had to face in the past and continue to deal with to this day.
Bias Built into the School
Moreover, School Ties gives the audience a clear example of how antisemitism is a systemic issue as well as individual by giving clear examples of the systematic bias in education. The school itself is named St. Matthew’s which is after one of the apostles of Jesus. The students also have to go to the Christian chapel three times a week with no alternative options. From this alone we know Jewish people were not considered when they designed the school itself which was made extremely evident when the headmaster of the school spoke with David. David had just sacrificed his celebration of Rosh Hashanah to play for the school in a football game and to make it up he was praying in the chapel although it was after sunset. The headmaster as soon as he noticed kicked out David while also stating “You people are very -- determined, aren't you?” This moment really struck me because it not only separated Jewish people from the rest of society, it also showed how the leaders played a role in enforcing oppression. In another scene the school leaders talked about how a different private school would never enroll a Jew. This demonstrated antisemitism in education is not just founded in one area, instead, it spans throughout the country. I really appreciate the film for acting as a visual representation of how difficult it was for Jews to access quality education. In class, we talked about how Jews have been essentially forced by the unaccepting education to go into jobs that do not require degrees, such as in the entertainment industry (Krone, “Antisemitism Today”). Throughout the movie, David said how he was just using the school to get a Harvard education and his purpose was to leave the life he and all his family were stuck in. Through this movie, I realized just how difficult it was for Jews to get the same education that was accessible to others and to be able to achieve the concept of what the “American Dream” was understood to be at the time, the possibility for anyone to achieve with hard work. Now we understand how the “American Dream” was extremely limited in who it applied to demographically. In fact it was not a dream at all, and did not apply to Jews. David was lucky in perspective to the rest of Jewish community because his football skills allowed him to go so far, while others would never see that privilege not at any fault of their own.
A Jury of His Peers
In addition to the issues with the school system itself, the film also demonstrated how a jury system’s bias against Jews could lead to terrible outcomes. For the climax of the film, David had to face a jury of his peers when they all had to find out who among the class was guilty of cheating on the final exam. The disheartening fact of the matter is that the majority of the students let their bias control their decision making skills which ended in framing David for cheating. In the end, a student with proof was able to come to the aid of David, but if that would not have happened the consequences would have been severe. The whole situation would not have been as dire if the students did not gang up against David, someone they had no proof of cheating. This scene made me imagine how many cases there might be out there in real courts where a similar jury prejudice also occurred. The whole situation demonstrated to me that the system is far from perfect and if too many people with a bias come into power it can have severe consequences.
Overall, School Ties demonstrated how antisemitism persisted in America after the Shoah. You would expect there to be worldwide systematic reform however that was not the case. I was overall shocked and deeply saddened by how much strife David went through trying to hide his identity and I can only begin to imagine what it was like for all the others who have suffered the same discrimination. Antisemitism runs much deeper in history than people like to admit and I am glad I have gotten this experience to see the truth of our past.
Works Cited
- Mandel, Robert, director. School Ties. Paramount Pictures, 1992.
- Krone, Adrienne. “Antisemitism Today” Allegheny College RELST 147, 17 April 2023, https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1O8JUwMZklX7Jp7e0LiAUVvC0J7ygEgAInmglNgmbs8Y/edit#slide=id.p. Accessed 26 April 2023.