‘The “big nose” stereotype for Jews comes from Nazi propaganda meant to dehumanize us’
Bradley Cooper has been facing criticism for months for his use of a prosthetic large nose for his upcoming Netflix film which sees him portray Leonard Bernstein.
In the film, Cooper stars as the legendary composer, while Carey Mulligan features as his wife, Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein.
Cooper, who is of Irish-italian descent and was raised Catholic, has been called out on social media for his use of a prostethic nose in the film, which he also directed.
One critic wrote on X (formerly Twitter): The “big nose” stereotype for Jews comes from Nazi propaganda meant to dehumanize us. They said that you could tell a Jew from their long, hooked nose. And so we were othered.
“We know how that story ended. To see it in this day and age makes me wonder if the world even remembers.”
Another commented: “Bradley Cooper should not be playing Leonard Bernstein. He should not be wearing a prosthetic nose. This is Jew-face & is as serous & offensive as Black-face or the racialising of other minorities. Stop erasing Jews. Stop erasing Jew-hate. Jews do count.”
A third wrote: “Seriously. Bradley cooper shouldn’t be playing Bernstein. I have never said that Jews have to be played by Jews. But the idea of a queer Jewish legend being played by a straight white dude with a fake nose just makes me want to never watch a film again.”
Others, however, have claimed that Cooper isn’t wearing a large prosthetic nose because Bernstein is Jewish, but rather because Bernstein had a large nose.
West Wing star, Joshua Malina, who is Jewish, told Page Six: “I do not take issue with Bradley Cooper being made to look like a real person. Were an actor to don a big hooked nose to play Shylock, or a random, fictitious Jew, I think I’d have a problem with the propagation of a well-worn antisemitic stereotype.
“Jews do not, in fact, have bigger noses than other people do; Leonard Bernstein did. That’s the end of the story for me.”
Now, Cooper has responded to the criticism in an interview with CBS’ Gayle King.
Cooper said: “The truth is… I’d done this whole process out of love, and it’s so clear to me where I come from.
“My nose is very similar to Lenny’s, actually. I thought, ‘Maybe we don’t need to do it,’ but it’s all about balance, and, you know, my lips are nothing like Lenny’s, and my chin.”
The actor then said that his appearance wouldn’t have looked ‘right’ without the prosthetic, saying: “By the time he’s older, it’s the whole face [that had prosthetics], so we just had to do it.
“Otherwise, I wouldn’t believe he was a human being.”
Bernstein’s family have also spoke out in defense of Cooper.
In a statement they said: “It breaks our hearts to see any misrepresentations or misunderstandings of [Cooper’s] efforts.
“It happens to be true that Leonard Bernstein had a nice, big nose. Bradley chose to use make-up to amplify his resemblance, and we’re perfectly fine with that. We’re also certain that our dad would have been fine with it as well.
“Any strident complaints around this issue strike us above all as disingenuous attempts to bring a successful person down a notch – a practice we observed all too often perpetrated on our own father.
“At all times during the making of this film, we could feel the profound respect and yes, the love that Bradley brought to his portrait of Leonard Bernstein and his wife, our mother Felicia. We feel so fortunate to have had this experience with Bradley, and we can’t wait for the world to see his creation.”
Maestro drops on Netflix on December 20.
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