I was talking to my mom at one point between watching episodes of Unorthodox and she asked me what I thought of it and its portrayal of Judaism. I commented that it felt as if they took all the negative aspects that could exist within such a community and put them onscreen. It felt as though the show writers were intentionally making Judaism and conservative religion as a whole look evil and cult-like. When reading the review of the show in Forward, I thought of Abby Stein, who is a trans woman who was raised in a very prominent Hasidic family in Williamsburg, and had even been a rabbi before leaving the community and transitioning. I was wondering if she had said anything about the show’s portrayal of the community in which she was raised, and it turned out that she had actually played an extra on the show. The only thing I found written by her about the show, however, focused on her own journey dealing with gender, Judaism, and choice/obligation, rather than the accuracy, or lack thereof, of the show. While I understand that television typically exaggerates for the sake of creating interesting content, I certainly agreed with the review that the characters seemed unrealistic and flat, and that the oppressiveness and possessiveness of the Hasidic community was unrealistically exaggerated.
Writing and other content
