DC Film Society: Adam's Rib April 2025

A Better Idea

Normally Hollywood Walk of Fame presentations do not make much news. Smiles abound, some short speeches and the recipient thanks everyone while trying to act humble. When Gal Gadot received her star on March 18, part of the publicity for her role in the Snow White remake, it was a different story. The ceremony started late and was interrupted by pro-Palestinian protestors, who faced off against pro-Israel counter protestors. Variety reported that “The crowd shouted, “’Up with liberation, down with occupation’” and “Not another nickel, not another dime, no more money for Israel’s crime.’” Never mind that Gadot is not occupying anything and that the ceremony was not raising any funds for the Israeli government.

Gadot expressed support for her country frequently following the brutal Hamas attack of October 7, 2023 that killed over 1,200 people with 251 taken hostage. She has not taken any position on how Israel has carried out the war that followed. This distinction was lost on protestor Roma Ealaicos, who said, according to Variety, “We’re all really upset about what’s happening in Gaza right now. From the last year and a half, and especially in the last 24-48 hours, 400 innocent people have been killed by the Israeli military, unprovoked.” The casualty numbers come from Hamas, suspect to say the least, and after the October 7 attacks calling any Israeli military measure “unprovoked” is flat out wrong.

Ealaicos said the quiet part out loud when he added, “There’s no reason we should be celebrating an Israeli.” This is the same bigoted thinking I wrote about last year when Israeli films that had nothing to do with the war were cancelled, an Israeli singer had shows called off and an Israeli American celebrity chef had his restaurants picketed. For many of these protestors any Israeli becomes guilty by association. It’s the same way of thinking that led to Americans blaming anyone of Japanese descent for Pearl Harbor 80 years ago. Gal Gadot is not responsible for what the Israeli government does or doesn’t do. If you don’t like Gal Gadot then don’t go to her films. I didn’t see Snow White, although that was because I’m sick of Disney cannibalizing its own history and not for any political judgement.

While I wish I could say that this narrow-minded reasoning resided only on the Palestinian side, I cannot do so without lying. In early March, the Palestinian-Israeli film No Other Land won Best Documentary at the Oscars. For full disclosure I have not seen this film, but by all accounts, it’s much more sympathetic to the Palestinian side than to the Israeli side, understandably sparking controversy in the current climate. No distributor picked up No Other Land, but the production company slowly spread it out to theaters across the U.S. The O Cinema in Miami Beach elected to show the film, which angered the city’s mayor, Steven Meiner. Mayor Meiner called No Other Land “a false, one-sided propaganda attack on the Jewish people that is not consistent with the values of our city and residents.” He added that the O Cinema is “normalizing hate and then disseminating antisemitism.” I cannot agree or disagree with the Mayor, but like anyone else, he’s entitled to express his opinion.

The problem came when the Mayor took his anger a dangerous step further. The city owns the property where O Cinema resides so the Mayor tried to evict the theater, which would in effect close it down. He described his plan as seeking “a cultural partner that better aligns with our community values.” Who gets to decide what art or speech aligns with community values? When it’s the political leadership making that decision, we’re all in trouble. For movie theaters the community can and should make that decision by buying a ticket or not buying a ticket. O Cinema reported sold-out screenings of No Other Land. Mayor Meiner might not like that. I might not like that, but the freedom to share and receive art or speech defines us as Americans. It's easy to trumpet the First Amendment when it’s speech we agree with, or art that does not offend us. The amendment only means anything if it includes everything, even if, and especially if, it’s something you abhor with every fiber of your being. If political leadership can not only stop ideas from being shared, but also eliminate the venue that shared them, then the First Amendment becomes meaningless. Thankfully the community values Miami Beach showed included freedom of expression, and Mayor Meiner withdrew his plan in the face of intense opposition.

Jean Luc-Godard reportedly said that the best way to criticize a film is to make another film. I wish that instead of trying to evict the theater showing No Other Land, Mayor Meiner instead steered the discourse to another film, October 8. This documentary by Wendy Sachs illustrates how some pro-Palestinian activists, including in the U.S., celebrated Hamas’s October 7 attack. The protests in the days and months that followed went beyond criticizing Israel’s actions and moved into denying Israel’s right to exist. Then they went further and attacked Jews just for being Jewish, which included threats of violence. Jewish students on many college campuses feared for their safety.

To its credit, October 8 does not criticize anyone just for disagreeing with the Israeli government or questioning its military’s actions. Many Jews in America and around the world take issue with at least some of Israel’s positions, policies and tactics. More importantly, many Israelis protest their government online, in the media, and in the streets. This includes how Israel treats the Palestinians. For example, many Israelis were appalled when West Bank settlers attacked and the Israeli miliary detained No Other Land co-director Hamdan Ballal. The military claimed that Ballal was throwing rocks, which was not backed up by eyewitnesses. Whatever one might think of the film, no nation should follow Iran or China in jailing filmmakers.

October 8 does not push back against any of this kind of critique. It does not oppose the rights of college students or anyone else to make their case. October 8 instead fights against those who try to punish Jews for supporting Zionism, which is simply that Israel has the same rights as any other nation in this world. The film shows how anti-Zionism can, and usually does, become antisemitism. It also examines how some of these protestors’ organizations received support directly from Hamas, which is a terrorist organization that wants to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth.

The Hollywood Reporter noted how the concurrent showings of No Other Land and October 8 have grown into a proxy Israel-Palestine clash. While that may have been inadvertent, this choice makes sense in a way. Both films have a right to exist and theaters have a right to show them. Let the audiences decide. Some may want to see both films. In the end the only way to win a battle of ideas is not by stamping out the other ones. It’s by demonstrating that your ideas are better.

Adam Spector
April 1, 2025