Schindler’s Post-It and the Outrage Machine

I'm not Jewish, but I'm definitely quite sensitive to the unique evil of antisemitism. In short, I find it deeply troubling how casually it arises and how frequently it goes unchecked by so-called ‘anti-racists’. I'm also rather disturbed by the non-partisan nature of it. It takes very little effort to find it amongst Muslim fanatics, the hard-right and the hard-left.

I take the problem very seriously, is what I'm saying. You can watch a video of me banging on about it for 7 minutes below in front of hundreds of people if that's your thing (yes, I'm a bit on the heavier side here, but I'm fine now thanks for asking).

Which brings me to the current ‘controversy’ surrounding actor and comedian Kumail Nanjiani and some jokes he told at the recent Oscar's ceremony.

Now, I really don't like Kumail Nanjiani. And to be completely honest with you, I can't tell you why. He seems like a nice guy with plenty of talent, but the mere sight of him gets my hackles up. Perhaps someone who looks like him wronged me once. Perhaps I'm just jealous of his superior physique. I don't know. It's irrational on my part, but I just want you to understand that I'm already primed to pounce on him should he cross any lines of decency.

So, what did he do? The Daily Mail went with ‘Oscars presenter Kumail Nanjiani blasted for horrific Holocaust joke: ‘Do not invite him back’. GB News gave us ‘Oscar viewers erupt over ‘CHEAP and LEFTIST’ Schindler’s List quip during ceremony: ‘Bad joke!’.

The headlines and social media outrage go on and on. So, what on earth did he say? It must be bad.

Well, Nanjiani was on stage presenting the Oscar for best live-action short-film—the category itself serving as the lynchpin for the following jokes he rattled off.

He begins: “There is a real art to making a short film…I think many full length movies would work just as well if not better as short films. You know what? We should take some of these feature films and remake them as shorts. Save us some time. We have so much going on”.

Nanjiani then rattles off a list of Oscar winning movies. The joke? He's altered their titles to imply a shorter run-time, and therefore qualifying as “short films”. The alternate titles are:

“It's A Wonderful Month”

“Westside Anecdote”

“The Kings Tweet”

“Some Of That Jazz”

“Call Me By Your Nickname”

“No County For Old Man”

“One Battle”.

So far, so benign, right? Well, it seems Nanjiani’s crime was to also include another Oscar winner from 1993.

“Schindler's Post-It”, he finished, referencing Schindler's List, Steven Spielberg's revered classic about the Holocaust. You can watch a clip of the jokes in question below.

It's been rather depressing to see many single out this one reference in an attempt to spin it as a joke about Jews or the Holocaust, and therefore antisemitic. And no small amount of the outrage is pointing the blame at Nanjiani’s Muslim background.

If the target of the Schindler's Post-It joke is about Jews, then the target of “The King's Tweet” joke is about those afflicted with a stammer. You cannot even make the argument that Schindler's List was singled out, given it was one of eight examples given. The joke is entirely about (and completely dependent) on the word “list”. Sure, a film called ‘The Bucket List’ is well known and would work. Except the list of movies he decided to joke about at the Oscars were…. all Oscar Winners. Unlike The Bucket List.

Antisemitism is a cancer. It is very real and dangerous. I've no doubt the majority of Jews (and everyone else) took the joke for what it was. If we’re going to lose our heads over wordplay jokes about film titles, we only hand ammunition to those who dismiss real antisemitism with the mocking claim that “everything is antisemitism.” Personal sensitivities don’t alter reality or redefine what a joke is actually about. And we certainly shouldn’t be taking cues on acceptable humour from people so consistently confused about the difference.

There is no supply issue when it comes to hateful and homicidal antisemites. I'd much rather keep my eye on that than attempt to destroy a man for doing wordplay.