‘Unorthodox’, Netflix’s recent drama mini-series, has been well-received by critics who’ve applauded its acting and production value. Viewers may take this as a mark of authenticity, but the series’ representation of Orthodox Judaism is fundamentally flawed.
Loosely based on Deborah Feldman’s 2012 bestselling book, the mini-series tells the story of a young Satmar Hasidic woman who leaves her husband, her community, and her religious observance to find herself in Berlin.
‘Unorthodox’’s problem is that it can’t escape the cliched stereotypes of its genre. It’s one of an ever-growing number of films and television shows that chart the lives of a visible minority of Jews who choose to leave Orthodoxy for a secular life, which is known as going “off the derech” (meaning “off the path”). It posits that if one does not fit into a given niche within Orthodoxy, the only way to go is to leave it – an all-or-nothing proposition. This perpetuates the myth that there is only one vision of Orthodox Judaism.
