My sibling is watching Criminal Minds rn, and I decided to sit down and watch an episode.
I've never seen Criminal Minds. I figured it be, like, a bonding opportunity, or something.
And the antiromanyism and liberal use of the g-slur in the show really threw me off.
These characters were literally rolling from town-to-town breaking in to homes, killing people, and abducting children. And not just any children-- little blond haired, blue eyed white girls. They were slitting the parent's throats and stealing the little girls to make them child brides. They did this as part of some sort-of ritual with water and intentionally broken glass-- which they left everywhere because they're "incredibly superstitious."
And all these police and FBI were like: Romani (they used the g-slur) steal and teach their kids to steal, so let's search shopping centers to catch them because they're probably shoplifting and then reselling the clothes to make a living.
And like???
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For anyone not aware: in Jewish wedding rituals, a glass is broken intentionally to make love eternal and marriage long-lasting, often by stepping on it-- which is exactly what these characters did. They scattered intentionally broken glass and broke glass at the scene of the crime and the "groom" then had to step on it.
So, it also seems like there was also a conflation of Jewish and Romani. Romani people have varying religious backgrounds as "there exist as many customs as there are Romani groups."
The broken glass thing might also be a Romani custom in some groups, but I am not Romani and would thus not have had that knowledge of customs passed down to me, orally, from my family.
But I am sure it's a Jewish custom. So, the fact the show creators wrote an episode where serial killers use a Jewish custom in a ritual where they kidnap blond haired, blue eyed white girls is incredibly suspicious.
