I'm writing an au fanfic in which the characters actually are what they dressed up as in a Halloween official art (e.g. the character that dressed as a ghost, in this AU really is a ghost) and there's a character that dressed as Frankenstein's monster, but I headcanon him as Jewish, and was wondering if it would be okay to write him and his brother (creator) as Jewish in this specific AU or would that be too close to blood libel? or is there sth in Jewish law that forbids making sth like that?
Jewish Frankenstein’s Monster
Oh cute! I don't know why but the idea of Halloween costumes turning into the real characters is super adorable to me.
Frankenstein's monster is not blood-eating, so there should be a way to do this in my opinion. Some things to be aware of:
The original Frankenstein story is extremely Christian in imagery and message, I seem to remember. You would need to research the Christian themes and think about how to do the story with a Jewish twist. Feel free to get back to us with specific questions about that later in your research
I believe the monster also kills a Christian child; you would have to make it clear that this doesn't happen in your version to avoid the blood libel
If Frankenstein is Jewish
I think the monster is made out of body parts that Frankenstein stole from Christian graves? Again, to avoid blood libel you would need to make it clear that this is not the case in your version
Avoid any implication that Frankenstein created the monster as a 'conspiracy' between them to hoard power or wealth
The idea of Jewish Frankenstein makes me chuckle a bit because there's a stereotype within our community that anything ending in stein is a Jewish surname, specifically Ashkenazi. If your Frankenstein character is Ashkenazi, it could be fun to have him talk about his surname, which of his Eastern European ancestors it came from and whether it was always Frankenstein or it's been changed to accommodate English speakers. To me, this would feel very authentically Jewish, in a humorous way because...it's Frankenstein.
This doesn't seem like a problem to me, it's a cool idea! I reiterate the caution that the creature-character should be made of their own parts, rather than parts scavenged or stolen, and that they shouldn't participate in violence towards children. Maybe take a peek at some golem folklore for ideas, as the concept of a created-being exists for us, and might help give insight into how the creature-character, and his brother see themselves.Â
I like what both of the above mods are saying about changing the parts of the story that relate to grave robbing and hurting kids, and leaning into existing golem legends. My initial reaction was "meep" but if you follow the above advice it takes out a lot of what made me initially blink and step back.
