Oregon Theater Under Fire for Marquee Message Critics Say Promotes Antisemitic Tropes

The Lake Theater and Cafe in Lake Oswego, a community south of Portland, Oregon, has drawn significant criticism after displaying a marquee promoting Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” with language that Jewish leaders and other observers say perpetuates antisemitic tropes. The sign read: “Before there were the Jews, there was… The Odyssey.” The message appeared designed to suggest the ancient Greek epic predated Jewish history, a claim scholars and community figures have rejected as both inaccurate and inflammatory.

Historical scholars widely date Homer’s “Odyssey” to the 8th century B.C., centuries after Jewish history and the Israelites emerged. Critics contended the marquee message served no promotional purpose and represented an unnecessary invocation of Jewish identity during a period of rising antisemitism nationwide. The theater removed the message from one side of the marquee on July 16, but it remained visible on the opposite side through at least July 17, according to local reports and resident accounts.

Rabbi Eve Posen of Congregation Neveh Shalom in Portland responded to the marquee in a Facebook post, contextualizing it within a pattern of antisemitic incidents affecting the local community, including a recent vandalization of a Jewish resident’s vehicle with swastikas. She argued the marquee’s assertion was historically false and questioned why the theater felt compelled to reference Jewish people in marketing a classical film. Posen wrote that positioning Judaism as secondary to an ancient story implied Jewish history was “expendable” and suggested the message reinforced harmful stereotypes at a moment when antisemitism reaches historic levels.

Israeli influencer Hen Mazzig similarly condemned the marquee on social media platform X, characterizing it as “objectively untrue” and questioning the theater’s apparent suggestion that cultural works gain value by being presented as predating Jewish civilization. Mazzig called the message “disgustingly blatant antisemitism,” adding that the framing implicitly positioned Judaism as a negative factor in historical narratives.

Lake Theater and Cafe manager Jordan Perry defended his decision in a text message to The Lake Oswego Review, claiming his intention was to challenge what he views as an exaggerated conception of modern antisemitism. Perry stated he sought to question whether discussions conflating criticism of Israel with antisemitism constitute overreach, and that his marquee message was designed to provoke examination of these definitional boundaries rather than to demean Jewish people specifically.

Perry elaborated that his focus was on geopolitical entities and organizations, specifically naming Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Iran, and AIPAC, asserting the marquee was intended as subtle satire rather than hate speech. He characterized his approach as a cultural counterargument against what he perceives as activism that equates all Israel criticism with antisemitism. Perry said he did not intend to offend anyone and maintained his message could not reasonably be construed as antisemitic given its stated purpose.

The Lake Theater and Cafe has a documented history of posting controversial marquee messages that have generated public responses. When the documentary “Melania” about First Lady Melania Trump was released, the theater displayed marquees reading “Does Melania wear Prada? Find out Friday!” and “To defeat your enemy. You must know them. Melania.” The theater subsequently posted on Instagram that Amazon executives objected to the marketing and terminated the film’s run at the venue early.

Fox News Digital contacted both Lake Theater and Cafe and the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland seeking additional comment on the controversy.