Yes, you read that right…Steven Spielbergone of the most famous filmmakers of all time, was bullied for being Jewish. Crazy, right? The man who gave us ET, Schindler’s List and countless other iconic films was not immune to the sting of growing hate. Spielberg himself recently spoke about how those experiences shaped him.

Speaking honestly, Spielberg he recalled moving to the Westin, where he first encountered anti-Semitism. “Being Jewish and also growing up in the area where there weren’t many Jews … I moved to the Westin and faced anti-Semitism as an elementary school student,” he said. At first, he didn’t even recognize it for what it was. “I didn’t think of it as hate, I thought of it as shame,” Spielberg explained. It wasn’t just an occasional hit here and there – it was real aggression. “They succeeded with enough scolding and harassment to make me ashamed of being a Jew.”

For Spielberg, the bullying didn’t just sting, it left a scar. He grew up feeling like an outcast, isolated from his peers. And when I was a child, that feeling was even deeper. “I almost felt like an outcast,” he admitted. It was only much later that he fully understood the damage of these early experiences. “I realized that bullying is a very widespread tool to make others feel empowered,” he said, adding that others’ “power trips” made him feel small.

Despite the painful memories, Spielberg reflected pride in his legacy. “It’s something that I had no control over and something that inside me, I’ve always been very proud of — to be Jewish,” he said. This pride ultimately fueled much of his later work, particularly his exploration of hatred and its devastating effects.

As fate would have it, Spielberg teamed up with director Alex Gibney for Why We Hate, a powerful Discovery Channel series that delves into the emotion of hate. Spielberg’s experience with hate adds a raw, fundamental layer to the show. He shared one of the most poignant insights from the show, where he talked about the “banality of evil” and how hate can be normalized to the point where atrocities like the Holocaust can seem routine. “It was a business of death,” Spielberg reflected, recalling how the Holocaust unfolded with the same efficiency as a factory assembly line.

What Spielberg hopes viewers take away from the series is the simple but powerful message that hate can never be normalized. “I’d like every episode to end with hope,” he said, stressing that the show isn’t just about condemning hate. “There is a middle ground,” he pointed out. “I hope people will see that the middle ground happens to be about one thing — creating conversations.” These conversations, Spielberg believes, can unite us by focusing on what we share, not what divides us.

In a world where hatred often feels insurmountable, Spielberg’s journey from bullied outsider to global icon proves that hope and dialogue are powerful tools for change. The message of Why We Hate is clear: let’s talk, share our stories and understand each other before hate takes over.

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