Full disclosure, I am not a fan of Jerry Seinfeld the person. I find his misanthrope schtick grating enough that it finally stopped me from watching Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. But there is no arguing the man is one of the great stand-ups of all time and Seinfeld the show is always going to be in the discussion for GOAT sitcoms. That said, I am not sure if my distaste for him personally is coloring my reaction to this article in Variety, or if I am genuinely annoyed by the presence of a 70-year-old bazillionaire bemoaning the shift in an industry that afforded him such wealth and status.
Anytime someone prattles on about "woke" and "PC" culture getting in their way, it sounds tone-deaf to me. What are your thoughts? https://variety.com/2024/film/news/jerry-seinfeld-pc-culture-extreme-lef...
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When was the last great sitcom that came on the air and stayed for a long period of time?
A lot of the great comedies that are on the air now have been for some time... it's like South Park is hilarious but it's also been on since the 90s. Same with Simpsons, Family Guy... Night Court was funny but it's also a reboot of an 80s sitcom.
Big Bang Theory had a huge audience but I can't think of a sitcom on a network that had true staying power in a long time.
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The "worrying so much about offending other people" mindset gets in the way sometimes, Tom Lapke. It's happened to me when I wrote scripts, and it kept me from writing some great stuff. I don't let that hold me back anymore. I write what I write.
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I think it’s really simple to understand… The hidden link between beliefs and our identity has been linked.
One key concept is that of “belief perseverance,” which explains that people’s egos tend to cling to their beliefs usually when often presented with evidence/ideas that contrary to them and their identity. Anything that’s opposite of what a person stands for… Becomes a threat. Imagined or perceived.
it is really simple to understand and is related to cognitive dissonance, where holding conflicting beliefs or attitudes causes discomfort internally. When people hang onto their beliefs, extremely harshly, they suffer internally. It’s really quite simple.
When people’s deeply held beliefs are challenged, areas of our brain is associated with processing the very threats (Perceived or imagined) and negative emotions can become active.
This suggests that challenging someone’s beliefs can be perceived by the brain as a threat to their very identity, often triggering a defensive response. Which triggers their very identity and everything they stand for.
One person’s light threatens another person’s shadow. This is why people find self-esteem, threatening, or any type of self actualization. If it’s perceived much higher than theirs.
People often identify with certain groups (ingroups) and may view those outside of their group (outgroups) as different or even as a threat Real or imagined. For every group that exist, there must be a drive to retain its membership. Because it will lose its members to the opposition and because it’s the survival of that very group Is It becomes under threat.
This ingroup-outgroup dynamic does contribute to the sense of identity being tied to specific beliefs, as beliefs can serve as markers of group membership. The more people you can get to follow a single idea from a single group strengthens that very group.
People won’t like other person because it merely triggers all their shadows…
So why waste any kind of energy, spinning, personal wheels of internal stress. This is not my two cents this is my $10 bill.
To quote Billy Joel “We didn’t start the fire. It was always burning….”
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If anyone thinks Jerry's overreacting, In Scotland, Edinbergh passed laws related to comedy criminalizing it as potential hate speech in 2020. They are supposedly going to be pushed even harder now. No joke. You can be thrown in jail or fined heavily for what comedians in the U.S. are doing all the time. Contrary to what Jerry says in that article, stand up is NOT immune to PC police. At least not in Scotland. Only a matter of time till this insanity makes it here.
I really hope every comedian scheduled to appear at the Edinbergh Fringe festival absolutely destroys this new legislation in their acts. It's utterly ridiculous.
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M LaVoie
Thank you for sincerely bringing this out, because; I think as someone who is a child of European parents, I think Americans truly forget how much freedom we really have to say what we say.
I've only seen a few "Comedians In Cars..." and can't recall finding humor in any of them but outside that, I've not had a glimpse into Jerry's persona until this article. Because I am a fan of the show, I've imposed the character onto Jerry the person so it never occurred to me he harbored the sentiment expressed in the article and I am very disappointed. I think you've articulated the disconnect very well. But I guess there's room in the Woods, Baio, Sorbo, Caviezel, Kid Rock, Nugent, and Rock camp for him.
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I have to agree with Mr. Seinfeld.The only comedic freedom these days is on the stage. But is that really the issue? Is it so bad that we are more culturally aware than we were 10, 15 or 20 years ago? I hope not. Remember, “Seinfeld” gave us the memorable phrase, “Not that there’s anything wrong with that.”
Times have changed, and as leaders of the creative community, it’s our job to embrace that change.
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I love JS and all his work but I think he is getting it wrong in a way, or at least the writer of the article is interpreting his words wrong. I think we have a lot more options to get our comedy fix. Netflix doesn't have any issues with comedians having to be PC for sure! I think our "TV" culture has changed. And for sure TV exec's don't want to mess with "PC" but they never really did. I gotta say that Sienfeld the show was quite non "PC" on some shows. And we probably wouldn't do the same stuff anymore which is a bit sad in a way but maybe it's time we figured out how to be funny, free, and not offend a selected group of people because they are different and that makes them funny for some reason. Our sense of humour needs an update? Poking fun at people is not funny? Or is it? Having been at both ends of the stick, the only one not really laughing is the one who is being laughed about (most of the time) but then again it's fun to get roasted sometimes too.
Yes, except for the few comedians with enough money to weather the woke community Jerry is correct.
No, because his argument doesn't make sense. Besides the fact that there is no extreme left, or at least in the way he is describing. I think since more and more unheard voices from minorities and LGBT people are becoming more heard, and the general society is finding more unity and sympathy for them that people no longer find his jokes funny, and for certain people never found him funny in the first place.
Or at least people no longer find jokes that punch down cleaver or amusing, people see it more as bullying already vulnerable groups of people.
And more points against him is the fact that there are plenty of comedians who are left wing, and engage what he calls "pc culture" that are successful and hilarious. John Oliver, John Stewart, Trevor Noah, Roy Wood Junior, John Mulaney, Bo Burnham just to name a few all found great success, and in general don't offend anyone.
It really seems to me that Jerry is just stuck in the past, he could easily adjust his jokes so they could work in today's world but he is unable or unwilling to move on.
Just watched Unfrosted. I think Jerry's rant is so we believe that the reason Unfrosted is so cringey is because he was given too many notes by execs. The first 10 minutes are unbearable. Yes it gets better but you do have to suffer for it.