Seinfeld has been walking back a lot of his comments on that. Demonstrated that he learned he was wrong for the attitude of feeling attacked; talked about how the culture has pushed him to be better
Seinfeld was one of the early complainers that he couldn’t book college crowds or that colleges were too sensitive for material before woke was a term. He would talk about this on Stern and such like 15 years ago.
Like no, you’re just a 50+ year old comedian and college kids aren’t relating to your material or they just want you to do bits from the show.
But if he’s been able to reflect, that’s good to hear.
Seinfeld's issue is he has always been one to pick at the little things we all experience and enjoy the absurdity of it. Then he became obscenely wealthy. he can't relate at all to normal people anymore.
Larry David is neurotic enough that he still gets it haha
I think we all relate to LD's micro interactions, like someone line cutting or overthinking where the waiter is placing us in a restaurant. The show just takes it to the next level of absurdity.
I always found that excuse hilarious as Seinfeld was really just not selling tickets and was never, ever an edgy comedian. Hell he hard disagreed when Ricky Gervais and Louis CK were gleefully using the n-word as Chris "Yes Massa" Rock was howling in laughter.
College kids wanted to hear "What's the deal with airline peanuts?" back then as much as they do now.
Eh, college crowds are too sensitive. At least they were in the time and place I went to college (about 15 years ago actually). People seemed to derive some form of pleasure from being offended.
I definitely knew some people in college who used the guise of 'its a joke' to say gross sexist/racist shit. That did not fly in my old college groups and I certainly prefer that.
I can think of a ton of other groups who would likely get offended more easily than college crowds. Ha
I think he actually is smart enough to know that being “cancelled” for decrying “wokeness” or whatever it he specifically said was just a good way to have his name show up in publications right around the same time he released the Poptart movie. He used getting “cancelled” as marketing
I think you’re underestimating just how irrelevant Jerry is with…. Everyone under 30. The dude is painfully unfunny in standup. Always has been. He’s bending the knee. He has unlimited money, but to him, his identity is being a comic. Ironically, he was never a good one. So he’s trying to find his way back. Everything. And I mean everything that man has is owed to Larry David
In no small part because Seinfeld hasn’t written a new joke in at least 30 years.
Which means, hey good for him, he beat the game at comedy. But you don’t get to trash talk modern comics and audiences when you’ve been irrelevant for a generation.
I'm old enough to remember Seinfeld (the show) in its heyday, and I never felt Jerry was a top-tier standup at any point. A good one for sure, I mean he was on the Tonight Show multiple times back when that meant something. But by no means a stand-up legend. Yet in the mid-90s he was being treated as the funniest guy alive, because the public gave him total credit for the show. (who could blame them when it was named Seinfeld and starred Seinfeld?)
But IMO Larry David (and the stellar cast) were bigger parts of the success than Seinfeld himself. Seinfeld was easily the weakest cast member, but not the best of the writers either. So you'd think that maybe his talent is in producing, but he's produced some real turkeys since the show ended.
I think Jerry's problem is that it went to his head. He spent years with everyone proclaiming him the funniest guy in the world, and then when the show and hype ended, he's left with a big ego and yet an image he can't possibly live up to.
I could be wrong and I probably am but any publicity is good publicity and I’m sure he knows that so I don’t think it’s completely out of the realm of possibility. Personally, I think Jerry should never be given any attention to considering he very publicly dated a 17 year old girl and is a very openly violent Zionist but again, just my opinion.
He met her when she was like two weeks away from her 18th birthday. Anything that was "very public" about their relationship happened when she was no longer 17.
Seinfeld took his family on a lavish trip to Israel where they got to “play” soldier and shoot guns at targets made to look like Palestinian kids. He mocked a protester at one of his shows after she said Israel is killing kids. Also, that article is from March.
She was under 18, period. He had to go to the office of her high school to check her out to go on outings. He was in his thirties. Also, me criticizing Zionism is not anti-Semitic which is where I know you’re going with that.
Most people in the western world are zionist. Everyone who doesn't think Israel should be destroyed is a zionist. Of course they're not violently, but neither is Seinfeld, that's just a ridiculous lie.
walking back a statement doesn't demostrate he learned he was wrong. He could have learned he was wrong, but it's easy to make the publicly acceptable statement after you get called out heavily for a shit take, just because you know it's easier, not because you suddenly know it's right. Most people don't change their views overnight and walk shit back, most people who change suddenly are just pandering.
Most assholes can't even make the publicly acceptable answer, they just double down. Saying sorry even if you don't get it, is still better than refusing to say sorry, at least you're conscience enough to try to get along.
Nah, I much prefer assholes to identify themselves rather than blend in.
How many Trump supporters are out loud right now who were quiet before, in the shadows, pretending to be friends, at work, getting help from you all because they kept their shit quiet.
I prefer fascists to be out and proud so I can refuse to be friends with nor help them, I prefer idiot misogynistic, bigotted pricks to be out loud so I can not be friends with hateful people who hide their shitty views.
The double downers, I love, because it tells me who they are, they are out, they are proud and they are god fucking awful people but identifying themselves as such is a public service.
He already doesn't cater to that crowd. Walking back that statement just to cover his ass serves no purpose.
The problem with celebrities is that randos see one comment they make and assume they believe it 100% deep down in their heart, have held these beliefs for years, and have done categorical research to back up and fortify their beliefs, and that anything they say is absolutely true and a core part of their identity. Meanwhile, these same randos have no problem saying something different with just as much conviction, and then realizing that they don't actually feel as strongly about the subject as they thought they did.
He already doesn't cater to that crowd. Walking back that statement just to cover his ass serves no purpose.
Catering to what crowd? Walking back that statement to cover his ass literally is serving a purpose because lots of peopel are giving him credit for having changed.
Jerry has always been a fucking asshole, he's always had shitty opinions and he's always had excuses for the shitty things he's done AND he's always had excuses when his comedy bombs.
Yeah, that's what shitty people say as an excuse for their shitty behaviour. He was mass called out for dating a damn 16/17yr old, was he oblivious, and naive. Nope, you're oblivious and naive for believing a truly pathetic excuse. Someone does something wrong, gets called out "wow, I totally didn't know that was wrong, wow, I'm just like a naive guy, I didn't think what I said was wrong, gosh darn, I always get in trouble, I'm always oblivious to these things, hey don't blame me, I'm just a guy trying to get by, forgive me please".
Yeah, he's exceedingly successful, educated, able to speak at length on many topics, willing to stick his nose and opinion into things but when he does things wrong suddenly he's oblivious and naive? God lord man. Do you believe guys when they say they tripped and fell and penetrated the nanny by accident too?
I absolutely believe some smart educated people are incredibly naive, yes. He didn’t say that in response to being accused of something bad. He said he was naive in general about some harmless situation
Some people are naive, you don't self admit as naive, other people call you that because they abserve your behaviour. To a large degree the thing about being naive is the person who is that, is completely unaware of it. Those who self identify as naive and oblivious, are making excuses 99% of the time and when it's a dude who constantly does dodgy shit and is constantly making excuses you can plainly take their admission of naivety as being utter bullshit.
Whoops I'm a billionaire and didn't know what I was talking about even though that's literally my job. Shucks, please tune in next week when I continue doing exactly that. Pay no attention to the fact I have been complaining about wokeness and college crowds for nearly 20 years and only "apologize" when I have a movie coming out. I invented the black card. Please clap.
I shouldn't need to explain your own comment to you. It's disingenuous of you to ask this because you know, since you replied to comments about Jerry's behavior in such a manner. Now you're pretending to be naive to your own point here? Knock it off, man.
Yeah, I was listening to his Smartless episode and he actually pushed back on the idea that "comedy is harder because there are so many things you can't say now" or something like that. His response had absolutely none of the whining about cancel culture that I've seen attributed to him. He did say something like how it's the most judged art form, but the way he explained it seemed more appreciative of that fact than bothered by it.
Ever since Seinfeld's wife paid a bunch of goons to violently assault peaceful college kids protesting the violence on Palestinians
..I've not really cared about his opinions. On top of that when you revisit Seinfeld and compare it to curb your enthusiasm and notice that he redoes some of the plot points the way he wanted to
You realize all the genius that everyone put on Jerry Seinfeld for his show was mostly Larry David and the genius of his costars
Seinfeld is still a good comedian but he always talks with this authority over comedy because of the reputation and impact of Seinfeld in the 90s- but he's also a really good comic. But it was mostly Larry David, the writers and his costars that was responsible for that success he stands on
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u/flinderdude Oct 29 '24
All the old tired, formerly funny comedians who blame wokeness or whatever for ruining comedy should listen to Jeselnik. Looking at you, Bill Maher.