Jerry Seinfeld is just trying to promote Unfrosted, his new movie about Pop-Tarts, but he’s stirring up a lot of heat instead, railing against “the extreme left and P.C. crap” in a recent New Yorker interview.
The part getting the backlash is here, on video.
He started complaining like this years ago, when he gave up performing at colleges. The college crowds were too politically correct, he said.
I never understood this complaint. I’ve told ribald stories at colleges regularly since he started with these complaints, and I’ve offended no one.
Now, I’m not saying I know more than Jerry Seinfeld. He’s the undisputed master of the craft. He knows as well as I do that as long as your heart is in the right place, and the target of your joke is deserving, you can joke about anything.
Still, everyone is piling on. They’re making fun of him for being out of touch, for not knowing how streaming TV works, as in this meme, or for being an obscenely rich old man, as Gary Gulman did in his latest special, Born on 3rd Base.
Stand-up comic and noted roaster Andy Kindler doesn’t think Seinfeld is angry at P.C. culture at large. He thinks he’s just upset that people didn’t like his “gay French King” bit ten years ago. Seinfeld has mentioned it several times, including on Late Night with Seth Meyers.
Something else is going on. As a comedy institution for decades, Seinfeld has been the conduit through which we’ve realized so many of life’s little absurdities. His stock in trade, observational comedy, relies on one thing: relatability.
He may not admit it, but his real concern is not P.C. culture or offending people. Does he really think people are offended by his jokes? He’s the cleanest comedian in the world. He offends no one.
His problem is that he’s losing his connection with audiences, and he can feel it. They can’t relate to him like they used to. The vast majority of them aren’t like him. They aren’t billionaires. They aren’t old men. They haven’t been world famous since the 1980s.
Almost no one can relate to Seinfeld’s life experience. He’s the elite of the elite. It stands to figure that once in a while he might sense a little distance between him and the audience. And, naturally, he doesn’t like it.
As for me, I’m excited for the Pop-Tarts movie.
Two quick thoughts, if I may:
I think John Mulvaney manages to make his unrelatable life experience ("drug-addled super-celebrity with famous friends") both funny and relatable in his recent special. I agree with you about Seinfeld, and can't put my finger on what the difference is -- but Mulvaney pulls it off, Jerry, less so.
AND -- that said, Jerry's got his Pop Tarts movie to promote -- and, boy oh boy, he's certainly getting a lot of publicity. Maybe this grumpy old man schtick is masterful Barnum-like PR???
Thanks as always for all the great info!
Oh? When is the Pop-Tart movie popping up in theaters? I just saw Seinfeld in concert last year and everyone laughed their heads off. It wasn't a college campus, it was the Adler Theater in downtown Davenport, Iowa, two blocks from the Palmer College of Chiropractic. That place is a real head-turner. I'm hoping Wayne is right in his interpretation and it's about the layers of script approval. Based on the humor I hear on the Netflix is a Joke Sirius channel, it doesn't seem like anyone is taming down their material. "Woke" seems easy to pick on these days. It's a shame.