The people we might call the Too Much Free Timers (TMFTs) are at it again. Having decided that the comedian Kevin Hart is unfit to host the Oscars, because of his old tweets about gay people, they have now moved on to the iconic Seinfeld. According to an article in Bustle, the classic sitcom is full of ‘problematic’ content.
They have pointed to the famous Soup Nazi scene, some stereotyping of gay people in the show, and the episode where Jerry buys an old-fashioned Indian cigar stand, which is offensive to Native Americans. The joke was actually about the excesses of political correctness. I would say, oh the irony – except TMFTs don’t do irony.
If anything, they’re not trying hard enough. Any obsessive Seinfeld fan knows there is far more to get upset about, if you wanted to, like the fat-shaming (Newman), the punching down on the working class (postmen, cable guys, telemarketing services), and the ageism (George’s screaming and neurotic parents).
How this show ever got aired at all is the real problematic problem. Though maybe, just maybe, it was because it was funny.
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I wonder if these latter-day critics will move on to other landmark comedy series. The very woke and wonderful Tina Fey and her show 30 Rock surely deserve scrutiny. After all, she would sometimes point out the foibles of the left, with characters like the pompous black American senator who thinks she is channeling Martin Luther King, or the washed-up alcoholic feminist writer, played brilliantly by Carrie Fisher.
Arrested Development, the early 2000s cult hit starring Jason Bateman, could also be in for trouble. The sexually confused character Tobias Funke (played by David Cross) plays out just about every gay stereotype imaginable as he tries to come to terms with his sexuality.
This sort of critique is not only irritating, it is very selective too. Seinfeld also mocked big business (Kruger Industrial Smoothing), male vanity (George gets a wig), and male emotional detachment (Jerry’s production line of relationships). But none of this gets a mention.
