Book(s) I should have Written.
There’s a couple of books that I said historically I was going to write. They are as follows. I wanted to write a book that was about how racist the show Seinfeld is. I love Seinfeld. I think it’s a brilliant show for a number of reasons. I think the way the episodes tie together in a way that is not anticipated is really great. I remember feeling this way about the Hot Tub episode. I remember being very impressed by how many things came together at the end. I thought the part with the short-circuiting due to the hot tub overheating was so well done. I remember thinking everything ties together so neatly without it being obvious at all how that will happen. This can be seen in Curb Your Enthusiasm and I suspect it is the doing of Larry David, who I think is the true mastermind behind Seinfeld, as is maybe evidenced by the weaker seasons that took place after Larry left the show after season 7. Seasons 8 and 9 are considered to have taken a step back in quality, though I must admit I like them. With Curb Your Enthusiasm, the way things tie together at the end became very formulaic, tired, and predictable.
Another thing I love about Seinfeld is how incredibly New York it is. I think the way Seinfeld has these NYC phenomena is absolutely unrivaled. There are so many completely niche New York City moments that Jerry hits out of the park.
Anyways, I always wanted to write a book about the racism that is prevalent throughout the show. I think racism is peppered throughout the show, and I wish I had written this book. I was not shocked when the incredibly racist Michael Richards outburst happened. I will be writing about this incident specifically in the future and the aftermath.
But I always wanted to systematically discuss the racism on Seinfeld; it is a show I respect and view as one of the Holy Grails of TV comedy, but it is laden with racism. I wish I’d written this book because it would serve so well at this moment when Jerry’s extreme racism and hatred is coming to the forefront. I’d have sold some book had I done that. Which is a lesson I’m publishing here so that I can finally learn it. Do the damn thing, immediately, always. The time is now. I will get into this Jerry Seinfeld and his racism more soon but here he is at a fantasy camp where visitors are able to simulate attacks on Palestine as part of the gameplay. (Ironically, this last sentence pushes something I’m going to do in the future. An ideal way to end a paragraph about doing things immediately always)
Admittedly, I do not know very much about the specifics, but I remember that the publication of this photo was very controversial and brought to light in an extreme way, something I’d always known. Jerry Seinfeld is an incredible racist. One thing that was awesome was that Jerry needed to take down this photo due to the backlash. I thought this was cool because there was a certain impunity it was posted with, thinking it would just be a cool family vacation photo to share with the internet.
Israeli military fantasy camp Caliber 3 posted pictures of Seinfeld's visit. “American comedian Jerry Seinfeld causes outrage among supporters of Palestinian rights after posing with machine guns at an Israeli military fantasy camp that simulates shooting Palestinians during a family holiday.”
The backlash was such that it has to be taken down; things like that are big for hugely entitled people. I am not a fan of Jerry’s personality at all. But I want to specifically say my reverence for what he has done in the world of comedy could not be higher. His stand-up comedy is not my style, and not my type. But his philosophy about many specters of comedy, his incredibly body of work, and the way he operates areas inspiring to me as the rest of his character is despicable.
I will write about another two blogs about two more books I wanted to write this week. I am convinced that I should either still write these books or publish some blogs about the topics. Maybe both. I will do wrote those blogs in the coming weeks as well.