Oh No, Jerry

Seinfeld is saying that PC is ruining comedy. All I hear is "yada, yada..."

Popular comedian Jerry Seinfeld has entered the so-called “culture wars.”

In an interview publicizing an upcoming movie, he railed against what he sees as political sensibilities neutering comedy.

He complained that bits from his “Seinfeld” series wouldn’t be acceptable today.

As an example, he cited one of Kramer’s hairbrained schemes to make money by having “homeless people pull rickshaws” because “they’re outside anyway.” Seinfeld asked the interviewer, “Do you think I could get that episode on the air today?”

He bemoaned the lack of network television sitcoms, saying past shows like “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” "MASH," “Cheers” and “All in the Family were comforting, and made people feel better by making them laugh.

The reason he thinks so few sitcoms are on network television:

“This is the result of the extreme left and P.C. crap, and people worrying so much about offending other people.”

Seinfeld’s assessments were applauded by the right. Elon Musk and Sean Hannity, and others lauded Seinfeld’s comments.

Seinfeld’s comments are interesting for a number of reasons.

First, few people would ever accuse him of being edgy. While his television show may have had controversial bits like the homeless people idea, Seinfeld’s observational stand-up comedy might be seen at best benign, at worse banal.

Secondly, he cites his friend and fellow Seinfeld TV show producer Larry David’s television show “Curb Your Enthusiasm” as an exception to PC control because of David’s age, saying David “has been grandfathered in because he was doing this kind of comedy before the rules were made.”

Seinfeld’s perception of what kind of comedy is and should be acceptable is faulty.

Take “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “All in the Family.”

The fictionalized Larry David from “Curb” and Archie Bunker from “All in the Family” were non-sympathetic lead characters (not unlike the three principal characters on Seinfeld’s TV show).

Larry’s character was often self-absorbed and cynical but didn’t recognize the same faults he saw in everyone else.

Archie was a bigot and misogynist who railed against modern times, wanting life to return to the Good Old Days referenced in the show’s theme song.

Both characters were reflective of today’s societal ills.

Larry is selfish and meanspirited and projects his shortcoming onto others.

Archie doesn’t realize that he is a bigot. He thinks that the way he feels is the way things are. When he gets his comeuppance in every episode, he believes his travails don’t reflect on him, but demonstrate how much society has changed for the worse.

Given his comments, Jerry Seinfeld seems a lot like Archie Bunker.

He doesn’t seem to understand that racist and sexist humor should never be “acceptable.”

He doesn’t grasp that what one person’s finds amusing is offensive to another. People will always disagree about what is and isn’t offensive.

Some people were offended by “All in The Family” because Archie was a bigot who made racially and ethnically offensive comments, but Archie’s worldview was always proven to be wrong, and the audience was always in on the “joke.”

Conservatives hated M*A*S*H because it was an anti-war show and bigoted, right-wing characters like Frank Burns were always the butt of jokes. (Frank’s classic line of “Unless we follow our leaders blindly, there is no possible way we can remain free” resonates greatly today).

There have always been comedians who believe that it is their duty to be edgy and controversial.

While some deem certain comedy to be “edgy and controversial,” others would say that the same comedy is “cruel and mean spirited.”

The comedian Richard Pryor was offensive to many.

He offended people with his crude, colorful language.

He offended some people with his frequent use of the N-word.

But Pryor’s comedy was rude or raunchy for its own sake.

Pryor’s comedy was masterful in the way he presented a different kind of observational humor.

His routines reflected the differences in perception between Blacks and Whites, societal bigotry and racism, and how Blacks struggle to maintain our dignity and self-control while living as oppressed people.

Unlike Pryor, many comedians use or have used their comedic platforms to espouse racist, sexist, homophobic views.

Seinfeld needs to understand that there’s nothing “politically correct” about being open-minded and tolerant.

In America, anyone can choose to be close-minded and bigoted, but only one race regularly gets away with it.

Freedom comes with responsibility, and one responsibility of living in a free society is being compassionate and considerate about people that aren’t like you.

Being free isn’t a hall pass to act like a jackass.

Being a comedian isn’t a hall pass, either.