Jerry mean-spirited??

Jerry's performance on Letterman was an odd one. It seems like he is trying a bit too hard with the mean jokes about the Subway guy (who, by the way, was on a strict diet of veggie hoagies, not meatball heroes!). And what was the deal with discussing "balls"??

Yeah, I noticed that too. But there is a precedent--he's used "fat jokes" a number of other times, including in the series. In fact, the Seinfeld series finale was particularly mean-spirited, in part because of them laughing at the overweight man being robbed. (A big part of that episode's nasty feel was also due to Elaine acting extremely shrewish, however.) 'Course, they were supposed to be mean in that incident, since it led to their conviction.

I think it's usually more acceptable for comedians to joke about their *own* problems. Jerry is fairly thin, and he comes off a bit cruel when he makes fun of overweight people. It's like a white comedian insulting African-Americans; I suspect it doesn't go over well in many areas....

John Twernbold wrote in message ...

Jerry 'used to be fairly thin'. During the bit on Letterman, he looked to be almost straight line from shoulder to hip... kinda like the bottom half of a Coors bottle.

homerr.. bachelor#3

John Twernbold wrote:

His monolog in the middle of "The Trip" is also pretty mean and, to me, unwarranted.

"Seems to me that the closest thing we have to Royalty in America are the people that get to ride in those little carts through the airport. Don't you hate these things? They come out of nowhere; Beep Beep, cart people, look out, cart people! Look out! We all scurry out of the way like worthless peasants. Oooh! It's cart people! I hope we didn't slow you down. Wave to the cart people, Timmy, they're the best people in the world. Ya know, if you're too fat, slow and disoriented to get to your gate on time, you're not ready for air travel. The other people I hate are the people that get on to the moving walkway and then just stand there. Like it's a ride? Excuse me, there's no animated pirates or bears along the way here. Do your legs work at all?"

For one, it's just nasty. And if you think about what he's bitching about, you realize how wrong he is. For the most part, fat slow or disoriented doesn't enter into whether you get to use an airport cart or not. It's got more to do with whether you're physically able to get to where you're going. Would he make the same rude remarks about a wheelchair bound person who gets to cut to the front of the lines at the rides at Disney World? Haven't they suffered enough?

But then, it's not above them to make fun of handicapped people. And as for the moving walkway, if you've never used one, you might easily assume moving walkway etiquette mirrors escalator etiquette. Walking/climbing the stairs is optional depending on what kind of hurry you're in, or how pushy the people behind you are.

I suppose I consider the monologues to be Jerry's own personal opinions, while mean spirited jokes written into the scripts are for the characters, not the actors. For that reason, snide comments in the monologs annoy me more than equally snide comments (or moreso) within episodes.

Jesus people, lighten up, it's comedy. Aren't you the same people who are fans of the show... where everybody and everything is made fun of? It's all to be taken with a grain of salt...

Dave wrote in message news:[email]...

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Yes. Mean-spirited comedy.

For the most part, yes, but every so often an extra word creeps into a snide comment that rubs me the wrong way. In the example below, 'fat' did not need to be there. 'Slow and disoriented' would have covered it.

Again, I tend to view the material within the monologs a little differently than I view the episode dialog.

"Nick, Loralie, Abbey and Lola" wrote:

No kidding!! If people think Jerry Seinfeld is a 'mean spirited' comedian then they haven't listened to MOST COMEDIANS!!!

BJB

Or maybe his observation coincides with mine: the number of healthy pushy people who wrangle a ride on those royal carts outnumbers the handicapped riders by about 20 to 1.

On Sun, 25 Mar 2001 19:37:16 -0500, Dave wrote:

I thought that was one of the funniest of his monologues. I love that one.

Jamie "Dave" wrote in message news:[email]...

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