Just caught the 11/02/93 episode where Jerry and George are accused of being gay. Too funny! I guess its sweeps month. But, What's the deal with the constant "Not that there's anything wrong with that" that always comes after any reference to homosexuality? Is this merely for laughs, or could it be NBC's way of protecting itself from backlashes by pesky special-interest groups?? Huh?, do we see an ulterior motive here?
Hello? Anybody out there???
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To me, this was funny cause of the underlying hypocrisy. Seinfeld or Kramer or someone would say something that would indicate that they are obviously uncomfortable with being labelled as gay, or that one of their friends or relatives might be gay, and then say "not that there's anything wrong with that" in an attempt to reassure themselves and each other that it's not really a big deal, despite all the fuss they are making about it. I think this reflects heterosexual society as a whole in America right now, as heterosexuals realize that feeling threatened by the fact that gay people exist is irrational, and when, after a moments thought, can say "there's nothing wrong with it," but still the initial gut reaction is negative. In a way this is similar to racism, because until you have close friends that are not of your race or sexual orientation, and attempt to understand their differences, they will always be an unknown, and people tend to fear the unknown.
So the characters on the show were fumbling and struggling with gaydom, just as millions of heterosexual americans are struggling and fumbling with it at the moment....
IMHO, of course. I apologize for the unclear wording in the above. Please no homophobic or religious flames. If you must flame, do it by email, where I can safely dispose of it.
I think that Jerry and George could genuinely support homosexuality as a choice and still not want to be labeled homosexual themselves. Being outed would probably make it harder for them to date women. George has enough trouble as it is.
Note that the original posting came from Washington, D.C. It's standard in many countries other than the U.S. to write the month second, and the day-of-the-month first, so you should interpret it as 2/11/93.
In most of the world 11/02/93 means February 11, 1993. Only Americans (I think) translate it to November 02, 1992. Since the poster posted from Canada, there's no confusion.
What do you think? They're killing two birds with one stone. They make it funny and by the same token, cover their behinds from backlashes by those idiotic people who advocate gays in the military. I wonder what Rush Limbaugh has to say about this?
I agree, I think they're trying to poke fun at the fact that so many special- interest groups would love to jump down their throat for the homosexual references, all the while trying to egg them on. The fact that they used the line "Not that there's anything wrong with that" so often seems to suggest that they're taking a jab at the SIGs by over doing it...
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The episode was very careful not to offend anyone. We're living in a hypersensitive age where attention must be paid to political correctness.
"The Outing" was not only dealing with putting an end to rumors that Jerry and his best friend and the show's executive producer and real-life George Castanza, Larry David, are lovers but also about the presumptionsWE all make about other people,just because they're single, or thin, or neat, or Jerry Seinfeld, or whatever.
I think you missed the boat on this one. I doubt that any gay people who watch the show would be the least bit offended by this show even without the NTTAWWT's. The show has had an astonishing amount of understanding of gay people. Being 'outed' is something that many gay people fear, and that's because of the many people who think there IS something wrong with that. So if it's hard for someone who's 'in', someone who's not in wouldn't want to be outed, even though there's nothing wrong with that.
I found the phrase a direct poke at political correctness and not a "paying attention to so as not to offend". Some of the references to that phrase (I'm not going to repeat it, it's well overdone) were so ludicrious (which made it funny) that I can't imagine anyone watching the show actually thinking the Seinfeld folks were actually trying to cover themselves.
Anyone who has ever heard Jerry being interviewed by Howard Stern would have no doubt to his preference for woman (to the point of using them). I find all references to Jerry possibly being gay because he hesitated when answering Barbara Walters about woman laughable. Face it folks, WaWa didn't get nothin' out of Jerry because she doesn't know how to pry (unlike Howard).