can i order specific Seinfeld episodes on tape?

can i order specific Seinfeld episodes on tape?

there are a few especially racist episodes i want to keep for my records.

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Subject: NBC "Seinfeld" ridicules Japanese men, Thurs, Nov 7., 1996

    >
    > Tomoyuki,
    >      I just saw "Seinfeld" on NBC (9 PM EST).  It should
    > be on at 9 your time too.  There are 3 Japanese tourists
    > portrayed.  All small, barely understandable, bowing every
    > 10 seconds, and at one point, reside with Kramer and sleep
    > in his dresser drawers.  Very patronizing, let me know what
    > you think of it if you get a chance to see it.
    >

i watched it, by chance. i found it utterly disgusting.

my main observations. ...

1.  general popular American understanding of Japan has not
        advanced/changed since the 1960s, from the time
        of "Breakfast at Tiffany's".

• the Japz-Am guy in Fargo was much less offensive because it wasn't the same old stereotype.

the interesting question is, ...
        WHY would "Seinfeld" NEVER ridicule Africans, blacks (black
        Americans), Latinos, Chicanos, Japanese-Americans,
        Chinese-Americans, Frenchmen, German men, ...  the way
        "Seinfeld" ridiculed Japanese men in that episode?

NBC seems most racist (anti-Asian) of the three networks. (see below for some examples.)

does anyone know why?

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Subject:      NBC Dateline (Charles Ng and Han Twins)

didn't see the one on Ng case. but saw the one on the Han trial.

in general i like those 20/20, 48 Hours, 60 Minutes, and such shows. and one thing is pretty obvious. NBC Dateline is consistently much less diverse, less PC (PC in a good sense), more Asiaphilic, more sensational, ... than the ABC and CBS ones.

does anyone know what's causing this?

In article ,

Tomoyuki Tanaka ([email]) wrote: :

[snip]

Um, doesn't Asiaphilic mean something along the lines of pro-Asian? How is this an example of NBC being anti-Asian?

Jedidiah Whitten wrote:

You are correct. An Asiaphile is someone who is friendly towards Asians and Asian culture. An Asiaphobe would be someone who is fearful of and/or hates Asian culture and folks.

The original poster is being both a bit of a knee-jerker towards portrayals of Asians on Seinfeld and the news shows -- hence the trolling of this thread into the Seinfeld newsgroup -- and incorrect in his use of vocabulary. I assume he meant that NBC is more Asiaphobic than the others (otherwise his entire argument makes no sense). Since I assume he's not a complete and utter moron, I will for assume it's a case of mislabeling.

I have friends here in Taiwan who no longer watch Seinfeld (we're on the fourth season now thanks to the wonders of syndication) because they were insulted by the Chinese Restraunt episode (which I missed). Seinfeld does seem to treat characters belonging to various ethnic groups according to stereotypes than one might expect in this age of PCness -- notice the valet in the Smelly Car episode looks decidedly non-Caucasion. Some of these can be forgiven due to shorthand characterization found in sitcoms (I've seen some pretty racist portrayals of "foreigners" on TV in Taiwan and Hong Kong as well). The Japanese have pretty ethnocentric rules and habits which go far beyond the typical "American" xenophobia too. Given Seinfeld's obvious faults, I don't think they intended to insult . . . they were just very good at ticking off various ethnic, social, and sexual groups over the years (hell, even Disney's megahits have managed to do that). For a show about nothing, a lot of folks certainly have taken a lot of offence with the nothing Seinfeld's said over the years (however, even more have enjoyed the series and not taken imagined slights to heart).

Peace,
Brian David Phillips           [Meiguo Langren Zai Taibei]
[email]   [An American Werewolf in Taipei]
ICQ 5780689             [http://wwp.mirabilis.com/5780689]
    Interactive Theatre, Improvisational Theatre Games
   EFL Teaching, Hypnosis, 3D Stereophotography, Tarot
  Game Design, Literature & Film, and Other Strangeness
          http://phillips.personal.nccu.edu.tw/

Brian David Phillips wrote: <snip>. The

Yep, I was just talking to a friend of my son's who went to Japan to perform with her school orchestra. She was shocked at the discrimination she suffered. Oh by the way part of the shock is that they are friends because they study Karate together and have met many Asian instructors and work out with Asian friends. During the stay many of the girls went into dress shops to try on clothes to purchase - only the Asian girls were allowed to try on the clothes - the others were treated as 'dirty'.

It was a shock to these teenagers because they go to a school of very mixed races and learn to live together and fight racism.

I am not saying it is therefore right to return the prejudice. But it shows what a long way we have come in Canada to accept people from around the world.

So what does this have to do with Seinfeld. - NOTHING and that's the point.

Tomoyuki Tanaka wrote:

Why don't you publish this in ALT.TV.NBC?

If you are still targetting Seinfeld have you recently boycotted SONY who own Columbia TriStar that produces Seinfeld? You hypocritical schmuck!

If anything, Seinfeld does a terrible job of portraying Jews. Why are Jewish parents on mostsit-coms, overbearing loud-mouths?

I'm Jewish and that sounds exactly like my parents

Tomoyuki Tanaka ([email]) wrote: : :

:

You're a funny guy.

You must never have watched the show. If you're that thin-skinned, the show has probably ridiculed people in all of the above groups. I haven't seen very many Seinfeld shows, but I can tell you Japanese have not been singled out. Latinos, for example. There have been some huge protests lately because in a recent episode Kramer accidentally set fire to a Puerto Rican flag.

Some people have way too much free time. Do you think you would get bent out of shape if you saw a show where someone accidentally set fire to a California flag? Probably not. Amazing, there are people on this planet easier to offend than Tanaka-don't-call-me-san.