Is "Seinfeld" a racist show?
cgr...@rpslmc.edu
portrayal of minorities. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not the PC-type who's imagining insults around every corner, but
the racism thing seemed apparent after the episode a week or two ago about the parking lot/prostitution ring.
The only black guy I remember from the episode (I can't think of any other blacks in previous episodes)
was some "streetwise" dude who's jiving to rap music and slaps Kramer a high-5 when Kramer is walking down the street
dressed like a pimp. Then there's the mideastern parking attendant who's ripping people off and running prostitutes in cars in
the lot. Made me think of past episodes, such as the crazy Hispanic pool attendant, and Baboo and Poppy the "cute"
foreigners. Am I just remembering the bad stereotypes or am I on to something here? BTW, I do think Seinfeld is a terrific
show, so I'm not trying to badmouth it here, just curious as to what others think.
Craig Cavaliere
: Maybe this has been discussed before, but I was wondering if anyone else thought that the show was racist in its
To argue this point:
Mr. Morgan, George's boss, was not a stereotypical black male. Neither
are Sid the parking attendant or the manager at Monks, or Alec from the
Big Brother program. Nor was the black woman that worked with Elaine at
Pendant Publishing.
Not everyone on that show is the targe of racism.
Robert Sacks
they are portrayed on Seinfeld are rather demeaning - but then again I
can't think of too many admirable Anglo-American characters on the show
either.
pK
[bit about Seinfeld being possibly racist]
]Mr. Morgan, George's boss, was not a stereotypical black male. Neither
]are Sid the parking attendant or the manager at Monks, or Alec from the
]Big Brother program. Nor was the black woman that worked with Elaine at
]Pendant Publishing.
]
]Not everyone on that show is the targe of racism.
I think there are a lot of racial jokes on the show. But, they're all
pretty harmless and really funny. They play on the stereotypes people make,
since it is a show about "nothing" and everything people do in their normal
lives.
Besides, the characters are Jewish, aren't they? I'm recalling the episode
in which Jerry bought Elaine that cigar Indian and started doing that "How!"
talk and chanting and dancing in front of Elaine's Native American friend.
Jerry said something like "I don't get upset when people ask me which
direction Israel is in!" They make fun of themselves all the time.
pK
____________________________________
+kevin c welch
+http://www.vni.net/~kwelch/genesis/
DMiller822
lot was the only black to appear in Seinfeld.....the exterminator guy,
Kramer's lawyer, the Yankee's guy who George thinks looks like Sugar Ray,
other minority groups represented include Babu, the Soup Nazi, Chinese
Rest. guy, the blind guy. I'm sure there are many more, but I think this
goes to show that that wasn't the first instance in which a minority group
has been represented on the show.
Lisa Generette
stereotypes. But actually, there have been quite a few Black characters:
1)Remy and her dad -- George watched Breakfast at Tiffany's at there house
2)The guy who worked for the Yankees that George got fired
3)The other guy at George's job who supposedly looked like Sugar Ray Leonard
4)A slutty woman at the NYC Marathon Party who George tried to pick up
5)the Exterminator
6)The security guard who falls asleep on the job in George's chair
7)The guy who was hosing the sidewalk and got Elaine wet
8)The mean guy with the deep voice who works in the coffee shop
9)Kramer's girlfriend -- he meets her family after he fell asleep in the
tanning booth
10)Jackie Childs (aka Johnnie Cochran), Kramer's crooked lawyer
Yep, I see a few stereotypes being perpetuated!
Michael Dodd
Generette) wrote:
>I was thinking the same thing -- a lot of unfavorable racial/ethnic
>stereotypes. But actually, there have been quite a few Black characters:
>
>1)Remy and her dad -- George watched Breakfast at Tiffany's at there house
....
>10)Jackie Childs (aka Johnnie Cochran), Kramer's crooked lawyer
>
>Yep, I see a few stereotypes being perpetuated!
IMHO the topic of racism is being over used lately. This is a
dangerous course to follow. It reminds me of the boy who cried wolf.
If racism isn't truly there, don't speak of it. When racism exists
for real, THEN we need to Stamp it out and right the wrong. Over use
of the phrase is causing many people's senses to be dulled. It
appears now daily on the news, in newspapers, on the internet,
everywhere. And yet almost without exception the claims are smoke
screens, or just meant simply to shock. True racism exists, but
calling every allusion, reference, or anecdote racism is not doing any
cause justice.
Let's get past this petty discussion of a real issue. This is a
television comedy, meant to entertain, it is not a political forum,
just enjoy the show.
Flames to /dev/null:
------------------------------------------------------------
Mike Dodd do...@wilmington.net
219 Pershing Court 910/799-9453 bus. phone
Wilmington, NC 28412 (leave msg after 16:30EST)
J. Stuart
In regards to only stereotypes of minorities on the episodes, I have to
disagee. How about when George is in the book club and he was supposed to
read "Breakfast at Tiffany's" but decides to just watch the video? He
goes over to the house of the people who have it rented (whom he doesn't
know). They are an average American family, who happen to be black, and
are baffled at the idiotic behavior of George. I didn't think there was
anything stereotypical about the way the family was portrayed.
Robert Sacks
11) Sid, the guy who parks cars on Jerry's block.
12) One of the 2 policemen with contrasting views on whether or not it
is OK to drive 'head first' into a parking space.
13) The Haitian runner wh has to get up early for a big marathon race.
RFerrie
>On Wed, 17 Apr 1996 01:41:24 -0500, gener...@osu.edu (Lisa
>Generette) wrote:
>
Over use
>of the phrase is causing many people's senses to be dulled. It
>appears now daily on the news, in newspapers, on the internet,
>everywhere. And yet almost without exception the claims are smoke
>screens, or just meant simply to shock. True racism exists, but
>calling every allusion, reference, or anecdote racism is not doing any
>cause justice.
>
>Let's get past this petty discussion of a real issue. This is a
>television comedy, meant to entertain, it is not a political forum,
>just enjoy the show.
Good point. Too many people forget that almost all entertainment
is based on stereotypes, archetypes, cliches and the like.
(Note: this is not intended to defend modern-day "Buckwheating".
Keep reading) Virtually all entertainment characters are
classified as "the neurotic one" or "the ditzy one" or the
"control freak", etc. Extraordinarily few characters are all
good, so by extrapolation, it must be understood that some
minority characters will not be all good. Those who complain
that Babu is an offensive character, question why. He is a
hard-working, industrious individual. He, like everyone else on
the show, does a few goofy things. However, because he also has
an accent, some people target it as offensive. The people who
complain that the "Johnnie Cochrane"-type lawyer is offensive
overlook that (1) he's an allusion to Cochrane, and (2) he's an
African-American lawyer, hence presumably well-off, intelligent
and professional. The fact that he's fast-talking and a bit oily
relates to (1) above, and the lawyer stereotype.
Think about the show, and the Caucasian characters. Change the
skin tone of any of the characters, and give them an "ethnic"
accent - are they offensive then? Voila - there's my point.
Michael Dodd
Let's not forget - gays, older jewish people living in FL, feminists,
postal workers, lawyers, parents, old classmates, psychiatrists, cable
TV installers, Italians restaurant owners, jocks, dwarves, ... I
think the jokes have been evenly distributed
I think that part of humor is trying to mix in some widely held
beliefs and misconceptions, [or obviously outdated views], which are
not widely discussed. These groups are all poked fun at, but only
when the race of an individual is mentioned is it deemed going too
far. If you're looking for a fight, you don't have to look far in
comedy. A lot of people can be offended by humor. I don't think it's
time to start censoring because a few jokes don't sit well. The Irish
American, Scotish American, Italian American, Polish American,
Hispanic American, Chineese American, Japanese American as well as
others I might have forgotten have all suffered the same if not worse
treatment in the past. One thing we all have in common is we're all
American. Lighten up America.
Kirk Knutson
14) Alec (sp?) who volunteers for the big brother program.
J. Abernethy
The guy in the bakery in which Jerry waves to when they mutually eat
their "black and white" cookies.
Ricky D. Cash
>Also:
>14) Alec (sp?) who volunteers for the big brother program.
The beauty of the way Seinfield handles race is when Jerry attempts to
find out if one of his views happens to be racist. Most People in
Jerry's world outside of his profession quite naturally would be
white,with the occassional Black or asian or whatever. Being a person
who holds no malice in his heart for anyone Jerry would not know from
racisim. It's not a part of his makeup. For Pete's sake the man only
has 3 friends, He is white His friends are white, Who amongst you can
say any different.
Ricky in Louisiana
You don't have to tear someone else down, to build your self up.
love your neighbor as your self.
Bill Chan
>
> Msg-ID: <4kuct8$9...@cwis.campus.rpslmc.edu>
> Posted: 15 Apr 1996 20:51:52 GMT
>
> Maybe this has been discussed before, but I was wondering if anyone else
> thought that the show was racist in its
> portrayal of minorities. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not the PC-type
> who's imagining insults around every corner, but
> the racism thing seemed apparent after the episode a week or two ago
> about the parking lot/prostitution ring.
> The only black guy I remember from the episode (I can't think of any
> other blacks in previous episodes)
> was some "streetwise" dude who's jiving to rap music and slaps Kramer a
> high-5 when Kramer is walking down the street
> dressed like a pimp. Then there's the mideastern parking attendant who's
> ripping people off and running prostitutes in cars in
> the lot. Made me think of past episodes, such as the crazy Hispanic pool
> attendant, and Baboo and Poppy the "cute"
> foreigners. Am I just remembering the bad stereotypes or am I on to
> something here? BTW, I do think Seinfeld is a terrific
> show, so I'm not trying to badmouth it here, just curious as to what
> others think.
>
To qualify non racist, he can only restrict his jokes to the Jewish group.
This is trying to be Political correct!
Bill Chan
>
> Msg-ID: <4l13ub$7...@netnews.upenn.edu>
> References: <4l0l7f$t...@no-names.nerdc.ufl.edu>
> Posted: Tue, 16 Apr 96 21:40:56 GMT
>
> Org. : Dead Letter Office
Jerry once asked a Chinese POstman where is a good Chinese restaurant,
the Chinese guy blew up as to why they think the Chinese person
would have the knowledge? Infact Jerry is honoring him when asked
his opinion!
Gary Kline
[..snip..]
>
>Think about the show, and the Caucasian characters. Change the
>skin tone of any of the characters, and give them an "ethnic"
>accent - are they offensive then? Voila - there's my point.
Excellent point!
As soon as an ethnic minority is put in a comedy, someone has to jump the
gun and claim the production is racist. It's ridiculous. Just look at
Saturday Night Live in the days of Eddie Murphy! He poked fun at white
people like crazy. Did anyone say SNL was a racist show because of it?
Nope. In fact, Eddie also dissed his own race many times as well.
Where comedy is concerned, it's all shades of grey. Let's just laugh, OK?
-Gary K.
Stephen G. Demby
girl over the seat at the end of the couch is outrageous.Its George at his
childish best!!
S.Demby
Gary Kline
>In article <Pine.A32.3.92a.960417083618.@homer08.u.washington.edu>,
>"J. Stuart" <jst...@u.washington.edu> wrote:
In this episode, I have to say that George almost stooped to an all time low.
The only worse situation I can think of is when he knocked down women and
children to escape the "burning building", which turned out to be a small
grease fire on a stove. It was hysterical to see someone so self-centered and
pathetic, but to think of what he really did was just horrible. It took me a
while to start laughing at George again.
But yes, I couldn't get over how he behaved with that family. He manages to
convince them to let him watch the show at their home, a courtesy they really
didn't need to extend. And then he behaves like a total jerk, asking for
better snacks, hogging the best seat. Incredible! And for the family to
tolerate him as far as they did, showed amazing character. I think the episode
did a fine job of avoiding stereotypes.
-Gary K.
L.B. Peep
Bill Chan (Bill...@mindlink.bc.ca) wrote:
: Jerry once asked a Chinese POstman where is a good Chinese restaurant,
: the Chinese guy blew up as to why they think the Chinese person
: would have the knowledge? Infact Jerry is honoring him when asked
: his opinion!
Jerry did not know the postman was Chinese until AFTER he asked the
question. The postman was hunched over emptying a mail deposit box,
and his face was obscured until he looked up after the question.
Jerry asked him because he was a Postman -- figuring he would know the
neighborhood -- not because he was Chinese.
I agree that Jerry was honoring him in asking the question -- honoring
him as a competent postman.
Bo
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