Seinfeld - Genre & Social Norms

Although Seinfeld claims to be “the show about nothing,” its ridiculous success proves that the program strikes “something” with viewers. Seinfeld was set in New York, primarily the Upper West Side, starring Jerry Seinfeld as himself, a stand–up comedian, and his friends, George Costanza (Jason Alexander), Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards). After surviving mediocre ratings with the release of the first episode in 1989, Seinfeld became one of the most popular and influential sitcoms in television history expanding from a cult following to a national phenomenon. Seinfeld made its mark in American television with an original approach to the sitcom genre as well as reinforcing and rejecting social norms and American values.

            Larry David and Seinfeld (co-creators) took a modernist approach with the show, meaning they disproved previous models of the sitcom genre. Creating a show about “nothing,” the small daily activities, intricacies and difficulties of daily life, appealed to a mass audience because they could relate to its content. This “modern approach gave the producers more freedom to establish and create social norms, opposed to having to rely on repeatedly and solely reinforcing or rejecting previously existing norms” (Hoon). Aside from its absurd humor, this is one of the ways Seinfeld became so successful. Many shows in the industry began to follow this new model as David and Seinfeld gave themselves authority as cultural producers, and their show as a cultural text. Shows like The Office portray daily boring office tasks like making phone calls and filing paperwork with a similar level of bizarre humor as Seinfeld.

            In Seinfeld, there is no nuclear family. Former shows on television were almost always family or co-worker driven, but Seinfeld holds itself up as being a then-uncommon example of a sitcom where none of the characters were related by blood or worked in the same building or business. In fact, many characters were not employed at all. “The characters in Friends are an example of one of these variations on the nuclear family. However, in Seinfeld, while Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer are certainly a close-knit group of friends (they do practically everything together), the show frequently depicts them at odds with their own families, outside friends, and significant others” (Fitzgerald). Seinfeld’s characters never learn from their mistakes. The producers expressed this as the “no hugging, no learning” rule. Viewers are never meant to feel sad for anyone in the show, even when George’s fiancée Susan dies; no one shows any genuine emotions. As a result, the main characters are indifferent and callous toward the outside world and sometimes toward each other. There are very few happy endings except when they are at the expense of someone else.

Seinfeld reinforced the ideal that is acceptable to not be constantly successful and to have periods of inactivity with careers and love lives questioning the whole ideal of the American Dream. The characters on the show seemed to be in a constant regression. This opposes the ideas of neoliberalism, immaterial labor, and being entrepreneurs of the self as we discussed in class. This is shown in the episode, “The Bizzaro Jerry,” where “Elaine spends time with a new group of friends, who were altruistic and intellectual, lovers of book and the arts, while Jerry and friends consume entertainment: television shows, movies, and sports events. She had the choice to continue to spend time with only her new friends of seemingly high culture, but she chose to go back to arguably unambitious George, Jerry and Kramer” (Hoon). Elaine had the chance to climb the social ladder and be an entrepreneur of the self but instead chose to remain with her less successful friends. In “The Soul Mate,” Elaine didn’t want to have children until her boyfriend had a vasectomy, she then thought she might want to eventually but changed her mind yet again when her partner reversed his vasectomy. It shows that the characters show an interest in wanting something more but never actually change their lifestyle.

            Another reason Elaine didn't want to have children was because the characters of the show were against conforming to bourgeoisie values and it was the one thing that motivated them. “This is apparent in “The Soul Mate,” when Elaine claimed that her reason for not wanting children was because childbirth “has been done to death” – which was perhaps also why David and Seinfeld never had the characters become parents – because childbirth and parenthood had arguably been overdone on sitcoms” (Hoon). This establishes a new twist on the American Dream, that finding contentment led to happiness and seeking conformity led to unhappiness. Therefore, because greed is not an element of pursuing or attaining contentment, the widespread belief that Americans are greedy could be disproved.

            Seinfeld is still in syndication today and continues to create awareness concerning social norms. Viewers are still challenged intellectually as the anxieties and social norms are still relevant today, like the entrepreneur of the self. The American Dream and bourgeoisie values are evident in the social norms that are reinforced and rejected on Seinfeld through the use of humor in social situations; and the revolution of a new sitcom genre were established. 

Works Cited

Fitzgerald, Kyle. "A Paper About Nothing: Genre, Sexuality and Seinfeld." Yahoo Contributor Network. N.p., 4 Sept. 2008. Web. 23 Oct. 2013.

Hoon, Melissa. "Seinfeld: Reinforcing, Rejecting and Establishing Cultural Norms." THE SUBALTERN. N.p., 31 Jan. 2012. Web. 23 Oct. 2013.