Activity #9

Since I have admired the show Seinfeld for my entire life, I decided to complete this assignment by watching an episode last night. For the most part, Seinfeld has been famous for its relaxed, informal, and individualized American ideality. And the episode I viewed last night certainly didn’t sway from the preconceived notions of the show.

In regards to the episode that I viewed, the clothing worn by the characters certainly displayed a relaxed and informal American ideality—especially to a person with no prior viewing experience of the show. For instance, like most of Seinfeld, Jerry didn’t wear dress pants, but rather a pair of jeans. Kramer generally only wore cheap and old t-shirts. And in the cases of George and Elaine, even though they were sometimes seen in their business clothes,—business suits—they were generally shown as making their formal attire feel as comfortable as possible, such as George wearing loosened tie or Elaine entering Jerry’s apartment and plopping immediately on his couch.

So if one were to view this episode for the first time one would probably conclude from the clothing worn that the show lends a relaxed and informal American ideality. The latter is even emphasized when one realizes that the characters ate all of their meals—as they do in most episodes—in a café compared to a classier place.

Perhaps the most important component of show, however, is its portrayal of an individualized American Identity. The main plot of this particular episode, for instance, revolves around George’s concern that if his girlfriend, Susan, starts spending time with his own friends he will have lost control of his life. In other words, he will have lost the “space” between his private life (with Susan) and his personal life (with his friends). Clearly George values his own individual control and devalues the possibility of a collective existence.

But the plot involving George is not the only aspect of the episode that lends an individualized American identity. For instance, the show takes place in New York, a city that has historically been home to individualized citizens. Also, the characters of the episode lived by their own individual interests compared to any collective responsibilities. For example, rather than showing the characters at work, the episode presented the characters conversing in Jerry’s apartment or at the café. In other words, the episode presented the characters as people who are not bound by societal responsibilities, such as work or laundry or cleaning or marriage.

Besides, if a person were to turn on this episode for the first time, one would also notice a unique/individualistic feature in regards to one of its most popular characters, Kramer. Once Kramer enters his scenes, one immediately notices his wacky, jumpy hair. Not only does his hair lend a relaxed and informal quality, but also an individualistic quality in that Kramer does not feel bound to conform to normality. Indeed, he doesn’t mind looking different, looking like a true individual. And needless to say, his actions certainly echo his appearance, such as him bursting into rooms or him speaking as much with his body as his mouth.

Evidently, this particular episode resonates what the entire Seinfeld sit-com says in terms of its portrayal of American ideality. Not only does the episode display a relaxed an informal American identity, but it simultaneously shows Americans who value their individual lives, individual appearances, and individual behaviors over any possibility of a collective or conformed existence.

Question: Would you be fine if persons of different cultures base their opinions of Americans from our television shows (assuming they watch more than one show and more than one episode)? Why or why not?