Melanie Smith as Rachel and Jerry Seinfeld as
a fictional version of himself in Seinfeld
I.
One of the most critically acclaimed episodes of Seinfeld - and a firm fan favourite - is the season 5 episode entitled 'The Opposite', dir. Tom Cherones, and written by Larry David, Jerry Seinfeld and Andy Cowan (1994).
There are many memorable moments, but, for me, one of the most amusing is the scene in Monk's restaurant in which Jerry's girlfriend Rachel (played by Melanie Smith) decides they should end their relationship:
Rachel: Jerry ...
Jerry: Yes?
Rachel: I've been doing a lot of thinking.
Jerry: Aha?
Rachel: Well, I don't think we should see each other any more.
Jerry: Oh, that's okay.
Rachel: What?
Jerry: Nah, that's fine. No problem. I'll meet somebody else.
Rachel: You will?
Jerry: Sure. See, things always even out for me.
Rachel: Huh?
Jerry: It's fine. Anyway, it's been really nice dating you for a while. And ... good luck!
Rachel: Yeah, you too. [1]
As Jerry leaves the restaurant having thrown some money for the bill on the table, he cheerfully sings to himself: She'll be coming round the mountain when she comes ... It's a perfect illustration of Jerry's ironically detached character and the upbeat nature of the song highlights his lack of emotional concern about a romantic relationship being terminated.
Such nonchalance is obviously played for comic effect, but some might see it as a sign of a borderline personality disorder ...
II.
Fast-forward twenty-seven years and we arrive at the following scene in the season 11 episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm entitled 'IRASSHAIMASE!, dir. Robert B. Weide, and written by Larry David, Jeff Schaffer, and Carol Leifer (2021) ...
Larry is at his favourite Japanese restaurant with his date for the evening, Gabby McAfee, played by Julie Bowen, and the conversation goes something like this:
Gabby: Larry, I wasn't
even gonna come on this date.
I've had such bad luck
since my divorce,
but Jeff told me the worst
thing that happens,
it doesn't work out, he's a great
person to break up with.
Larry: Oh, yeah. I'm great.
Gabby: Really?
Larry: Yeah. Like, if we go out for six months
or eight months or whatever,
all you gotta do is say, 'Hey, I don't
want to see you anymore'. And I go, 'okay'.
Gabby: No drama?
Larry: Zero.
Gabby: That's a good quality.
Larry: I walk away, and I never give you ...
Gabby: Not another thought. Wow! That's almost like a sociopath,
but borderline.
Larry: That's one of the nicest things
anyone's ever said to me.
Again, this is obviously intended to be funny; we are meant to find Larry's attitude and ability to just walk away as questionable at best - if not absolutely reprehensible. Journalist Mark Matousek writes:
"Larry is a narcissist and a sociopath obsessed with the rules of social conduct but completely insensitive to anyone's feelings but his own. [...] You could argue that Larry is one of the most sadistic characters in television history because he has no excuses. He is aware of his moral failings, makes no effort to change them, and [...] has no emotional traumas or existential threats to explain his behavior. Larry's life is one of exceptional comfort and privilege, and he uses it as an opportunity to become his worst self." [3]
But, actually, like Gabby McAfee, I think we might say it's a good - rather noble, somewhat stoical - quality. For as Barthesians, we have been reared into a way of thinking that sees the making of scenes and the insistence on emotional posturing as infra dig.
Like Barthes, I can't stand those who manufacture conflict in order to act like drama queens; or those who seek to entangle others in their psycho-political games. Like Barthes, as one gets older, one longs to be socially adrift and detached from all kinds of sentimental obscenity (to not be bullied or blackmailed into caring).
And so, like Jerry and like Larry, one learns how to just walk away - and/or let others walk away if that's what they want; to become borderline sociopathic and trust that things will all even out in the end, so there's really no need to worry or get upset.
Larry David and Julie Bowen in Curb Your Enthusiasm
(S11/E5 - 2021)
Notes
[1] Dialogue from 'The Opposite', Seinfeld (S5/E22), as found on seinfeldscripts.com: click here. For those who want to watch the scene on YouTube, click here.
[2] Dialogue transcribed from 'IRASSHAIMASE!', Curb Your Enthusiasm (S11/E5). And for those who want to watch the scene on YouTube, please click here.
[3] Mark Matousek, 'Me Myself, and I: Curb Your Enthusiasm and the Art of Being a Sociopath' (29 Sept 2017), on popmatters.com: click here.
Thanks to Simon Solomon for suggesting this post.
