Althouse: "Jerry the Great."

January 26, 2011

"Jerry the Great."

(Via Metafilter.)

17 comments:

1775OGG said...: Was that what our president was trying to say during his SOTU moment?; 1/26/11, 7:12 PM
Automatic_Wing said...: Ah...great stuff. I LOL'd.; 1/26/11, 7:13 PM
Toad Trend said...: These pretzels are making me THIRSTY!!!; 1/26/11, 7:23 PM
q12345q6789 said...: Is it bad that I can place almost every episode / scene even from just a split second clip?; 1/26/11, 7:31 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: That was well done..

There is only one episode of Seinfeld I have not seen.. maybe I'm saving it for a special occasion or something..

The one when Costanza's fiance licked the cheap envelopes..; 1/26/11, 8:17 PM
Known Unknown said...: The Puerto Rican Day Parade was the last good episode of Seinfeld. Good luck, however, seeing it in syndication — I think due to certain subject matter (it's not PC?) it has been banished to the dustbin of TV history.; 1/26/11, 8:26 PM
Anonymous said...: I used to love Seinfeld. Then I watched the last episode.

That was Larry David giving his entire audience, the one that made him a very wealthy man, the finger.

Since then, I have not watched one minute of Seinfeld. Or Old Christine. Or Curb Your Enthusiasm. Or whatever Jason Alexander did later.

It's a shame, because at it's best, Seinfeld was genius. But I see no need to feed Larry David's neurotic self-hatred.; 1/26/11, 8:32 PM
tim maguire said...: Somebody has too much time on his hands. It's well done, but nothing in this genre holds a candle to a little known romantic comedy called The Shining.

http://youtu.be/sfout_rgPSA; 1/26/11, 8:38 PM
q12345q6789 said...: @tim maguire

Yeah. That's a classic of this *genre*. When "Solsbury Hill" kicks in, you can't help but crack a smile.; 1/26/11, 8:43 PM
Anonymous said...: The nice thing about Seinfeld is that sometimes when we are experiencing a mundane moment in our lives, it might remind us of a gag from the show and make us laugh.; 1/26/11, 9:39 PM
Saint Croix said...: When you said "recut" and "trailer" it immediately made me think of this:

http://vimeo.com/17679018

(not safe for work); 1/26/11, 9:47 PM
Hazy Dave said...: Well, I don't get it, but I enjoyed it.; 1/26/11, 10:24 PM
Wince said...: In a world, where movie trailer editing, voice overs and music can manipulate the viewer...; 1/26/11, 11:08 PM
q12345q6789 said...: @ EDH

Thanks. I had seen that years ago, but forgot about it.; 1/26/11, 11:55 PM
Saint Croix said...: Well, I don't get it, but I enjoyed it.

They're making fun of Black Swan by taking the dialog from the trailer and putting it to images from Showgirls.

Here's the original Black Swan trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHTfDcP0APw

And here again is the mash-up:

http://vimeo.com/17679018

That is a brilliant piece of work.; 1/27/11, 7:15 AM
Robert Cook said...: Michael,

I thought the Seinfeld finale was disappointing, but it was hardly a "fuck you" to the audience. Rather, it was intended to reiterate the truth of the show all along: these characters are selfish, neurotic, and, at bottom, uncaring about others. The show never lapsed into the cheap sentimentality of so many other programs, condescending to and patronizing of the audience's exaggerated self-regard as being caring people themselves.

David (and Seinfeld, I presume), see these characters as representative of New Yorkers in particular, and of humans in general. In their view, not inaccurate at all, if exaggerated for effect, humans are largely petty, spiteful, and self-interested, only incidentally interested in others--for example, when it may be convenient to be so, (that is, doesn't require great personal sacrifice or investment), or when it may serve their self-flattering images of themselves as "good and caring" people.

Remember the "bizarro" Jerry and crew that Elaine briefly befriended? Their warmth and sincerity was depicted as strange and alienating, because, in the Seinfeldian worldview, such qualities are rare and exotic, if not, in fact, unnatural.

As the episode ends, Jerry and George repeat a conversation in the jail cell (about the buttons on a man's shirt) that they had had in the first episode, underlining that these are people who do not change at all. They don't mature or grow with experience...they're stunted...monsters of total self-regard, and will always be so.

Scorn the finale, to be sure, but why deny yourself the pleasures of all the preceding episodes?; 1/27/11, 12:12 PM
Anonymous said...: Hi larry If you look something about your husband? stacy adams suits is the best gift for him.; 8/1/11, 9:21 AM