As I was going through the clips again today to find some to connect with my activist practicum as well as my final paper, I came across the series of Seinfeld clips that dealt with disability. I couldn't help but re-watch the three clips over again, but Seinfeld is one of my favorite shows. After watching it again though I began to think about what we had discussed in class. Was it ok that I was laughing? We had established that Seinfeld was a show that made fun of everybody and discriminated against everybody, so did the show eliminate discrimination in a way by cracking jokes on everyone? I decided to take one last look at these as three clips before I tackled the questions I had just challenged myself to answer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXVjAeIrkfQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csuZHyW-iGI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g_xmQhe-Fg&feature=related
I actually think it is ok that I was laughing at this. This specific episode dealt with George pretending to be handicapped. It is not in any way comical for another human being to be in a wheel chair, but it was funny to see George race the elderly couple, or to see the woman fly the hill because Kramer gave her a wheelchair without breaks. This makes me think about the article we read about the movie, “The Ringer”. This movie used actors with handicaps and made fun of people with handicaps to eliminate the stigma that people should just feel sorry for them, but rather that they are just like every one else and can be made fun of. I think the point of that movie, as well as the show Seinfeld was first and foremost to make a profit and to make people laugh, but also to try make people with disabilities more “normal” by putting them on the same playing field by those who are considered "abled" as opposed to disabled. The members of the cast of Seinfeld not only made fun of people with wheelchairs and canes, but also people of different races, economic statuses, and other varieties of “disabilities”. I’m still struggling to understand if this show was meant to target those who weren’t “normal” or if they were just showing trying to make everyone equal by simply making a mockery of everyone.
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3 comments:
I too struggle with the issue of whether or not it is okay to laugh at shows that poke fun at other cultural groups or people with disabilities. I always feel awkward watching a comedian make fun of other races and genders. Sometimes jokes about my own cultural group seem a little offensive and I dont laugh. At those moments I think about myself laughing at jokes made about other people. Is that okay? Am I a bad person?
In addition, I find it interesting that broadcasters of comedians focus a lot of attention on the audience. For example, when watching a comedian on TV, producers make sure to pan to the audience frequently almost as if to say, they are laughing so its okay! By showing the audience, viewers are able to see the cultural diversity of those laughing. Sadly enough, it seems self assuring when I see certain ethnic groups laughing at a comedian of their race.
I am struggling with this issue too. In class, I remember someone saying that on Seinfeld, we know that the characters are bad people, whereas on Friends, they are people that we can usually more relate to more directly. So in the Seinfeld clip, when we laugh, it's okay because we know that the writers are actually just mocking closed-minded people. When we laugh at Friends, however, we're in a sense saying that mocking disability is okay.
I think this is a really interesting way to approach this topic, and one that continues to pop in to my mind whenever I think about it, so I decided to share!
(I added an extra "more"-- please read the sentence as "they are people that we can usually relate to more directly)
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