Like a hundred million other people, I watch Seinfeld every Thursday evening. I've also watched so many reruns at 11 PM that I've seen some episodes three or four times. I find the writing and acting for Seinfeld absolutely brilliant. But my purpose here is not to go on and on about how wonderful I think this show is. What I want to talk about is a discovery I made about Jerry Seinfeld in the fall of 1997. I had been watching the show for about a year (experiencing popular cultural phenomena when the phenomena are almost over seems to be a pattern for me). Suddenly it occured to me that Jerry Seinfeld had done an interview with Playboy magazine some time way back when I didn't even know who Jerry Seinfeld was. So I looked back through my collection, and, sure enough, there was Jerry on the cover of October 1993. The discovery I made is that Jerry Seinfeld and I think alike in many ways and have had similar life experiences. In fact, the only difference between us might be that he is rich and famous and I am neither. Okay, maybe he is a better writer, too. And maybe funnier. At any rate, I've chosen some selections from the interview because I would have given almost exactly the same replies that he gave.
From the Playboy interview with Jerry Seinfeld, October, 1993:
Seinfeld: Even I, though I might not seem to be,
am constantly irritated.
Rensin: What irritates you?
Seinfeld: Everything. I just hate everything and
everybody.
Rensin: How were you with girls?
Seinfeld: Uneventful. I kind of withdrew from a lot of
social activity. I didn't like group mentality
and group behavior. I wanted to focus in on
one person. I wanted to tell that person what
I think about nuances and details and
substructures. And you don't do that in groups.
Rensin: Not when you're just eight years old.
Seinfeld: And even now you don't. You go to parties and
it's all breezy bullshitting, chitchatting. I
like that up to a point, but then I'm bored by
it. I want to sit with somebody and get down
to the nuts and bolts.
Rensin: You're not an unwitting dupe of the church?
Seinfeld: No, I've always had the skill of extracting
the essence of any subject I study, be it
meditation, yoga, Scientology, Judaism, Zen.
Whatever it is, I go in to get what I need.
To me, these are supermarkets. I go in to get
my supplies, then I leave.
Rensin: [W]hen did you lose your virginity?
Seinfeld: I'm not sure whether I was 19 or 20.
Rensin: Why so late?
Seinfeld: I hated the idea of upsetting a woman in any
way, so the slightest amount of resistance
would deter me. I had no persistance at all.
Still don't, really. If she is at all reticent,
I'm out of there. It kills the mood for me. I
don't want to sell anybody anything.
Rensin: You like doing dishes?
Seinfeld: I like the water and I like the soap.
Rensin: Do you like to iron?
Seinfeld: No. I like vacuuming, though. I like the way
the carpet looks after I'm done. I like those
lines the wheels make.
Seinfeld: See, the thing is, my own age isn't really
real to me. I look in the mirror and I just
don't feel 39. I don't feel any different than
I was when I was 23. And I don't look that much
different. So it's weird.
January 13, 1998
John A. Johnson
j5j@psu.edu