this post was submitted on 16 Oct 2024
267 points (91.8% liked)

politics

19136 readers
3859 users here now

Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!

Rules:

  1. Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.

Links must be to the original source, not an aggregator like Google Amp, MSN, or Yahoo.

Example:

  1. Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
  2. Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
  3. No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive. Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.
  4. Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
  5. No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.

That's all the rules!

Civic Links

Register To Vote

Citizenship Resource Center

Congressional Awards Program

Federal Government Agencies

Library of Congress Legislative Resources

The White House

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Senate

Partnered Communities:

News

World News

Business News

Political Discussion

Ask Politics

Military News

Global Politics

Moderate Politics

Progressive Politics

UK Politics

Canadian Politics

Australian Politics

New Zealand Politics

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] ShittyBeatlesFCPres@lemmy.world 145 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

What does Jerry Seinfeld know about being funny anyway? Wasn’t that Larry David’s job?

[–] Letstakealook@lemm.ee 24 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I've never understood why he's been placed on such a pedestal. Professionally, he wasn't even among the funniest of his contemporaries. Personally, he's also always been a piece of shit, and I'm not just talking about him being generally rude to others.

[–] PoopingCough@lemmy.world 28 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

I mean Seinfeld was fucking huge. It's hard to overstate how big a hit it was in its time. And he was co-creator, the lead role, and obv his name is the name of the show. How could you not see people putting him up as one of the greats?

I'm not personally the biggest fan of his particular style of comedy, and you can certainly find issue with his personality and behavior over the years, but the man knows how joke structure works. He's an expert in his craft. And you may not think he's as good as some of his contemporaries, but there's no denying he's more of a household name than most if not all of them.

[–] halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world 17 points 2 weeks ago

Seinfeld, the show, was remarkable and set a number of expectations that shows today must hit to be even partially successful. It was remarkable. So many modern tropes and memes are directly traced back to Seinfeld.

Jerry Seinfeld, the comedian, was not exceptional in the grand scheme. He is a decent comedian, but without the show, he wouldn't be referred to nearly as much as he is.

There's a difference between the two, and I think a lot of the disagreements are with people equating these two as if they're the same.

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] FunderPants@lemmy.ca 137 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

Hey, good for him. I believe firmly in reformation, or reflection and changing your views and it sounds to me like he thought about it and came around, so good.

[–] jayk@lemmy.ca 53 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

this is the second time he's changed his mind on this particular issue. After a certain point I wonder why we're still listening to him

[–] Notyou@sopuli.xyz 50 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

I think he was trying to get a buzz for his stand-up by going anti-woke. Then those people didn't show up for him because they are still laughing at Rob Schneider.

After Jerry realized his mistake, he figured he would say he grew and learned to help any damage control. I don't think people really care enough about him for this, but he is rich enough to have people tell him.

[–] krashmo@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

What mistake would he need to be concerned about? Jerry has more money than he can spend. I seriously doubt his income is a motivating factor here but I could be wrong.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Dragonstaff@leminal.space 6 points 2 weeks ago

I refuse to believe anyone is laughing at Rob Schneider.

[–] MudMan@fedia.io 25 points 2 weeks ago (6 children)

Wait, you wonder why we're still listening to Jerry Seinfeld about comedy?

Like, I don't agree with the guy and I don't think everything he does is funny, but... I mean, I'm a contrarian nerd on the Internet and even I would think about that one twice.

For what it's worth, you can change your mind on things as often as you want. Hell, I'll take older rich guys walking back their slow drift rightwards as many times as is necessary.

[–] Riven@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I don't trust it, they turn left and make a walking motion only to start moon walking. Lip service doesn't mean shit until I see actual actions.

[–] MudMan@fedia.io 5 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

OK, this thread is increasingly more interesting to me as a snapshot of people's perception and less about anything Seinfeld does.

So... we all understand that other people's opinions aren't held as an attempt to get our personal validation, right?

Like, we're not the adjudicators? Turns out right wing people don't need our permission. Shockingly, they don't even want it. The absolute hubris, I know.

Believe it or not, Seinfeld's status is not dependent on convincing any of us here that he has changed his mind on this one thing he said once. The right level of scrutiny of this statement is "Cool, I guess", not "Well, Jerry, I'm going to need you to take some steps to rebuild this relationship".

It's good when older men drifting right stop drifting right in that they become less annoying at family dinners and, if they're famous, they stop disseminating right wing propaganda. That's it. That's why. It's not a test and we're not grading it.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (5 replies)
[–] saltesc@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

To be fair, it's a complicated topic. Some people see humour as a form of therapy or control over dark topics while others see it as a channel to project them. And both are true. Unfortunately many people lack the spark to discern the two and subsequently fall back on the behaviour they are familiar with; picking a side and setting up camp in it.

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 7 points 2 weeks ago

Very true but it can be very easy also to find yourself joking about pain that isn’t yours to joke about. Humility is often crucial in dark jokes

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Hegar@fedia.io 15 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

sounds to me like he thought about it and came around

That's not what it sounds like to me. I think a slightly different kind of absolute nonsense just started coming out of his face:

“I said that the ‘extreme left’ has suppressed the art of comedy... It’s not true. If you’re a champion skier, you can put the gates anywhere you want on the mountain and you’re going to make the gate. That’s comedy. Whatever the culture is, we make the gate. You don’t make the gate, you’re out of the game. The game is where is the gate and how do I make the gate to get down the hill.”

Even you generously interpret that as coherent thought, he's still saying that the left changed comedy and you can't make same jokes anymore. No awareness that risky and 'offensive' comedy is fine and everywhere, no awareness that there's a difference between offensive comedy and racism on a stage, no awareness of the social context of his comments amidst the rise of fascism.

He just repeated his comments, but less coherently and with the strongly negative words taken out.

[–] MudMan@fedia.io 26 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

“Does culture change and are their things that I use to say that [I can’t because] people are always moving [the gate]? Yes, but that’s the biggest and easiest target,” Seinfeld added. “You can’t say certain words about groups. So what? The accuracy of your observation has to be 100 times finer than that just to be a comedian…So I don’t think, as I said, the ‘extreme left’ has done anything to inhibit the art of comedy.”

I don't know, seems pretty cogent to me and it seems pretty far from doubling down.

Why are you guys making me defend Jerry Seinfeld? Seriously, sometimes leftie spaces just can't take a win.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] Burn_The_Right@lemmy.world 7 points 2 weeks ago

He's a right-wing bigot. His stances have not changed. He's still a piece of shit, despite his "regrets".

[–] nightwatch_admin@feddit.nl 5 points 2 weeks ago

Nice try Jerry, but we’re not falling for that.

[–] ShinkanTrain@lemmy.ml 94 points 2 weeks ago

"Look, I was just upset that day because my girlfriend's parents grounded her"

[–] lido@lemmy.dbzer0.com 52 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Jerry Seinfeld has never been politically relevant and hasn't suffered in the least because of his Seinfeld residuals.

Bill Hicks (RIP) has never been more relevant.

[–] 2deck@lemmy.world 12 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] xangadix@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago

The preacher

[–] itsonlygeorge@reddthat.com 6 points 2 weeks ago

We miss you Bill.

[–] Jomega@lemmy.world 46 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

I never understood why he would say that to begin with. It's not like his brand of comedy was ever particularly edgy. Obviously the "people are too sensitive these days" thing is stupid, but it felt extra strange coming from him.

[–] jonne@infosec.pub 6 points 2 weeks ago

Maybe he got accosted by a Gen Z flight attendant about one of his biting air travel observations.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] nemonic187@lemmy.world 37 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 30 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] Hydra_Fk@reddthat.com 32 points 2 weeks ago

Your not a highschool girl, I think your fine.

[–] MehBlah@lemmy.world 33 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Jerry seinfeld is one of the least funniest people who ever called themselves a comic.

[–] Sarmyth@lemmy.world 51 points 2 weeks ago (12 children)

His show was a cultural phenomenon. You've never heard of the least funny comedian. Let's stop the weird Lemmy contrarianism. It makes us look more insanely out of touch than Jerry Seinfeld. (Which is so well known his name is in my auto-correct).

[–] blackbirdbiryani@lemmy.world 20 points 2 weeks ago

I absolutely loved Seinfeld (the show) and recently saw his stand up in person and it was absolutely terrible, it was actually pretty shocking. He's just so incredibly unrelatable now.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 19 points 2 weeks ago

Seinfeld turn to shit the moment Larry David left. Curb made it clear that he carried that show.

[–] Burn_The_Right@lemmy.world 15 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

He was never funny. Larry David, the guy who wrote the show, was the funny one.

[–] twistypencil@lemmy.world 13 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

FYI, it was written by both Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] OneOrTheOtherDontAskMe@lemmy.world 15 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I wouldn't say that's contrarianism. I've heard criticism for Jerry Seinfeld's comedy since at least 2004, calling out observation comics as a whole was trending at the time of his show even. Larry David made that show great, and some of the cast played their roles really well, Jerry Seinfeld wasn't one of them for me and seemingly a lot of people.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (8 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] p5yk0t1km1r4ge@lemmy.world 29 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Jerry Seinfeld can, as we left leaning partygoers love to say, "get fucked and blow it out his ass".

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] Cyberflunk@lemmy.world 27 points 2 weeks ago

Suck ass loser. Get fucked Seinfeld

[–] Bluefalcon@discuss.tchncs.de 14 points 2 weeks ago

Probably had a few MAGA fans show up and said .. Nope!

[–] reallykindasorta@slrpnk.net 13 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I agree that comedy is an area that rarely ages well. If you look at the old post 9/11 HBO comedy spots on MAX they are atrociously racist against middle eastern people to the point where I don’t think they should be available or at least should be labeled history and not comedy.

[–] finitebanjo@lemmy.world 15 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Yeah but Jerry got mad that he wasn't allowed to tell racist, transphobic, and highly political jokes like a year ago. And he got drawn into the MAGA crowd like a tractor beam, being sponsored by out of touch old fogeys and anti-woke propagandists.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Fixbeat@lemmy.ml 13 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Extreme left. Who is this extreme left he’s talking about? People who don’t like being insulted?

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] sub_ubi@lemmy.ml 9 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Not looking for approval from a zio

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago

Good on him.

load more comments
view more: next ›