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Seinfeld’s world stands out not because of what it has, but because of what it lacks.
Jerry finds himself in a dilemma in one of the episodes: He goes out with a beautiful and attractive woman, and all is well. He even starts joking with his friend George about the woman’s belly button’s strange night sounds. Imitating the belly button’s “Hello! La La La!” becomes a staple in the two friends’ rendezvous at the local café.
Then comes a dramatic turn of events: Seinfeld’s girlfriend discovers the joke and gives him an ultimatum: either he gives up his stupid joke, or he gives her up. He prefers to keep the joke and lose his girlfriend.
The episode’s humor is built around an unreal dynamic tension between a romantic relationship and a joke. For most of us there is indeed no comparison between these two concepts. A romantic relationship is of great value for most people, and we wouldn’t easily give it up, especially not for the privilege of telling a joke. The mere idea is funny. But this isn’t the case in Seinfeld’s world.
Work is not a burden
Another example is the workplace. All the characters relate to their job as meaningless, except for the opportunity it provides for fun or trick-playing. Jerry is a comedian; Kramer an unemployed entrepreneur, Ilene a copywriter who works for a crazy boss, and George wastes his time in his office at the Yankee’s stadium (or in another phantasmagoric place from which he will soon be fired).
But if we divide the “job” concept into a series of thought-forms and beliefs, we’ll notice an amazing fact: Seinfeld’s heroes never have them! “I must go to work”, “I must fulfill my potential”, “I can’t be happy without my job”, “Work is a burden”, “I wish I didn’t have to go to work”, etc.
We can similarly divide the concept of “Romantic Relationship” to beliefs and thought-forms: “I need a partner”, “I will not be whole without a mate”, “My relationship with my partner is problematic”, “I compromised when I chose him/her.”
These thoughts create a world in which “Love” is a heavy weight factor. It lets us soar when it “succeeds”, and drops us to despair if it “fails”. Where is all this drama in Seinfeld’s world? It literally doesn’t exist.
Loneliness Disappears
Now that we’ve glimpsed the possibility of a world in which two of our main life’s ingredients, namely the need for love and the fear for survival, are missing, we can discover what other thought is absent from Seinfeld’s world: the concept of loneliness.
Jerry, George, Ilene, and Kramer, despite being single and “failing” time and again in creating real intimacy with a partner, never complain about being lonely or get depressed about it all. We can safely assume that the thought “I am lonely” never crosses their minds.
What about spirituality? Where does it stand in Seinfeld’s world? Indeed, it doesn’t exist either, at least not in the form of ideas or thoughts. “I need to get in touch with my feelings” is an unnecessary complications in a world from which all the rest of the bothersome “Me” thoughts are missing.
What’s the big deal? this is just a comic series, an imaginary existence, which bears no resemblance to reality. But what is reality? Is it our circumstances, such as relationships, jobs, our past, our future, or is it the thoughts we have about these?
Invalid Thoughts
Buddhism teaches us about the possibility of enlightenment, which is an ending of our mental suffering. Many spiritual teachers described this awakening according to what it lacks. The absence of thoughts about love or survival, they would argue, the absence of criticism and hatred, and the lack of mental obsession with past or future events, are all attributes of freedom.
But even this is not exactly so. Freedom isn’t the lack of thought, but rather the importance we give these thoughts, or the extent of our belief in them. A needy or fearful thought, which we take as a joke, rather than truth or reality, loses its perceived power.
When George says he is “a balding unemployed living with his folks” and treats this statement with endless humor, isn’t he providing us with an example of eliminating the power of mental suffering? Isn’t this, indeed, the essence of Seinfeld’s world?
Watching Seinfeld we may be able to notice a few qualities that are present when the suffering thought-forms are not valid: unconditional self acceptance, living in the present moment, friendliness, lightness, spontaneity, and above all else, lots of humor.
Translated from the Hebrew by DeAnna L’am
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