Viral Campaign

     The purpose of our campaign is to get people to loosen up and care less about what others think of them. We thought that showing Elaine dancing would be a good way to get others to dance, whether it was like Elaine, or just however they wanted to. We came up with this because we didn’t want our campaign to be too serious, we wanted it to be fun and be something that would make others have fun as well. Along with having fun, we wanted to send that message that people should be comfortable in their own skin, and if they want to dance (or do anything else they like to do) then they should be afraid of being judged.

One of the sources of media we used is Instagram. We used Instagram in order to get to our specific audience, teenagers or young adults. We knew that Instagram is very popular among our targeted audience so we hope that this would help us gain exposure. This medium was beneficial because it gave our audience a visual idea of what our campaign was about instead of just reading about it somewhere. The negative aspects of this medium were that it is difficult to get people to follow our account. The media we thought about using instead was Facebook. We decided to reject Facebook because we figured our audience liked Instagram more, and we were more likely to get our idea out there with Instagram.

I made a video for the project. In the video I show Elaine’s dance with a montage of students dancing and movie characters and athletes dancing in public. I chose to do this because in this day in age, a video on YouTube can go a long way. Of course, I know this video won’t be the next hit but it’s a nice thing to stumble upon when surfing the shores of YouTube. The video is beneficial because everyone likes a good video. The video also shows a lot of beloved characters and athletes acting a fool in their most memorable moments. It brings a smile to people’s faces to see that and it helps our message stick with the audience more. The only negative aspect I encountered was getting people to participate. It’s hard enough getting people to dance because you ask them to, but when you mention that it’s going to be filmed and they’re going to have to do it in public, then it becomes even worse. Luckily, a few friends were on board and I had a ton of help from YouTube. We thought of making a Facebook page to post videos and pictures of people doing their Elaine Dance but we ultimately scrapped the idea because it wouldn't be as a effective and an Instagram and YouTube video get the job done better.

Our audience for this camping is teenagers or young adults. We chose this audience because we thought these were the people that would benefit from our campaign the most, if they bought into it and participated. The purpose of our campaign fits in with our audience because teenagers and young adults are typically the ones who care most about what others think of them. They try hard to fit in and not do things that others will judge them negatively on. Our campaign is specifically for those who are scared of what others think, we want to change that. The three media we chose fit perfectly without audience. Instagram is the most popular source of social media among our targeted audience and it is the best way to reach out to them to get their attention. YouTube give our audience a visual idea of what our campaign is. It makes it easy for them to view, and it doesn’t take any effort. The less effort something takes, the more likely a teenager or young adult will agree to watch.

What I like most about the assignment is that it was creative and collaborative. Rather than writing another paper, we all got the chance to work together to create something. Not only was it a better alternative, but it was fun and not stressful. There isn’t much to dislike about the assignment. It didn’t keep me up at night; so I have no complaints. The most challenging part of the assignment was getting people to dance in public and on camera. The best part was editing the video because that’s something I personally enjoy. I think we appealed to our audience effectively because we put our campaign on two of the social media sites that most if not all of our intended audience use daily. I like that my anthology gets to show my growth as a student in this class. I don’t like how there was little time for a lot of growth to be made. 

Paper 2 - Reflection

            The basic purpose of my paper is to prove that Elaine Benes is not a feminist icon. She gets praised as one but the reasons are shallow. Whenever they call her a feminine hero or anything of that nature they do it without stating what form of feminism they are talking about. In my paper I set out to describe the different branches of feminism that came about during the time Seinfeld was popular to show where and how Elaine fits the mold. I wasn't trying to come off, knocking down people’s ideas. I was just pointing out that they’re oversimplifying something that’s deeper than sexual liberation and that’s femininity.

           I’m proud of the voice that my paper has. I’m proud of the way I articulated my argument. I’m proud of how I broke things down the way Chris Rock does in his stand-up. I liked how the paper took a different approach to a popularly held belief. Above all, I’m proud that I was able to get it done on time. In the second draft I worked on making transitions better and I added a few more citations.  This project has taught me that research papers require a lot of attention to detail or else it will be mediocre.

Paper 2 - Research paper (Final draft)

Deion A. Sainvil

Jeff Naftzinger

ENC 1145

2/24/15

The Feminist Icon: Deconstructing Elaine

   
           The late 1980s and 1990s hosted a change for the American woman. Marketers started seeing dollar signs over the heads of teenage girls and started catering to the untapped and diverse market. Whether it was music (TLC, Spice Girls), movies (Clueless), or TV shows (My So Called Life, Powerpuff Girls) female-centered media started to flood the stores. Aside from the consumer world, feminism underwent a change as well. The essence of womanhood which was a main focus of Second Wave feminism no longer became the focal point as women began to observe the changes in society and culture (Ivins-Hulley). Three branches of feminism emerged during this era: Riot Grrrl, Post-feminism/ Power feminism, and Third Wave.

           During this time, Seinfeld was one of the biggest sitcoms on-air and since its finale in 1998, critics, fans and scholars have deemed it among the greatest shows of all time (Roush). Jerry Seinfeld credits the show’s success to Julia Louis Dreyfuss’s character, Elaine (“Queen of the Castle”). Many have deemed Elaine Benes a feminist icon (Armstrong) and on the surface it’s easy to see her as such. She lives on her own terms, she has a career, she’s sexually assertive and doesn’t yearn to be married and have kids. However, there’s a lot that goes into feminism that isn’t addressed here. While it may not be fair to criticize a sitcom that doesn’t take itself seriously by weighing-in on controversial issues, it’s equally unjust to praise it for doing something that it doesn’t’t.

           Elaine’s dependence on men for companionship, her creation and control by men, and her inability to do anything to empower other women on the show are reasons why she is not a feminist icon. By looking at the three forms of feminism during the show’s era, comparing Elaine to Daria Morgendorfer from Daria and Emma Peel from The Avengers, and analyzing Julia Louis-Dreyfuss’s take on Elaine it is clear to see that Elaine is undeserving of her status.

            Riot Grrrl is a practice based, rather than academic branch, of feminism that details the importance of female assertiveness and collective activity. During this movement female lead punk rock bands and feminist magazines abrasively spoke out against the injustices that women faced (Ivins-Hulley). Post-feminism/Power feminism differed from the collective effort of the Riot Grrrl movement and favored individualism (Ivins-Hulley). Post-feminism was all about lifting one’s voice and not dwelling on oppression. Third Wave feminism analyzed pop culture and women’s contradictory attitudes with it (Ivins-Hulley). It was a form that celebrated and berated. It celebrated outlets that brought feminist ideas to women and it berated representations and forms of oppression in the mass media.

            Elaine would be the best fit with Post-feminism because she’s very self-interested. She doesn’t get on a soap box and preach about women’s liberation, she goes by the rhythm of her own drum. Members of Riot Grrrl would deride her for her lack of communal activity with other female characters but they would acknowledge her assertiveness. Third Wave feminists would observe the inconsistencies in her involvement with the outside world as a woman. Let’s see how Elaine compares to Daria under these ideals.

             Elaine, Daria and Emma all have one thing in common: their origins. None of them were initially characters in the shows they were in. Elaine’s character was created after NBC studio executives urged Larry David to include a female character in the show (“Queen of the Castle”). Daria was first introduced to the world as the intelligent high schooler who didn’t entertain the immaturity and wild antics of her classmates, Beavis and Butthead. Her inclusion in Beavis and Butthead after Judy McGrath, the head of MTV at the time, asked why there weren’t any smart people or girls on the show (Bradenburg). Emma Peel came in as Cathy Gale’s replacement (Thomas). Additional information on the advent of Elaine will further prove why she isn’t a strong feminist character.

            Elaine didn’t start off as the popular character she is known as today. She played a minor role until Julia Louis-Dreyfuss cried to the writers for a more pivotal part. The writers had trouble writing her character but David told them to write her as if she were one of the guys and the problem was solved (“Queen of the Castle”). Because Elaine’s actions and dialogue are controlled by men and intently written from a man’s perspective, Elaine cannot be considered a strong feminist character.    

            In the episode “The Implant,” Jerry is suspicious that his girlfriend has breast implants, so he gets Elaine to spy on her at the sauna. George and Jerry frequently approach Elaine for advice on women. In the same episode, Jerry tells Elaine about how he and George can’t make moves on women with non-dominant hands. He asks her if women go left or right; she responds, “Nah, we just play defense” (“The Implant”). There isn’t anything wrong with giving advice, but Jerry and George use this advice to further their chances of sleeping with the women they’re seeing, thus, Elaine is a mere inside man, or woman. Whenever a woman’s perspective is needed, it’s her time to shine. If she were more like Susan, George’s deceased fiancée, or any of the women that the guys pursue, she wouldn’t have lasted an entire season. She’s an ambassador of the female gender. Whenever Daria gives anybody advice it’s usually laden with sarcasm and it benefits nobody but her sardonic sense of humor. Elaine’s advice rarely gives the women on the show the upper hand or equality with the guys. Had it done so, it would’ve helped her case. Being “one of the guys” brings little to no femininity to the show. Elaine’s character isn’t meant to empower women or represent them in a positive light.
Another comparison between Seinfeld and The Avengers involves looking into the episodes “The Bizarro Jerry” and “The House that Jack Built,” respectively. “The House that Jack Built” contains more than one allegorical representations of male oppression, but we’ll focus on women’s imprisonment in the home. In this episode, Emma mysteriously inherits a house from her deceased Uncle Jack. The whole thing ends up being a ploy to trap her. As mentioned earlier, this episode is an allegory of women being prisoners in their own homes. The home is a place of confinement ruled by an oppressive patriarch. The lack of contact with the outside world results in monotonicity and growing madness in the woman.

             In “The Bizarro Jerry,” Elaine meets her ex-boyfriend, Kevin’s, friends who are the exact opposite of Jerry, George and Kramer. They’re nice, clean, and dependable and read books for fun. Elaine becomes drawn to this pleasant change and decides to ditch the guys for Kevin and his friends. When she leaves Jerry’s apartment to meet them she confesses to Jerry: “I can’t spend the rest of my life coming into this stinking apartment every ten minutes to pore over the, excruciating minutia, of every, single, daily event.” In a behind the scenes featurette, writer David Mandel, comments on the change in Elaine after Larry David’s departure from the show. The new wave of writers made Elaine more conscious of her situation and made her long for more out of life than the same rut (“The Bizarro Jerry). While she expresses her frustration it’s interesting that she went to another group of men as opposed to a group of women or keeping to her herself for a while. In contrast to Emma, Elaine traps herself by returning to Jerry’s apartment to play a part in or witness the idiocy of the gang. Elaine’s dependency for male companionship makes her a non-threat to men.

In an episode of Daria titled “Arts N Crass” Daria’s friend Jane enters a poster for a statewide art contest. The theme of the contest is student life in the new millennium. Daria and Jane use the poster to address beauty standards and teen eating disorders. This doesn’t fare well with the administrators and they alter the poster. In response Daria and Jane vandalize their own poster. Daria’s bout of defiance against authority is something that would be applauded by members of Riot Grrrl because they would perceive this as confrontational and “bitchy.” They would also support it because it’s a collective effort. She’s not doing it on her own because Jane is her partner in crime. Elaine usually doesn’t rebel or make bold statements like Daria. She’s just a goofball. Much like Lucy Ricardo from I Love Lucy, Elaine’s plotlines always involve her own follies which get her into trouble. Although, post-feminists would welcome Elaine, they would favor Daria because she actually stands for something while living for herself. And finally we will read what Julia-Louis Dreyfuss has to say about Elaine.

Despite being a fan favorite, Julia Louis- Dreyfuss express a contempt for the character she plays. In a 1998 interview for New York Magazine, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss inadvertently slaps the faces of those who revere her character by saying Elaine is nuts and has self-esteem issues (Smith). Louis-Dreyfuss also stated that any man who hopes to have a woman like Elaine is a “moron” (citation). Julia Louis-Dreyfuss wasn’t speaking out of anger. She was speaking honestly about the characters, acknowledging that they’re terrible people and people tune in to laugh at them and feel better about themselves.  Denying the notion that people look up to the show’s characters, she compared watching Seinfeld to Jerry Springer. Meaning the same way viewers watch the Jerry Springer and laugh at how bad the people on the show are and how glad they are that they’re not like them is the same way they see Seinfeld.

Elaine Benes may be a free spirit but she isn’t the hero of an entire gender. Although she doesn’t act in ways that abide to the traditional views of single women in their 20s she doesn’t display qualities that exemplify a powerful woman. Her initial exclusion restricted her from being a big part of the show. When she was given the dialogue and story inclusion to make an impact she did nothing with it to assist women or uphold the feminist image. Although she fits in with Post-feminism, she wouldn’t be the best mascot for the branch. Maybe viewers choose to put on their nostalgia goggles and look at Elaine through rose-colored lenses. While Elaine’s self-serving lifestyle and sexuality might be something to admire, she falls flat in everything else.

Works Cited

Andrae, Thomas. "Television's First Feminist: "the Avengers" and Female Spectatorship."  Discourse 18.3 (1996): 112-36. Print.

Armstrong, Jennifer, Keishin, "Seinfeld's Elaine Benes, a Woman Among Nebbishy Men, Is Feminist Heroine." damemagazine.com. 7/2/14 2014.Web.

"The Bizarro Jerry" Seinfeld: The Complete Eighth Season. Anonymous Perf. Seinfeld, Jerry, Jason   Alexander, Julia-Louis Dreyfuss, et al. Sony Pictures, 1996.

Brandenburg, Eric J. "John AndrewSeior, VP Creative DirectorKachew." animationmagazine.net.       5/4/05 2005.Web. Animation Magazine.

"The Implant" Seinfeld: The Complete Fourth Season. Dir. Cherones, Tom. Prod. David Larry. Perf. Seinfeld Jerry, Jason Alexander, and Michael Richards. Sony Pictures, 1993.

Ivins-Hulley, Laura. "Narrowcasting Feminism: MTV's Daria [this is an]." Journal of Popular Culture 47.6 (2014): 1198-212. Print.

Queen of the Castle: The Elaine Bennes Story. Dir. Tom Cherones. Prod. Cherones Tom. Perf. Dreyfuss, Julia-Louis, David, Larry, Seinfeld, Jerry. Sony Pictures, 2006.

Smith, Chris. "Single (Not that there’s Anything Wrong with that!)
  " New York Magazine 30 March. 1998 1998Print.

Paper 2 - Research paper

Deion A. Sainvil

Jeff Naftzinger

ENC 1145

2/24/15

The Feminist Icon: Deconstructing Elaine 

   
           The late 1980s and 1990s hosted a change for the American woman. Marketers started seeing dollar signs over the heads of teenage girls and started catering to the untapped and diverse market. Whether it was music (TLC, Spice Girls), movies (Clueless), or TV shows (My So Called Life, Powderpuff Girls) female-centered media started to flood the stores. Aside from the consumer world, feminism underwent a change as well. The essence of womanhood which was a main focus of Second Wave feminism no longer became the focal point as women began to observe the changes in society and culture (Ivins-Hulley). Three branches of feminism emerged during this era: Riot Grrrl, Post-feminism/ Power feminism, and Third Wave.

            During this time, Seinfeld was one of the biggest sitcoms on-air and since its finale in 1998, critics, fans and scholars have deemed it among the greatest shows of all time (Roush). Jerry Seinfeld credits the show’s success to Julia Louis Dreyfuss’s character, Elaine (“Queen of the Castle”). Many have deemed Elaine Benes a feminist icon (Armstrong) and on the surface it’s easy to see her as such. She lives on her own terms, she has a career, she’s sexually assertive and doesn’t yearn to be married and have kids. However, there’s a lot that goes into feminism that isn’t addressed here. While it may not be fair to criticize a sitcom that doesn’t take itself seriously by weighing-in on controversial issues, it’s equally unjust to praise it for doing something that it doesn’t.

            Elaine’s dependence on men for companionship, her creation and control by men, and her inability to do anything to empower other women on the show are reasons why she is not a feminist icon. By looking at the three forms of feminism during the show’s era , comparing Elaine to Daria Morgendorfer from Daria and Emma Peel from The Avengers, and analyzing Julia Louis-Dreyfuss’s take on Elaine it is clear to see that Elaine is undeserving of her status.

            Elaine, Daria and Emma all have one thing in common: their origins. None of them were initially characters in the shows they were in. Elaine’s character was created after NBC studio executives urged Larry David to include a female character in the show (“Queen of the Castle”). Daria was first introduced to the world as the intelligent high schooler who didn’t entertain the immaturity and wild antics of her classmates, Beavis and Butthead. Her inclusion in Beavis and Butthead after Judy McGrath, the head of MTV at the time, asked why there weren’t any smart people or girls on the show (Bradenburg). Emma Peel came in as Cathy Gale’s replacement (Thomas).
Elaine didn’t start off as the popular character she is known as today. She played a minor role until Julia Louis-Dreyfuss cried to the writers for a more pivotal part. The writers had trouble writing her character but David told them to write her as if she were one of the guys and the problem was solved (“Queen of the Castle”). Because Elaine’s actions and dialogue are controlled by men and intently written from a man’s perspective, Elaine cannot be considered a strong feminist character.    

            In the episode “The Implant,” Jerry is suspicious that his girlfriend has breast implants, so he gets Elaine to spy on her at the sauna. George and Jerry frequently approach Elaine for advice on women. In the same episode, Jerry tells Elaine about how he and George can’t make moves on women with non-dominant hands. He asks her if women go left or right; she responds, “Nah, we just play defense” (“The Implant”). There isn’t anything wrong with giving advice, but Jerry and George use this advice to further their chances of sleeping with the women they’re seeing, thus, Elaine is a mere inside man, or woman. Whenever a woman’s perspective is needed, it’s her time to shine. If she were more like Susan, George’s deceased fiancée, or any of the women that the guys pursue, she wouldn’t have lasted an entire season. She’s an ambassador of the female gender. Whenever Daria gives anybody advice it’s usually laden with sarcasm and it benefits nobody but her sardonic sense of humor. Elaine’s advice rarely gives the women on the show the upper hand or equality with the guys. Had it done so, it would’ve helped her case. Being “one of the guys” brings little to no femininity to the show. Elaine’s character isn’t meant to empower women or represent them in a positive light.
Another comparison between Seinfeld and The Avengers involves looking into the episodes “The Bizarro Jerry” and “The House that Jack Built,” respectively. “The House that Jack Built” contains more than one allegorical representations of male oppression, but we’ll focus on women’s imprisonment in the home. In this episode, Emma mysteriously inherits a house from her deceased Uncle Jack. The whole thing ends up being a ploy to trap her. As mentioned earlier, this episode is an allegory of women being prisoners in their own homes. The home is a place of confinement ruled by an oppressive patriarch. The lack of contact with the outside world results in monotonicity and growing madness in the woman.

             In “The Bizarro Jerry,” Elaine meets her ex-boyfriend, Kevin’s, friends who are the exact opposite of Jerry, George and Kramer. They’re nice, clean, and dependable and read books for fun. Elaine becomes drawn to this pleasant change and decides to ditch the guys for Kevin and his friends. When she leaves Jerry’s apartment to meet them she confesses to Jerry: “I can’t spend the rest of my life coming into this stinking apartment every ten minutes to pore over the, excruciating minutia, of every, single, daily event.” In a behind the scenes featurette, writer David Mandel, comments on the change in Elaine after Larry David’s departure from the show. The new wave of writers made Elaine more conscious of her situation and made her long for more out of life than the same rut . (“The Bizarro Jerry). While she expresses her frustration it’s interesting that she went to another group of men as opposed to a group of women or keeping to her herself for a while. In contrast to Emma, Elaine traps herself by returning to Jerry’s apartment to play a part in or witness the idiocy of the gang. Elaine’s dependency for male companionship makes her a non-threat to men. I will now define the three branches of feminism to see where Elaine fits.

              Riot Grrrl is a practice based, rather than academic branch, of feminism that details the importance of female assertiveness and collective activity. During this movement female lead punk rock bands and feminist magazines abrasively spoke out against the injustices that women faced. Post-feminism/Power feminism differed from the collective effort of the Riot Grrrl movement and favored individualism. Post-feminism was all about lifting one’s voice and not dwelling on oppression. Third Wave feminism analyzed pop culture and women’s contradictory attitudes with it. It was a form that celebrated and berated. It celebrated outlets that brought feminist ideas to women and it berated representations and forms of oppression in the mass media.

              Elaine would be the best fit with Post-feminism because she’s very self-interested. She doesn’t get on a soap box and preach about women’s liberation, she goes by the rhythm of her own drum. Members of Riot Grrrl would deride her for her lack of communal activity with other female characters but they would acknowledge her assertiveness. Third Wave feminists would observe the inconsistencies in her involvement with the outside world as a woman. Let’s see how Elaine compares to Daria under these ideals.      

               In an episode of Daria titled “Arts N Crass” Daria’s friend Jane enters a poster for a statewide art contest. The theme of the contest is student life in the new millennium. Daria and Jane use the poster to address beauty standards and teen eating disorders. This doesn’t fare well with the administrators and they alter the poster. In response Daria and Jane vandalize their own poster. Daria’s bout of defiance against authority is something that would be applauded by members of Riot Grrrl . Her rebellion is also individualistic because the poster affects her and Jane only. Elaine usually doesn’t rebel or make bold statements like Daria. She’s just a goofball. Much like Lucy Ricardo from I Love Lucy, Elaine’s plotlines always involve her own follies which get her into trouble. Although, post-feminists would welcome Elaine, they would favor Daria because she actually stands for something while living for herself. And finally we will read what Julia-Louis Dreyfuss has to say about Elaine.  

           Despite being a fan favorite, Julia Louis- Dreyfuss expresses a contempt for the character she plays. In a 1998 interview for New York Magazine, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss inadvertently slaps the faces of those who revere her character by saying Elaine is nuts and has self-esteem issues (Smith). Louis-Dreyfuss also stated that any man who hopes to have a woman like Elaine is a “moron.” (citation). Julia Louis-Dreyfuss wasn’t speaking out of anger. She was speaking honestly about the characters, acknowledging that they’re terrible people and people tune in to laugh at them and feel better about themselves.  Denying the notion that people look up to the show’s characters, she compared watching Seinfeld to Jerry Springer. Meaning the same way viewers watch the Jerry Springer and laugh at how bad the people on the show are and how glad they are that they’re not like them is the same way they see Seinfeld.

        Elaine Benes may be a free spirit but she isn’t the hero of an entire gender. Although she doesn’t act in ways that abide to the traditional views of single women in their 20s she doesn’t display qualities that exemplify a powerful woman. Her initial exclusion restricted her from being a big part of the show. When she was given the dialogue and story inclusion to make an impact she did nothing with it to assist women or uphold the feminist image. Although she fits in with Post-feminism, she wouldn’t be the best mascot for the branch. Maybe viewers choose to put on their nostalgia goggles and look at Elaine through rose-colored lenses. While Elaine’s self-serving lifestyle and sexuality might be something to admire, she falls flat in everything else.

Works Cited

"The Bizarro Jerry" Seinfeld: The Complete Eighth Season. Anonymous Perf. Seinfeld, Jerry, Jason Alexander, Julia-Louis Dreyfuss, et al. Sony Pictures, 1996.

Andrae, Thomas. "Television's First Feminist: "the Avengers" and Female Spectatorship." Discourse 18.3 (1996): 112-36. Print.

Armstrong, Jennifer, Keishin, "Seinfeld's Elaine Benes, a Woman Among Nebbishy Men, Is a Feminist Heroine." damemagazine.com. 7/2/14 2014.Web.
<http://www.damemagazine.com/2014/07/02/seinfelds-elaine-benes-woman-among-nebbishy-men-feminist-heroine>.

Brandenburg, Eric J. "John AndrewSeior, VP Creative DirectorKachew." animationmagazine.net. 5/4/05 2005.Web. Animation Magazine. <http://www.animationmagazine.net/people/john-andrewssenior-vp-creative-directorkachew/>.

"The Implant" Seinfeld: The Complete Fourth Season. Dir. Cherones, Tom. Prod. David Larry. Perf. Seinfeld Jerry, Jason Alexander, and Michael RIchards. Sony Pictures, 1993.

Ivins-Hulley, Laura. "Narrowcasting Feminism: MTV's Daria [this is an]." Journal of Popular Culture 47.6 (2014): 1198-212. Print.

Smith, Chris. "Single (Not that there’s Anything Wrong with that!)
  " New York Magazine 30 March. 1998 1998Print.

Queen of the Castle: The Elaine Bennes Story. Dir. Tom Cherones. Prod. Cherones Tom. Perf. Dreyfuss, Julia-Louis, David, Larry, Seinfeld, Jerry. Sony Pictures, 2006.

Paper 1 - Reflection

     The basic claim of the project was to show how Seinfeld relates to me personally and how it connects with the Everything’s a Remix videos. This project is supposed to be a feeler for what’s to come in the class. It’s supposed to warm us up to analyzing how Seinfeld still has relevance in today’s society. From this paper I learned that even in an opinionated paper, facts are needed. In the second draft I made the connections between Seinfeld and myself more clear by providing examples. I also made my arguments about Seinfeld being an influence on today’s television more clearly. I also had to get rid of few things that didn't do anything for my paper such as the paragraph about Seinfeld being the spur of shows being named after the main character.

     I could definitely use more examples from Seinfeld episodes and episodes of the shows I compared it to. My comparisons worked well but they were a bit shallow at times. If I added specific episode examples my paper would've been more in-depth and readers could see the connections easier. My voice and style was consistent but I feel that I came off like I was ranting at times. If I could back up my claims with more cold, hard facts I’ll be fine.

Paper 1 - Seinfeld and Me (Final Draft)

Deion A. Sainvil

Jeff Naftzinger

ENC 1145

2 February 2015

Seinfeld and Me

     I actually wasn’t raised watching Seinfeld. My parents never watched the show; as a matter of fact, my father hated it. It was through word of mouth that I heard of Seinfeld and one day it was on Crackle so I watched a few episodes. I wouldn’t say that I was “hooked,” but I do like the show and, nix my dad, so does the rest of America. There are two kinds of anything in this world: pioneers and settlers. Seinfeld is a pioneer. Since its premiere in 1989 Seinfeld has changed the way sitcoms are written. Gone are the days of learning life lessons in thirty minutes every week. Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld destroyed that and implemented a system in which characters are acceptingly flawed and do nothing to change. It’s a system that’s worked for over 25 years and it wouldn’t have been so successful if people didn’t relate to it or if came at a bad time.

     “Show me your friends and I’ll show you who you are as a person.” I relate to Seinfeld because  I had a group of friends like Jerry, George and Elaine in high school. Eddie and Calvin were the Jerry’s because they were the smartest of the group and they would always have a smart ass, condescending response to the things we said to each other. I was probably a hybrid of George and Kramer because I was a loose cannon like Kramer and there were and still are many instances where I stuck my foot in my mouth and had moments when my lips moved faster than my brain like George. Eddie’s girlfriend, Brittney was our Elaine. She brought the much needed feminine touch to the group and helped us out with our girl troubles.

     Close friends have an influence on us. Often times we act like them. To take it a step further, our closest friends are manifestations of our multiple personalities. They represent who we are or who we could be. Being around Calvin and Eddie all of the time motivated me. They were hard workers and very competitive about their grades. Brittney helped me to become more sensitive of other people’s feelings. She reminded me that sometimes I have to be politically correct and or just not say the things I would say to the guys.  There were moments where Jerry reacted to a situation in a Kramer, George or Elaine fashion. That’s why Jerry, George, Kramer and Elaine get along so well, they’re the same person. George is Jerry’s neurotic side, Kramer is his wild side, and Elaine is his keen and extroverted side. Heck, look at Newman. He’s familiar Jerry and his group, but he has the best relationship with Kramer. That’s because they’re the same degree of crazy.

     We can relate to Seinfeld because we’ve all had moments when we compromised or moral values and considered it a victory. Sometimes rules are meant to be broken. You can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. These are philosophies that are a part of our culture and they have been exercised in Seinfeld many of times. Maybe we didn’t drug a woman to play with her toys or break into someone’s house to erase a voicemail or steal the last marble rye from an elderly woman but there have been a few times in our lives when we consciously broke the rules and regretted nothing. My moment of morality questioning victory came in the 9th grade when I cheated on an English exam and got an A on the test. In my defense the teacher, was an adversary who did everything in his power to get me a C or lower in his class. So when I cheated on that exam I did it with the biggest smile on my face. I was so happy that I told my parents who weren’t amused with what I thought was an accomplishing feat.

    Seinfeld couldn’t have come at a better time. Since its debut, there’s been a dearth of sitcoms that aim to teach life lessons every week. Coming of age sitcoms are a thing of the past. Nobody learns anything anymore. The only thing they learn is that they’re terrible people and they seem to be okay with that. They accept the fact that they’re flawed. The success of Snow White showed that movies based on popular kid’s books were a profitable market. This allowed MGM to take a chance on The Wizard of Oz. Seinfeld is the Snow White of the modern American sitcom. Half of the sitcoms on air right now wouldn’t have made it past the sales pitch if we were still tuning into shows like Family Ties.

     While Seinfeld did set the tone for a generation of sitcoms, it’s not the first of its kind. Ecclesiastes 1:9 “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” The Everything’s a Remix video also supports this notion. Nothing is created out of thin air without inspiration. Larry David has been on the record saying that Woody Allen is a big influence on him. You can see that in the show: the constant analysis of everything, the neurotic characters, the Jewish influence and New York City setting. These are all trademarks of Woody’s work. There’s definitely more that went into the maturation of Seinfeld, but as for now, that’s the only source I can trace.
   
     If you look at Chuck Lorre comedies such as The Big Bang Theory, which is undoubtedly the biggest sitcom on air right now and Two and a Half Men, which will finally kick the bucket this year, you see unapologetic jerks that expect the world to deal with their flaws rather than work on them. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is another show that comes to mind. The main characters literally do the dumbest things to entertain themselves and by the end of the day, no matter how much trouble they get into, they never learn anything. In “Charlie Wants an Abortion” Dennis and Mac go to an abortion rally to pick up women while Charlie deals with a kid who he suspects is his own. At the end of the episode the kid isn’t Charlie’s so he’s never seen again and Mac and Dennis learn nothing about abortion.

     During his interview on Inside the Actor’s Studio Chris Rock mentioned Jerry Seinfeld telling him that when a comedian gets big “they” give him The Kit. In that kit is a TV show, a book deal, and a movie deal. After Rock’s 1996 stand up special “Bring the Pain” he had his own show on HBO. Jerry Seinfeld may not have been the reason this kit was invented but his show’s success has helped comedians bring their material and personal lives to sitcoms. Before Seinfeld comedians used to have to play a role like everybody else. Take Robin Williams in Mork and Mindy for example. Or look at Redd Foxx in Sanford and Son. Both men were successful comedians during their shows’ runs but they had to play characters who they didn’t write. Now it seems that every rising pilot get his or her own pilot even if it’s not for a sitcom. The Bernie Mac Show is based on a bit Bernie Mac did on The Original Kings of Comedy Tour. Everybody Loves Raymond is based on the lives of Ray Romano and show creator Philp Rosenthal. Shows like Inside Amy Schumer, Chappelle’s Show, Tosh.0, and Louie have turned headliners into household names.

     Once a body of work has been created and forms its own identity, it goes from being the copier to the copied. A lot of sitcoms today get their character inspiration from Seinfeld. The best example of a show that follows closely in Seinfeld’s footsteps is Mulaney. Mulaney imitates Seinfeld almost to a fault. John Mulaney plays a rising comedian who lives in New York City and has misadventures with his friends. From the trailer we can see that Mulaney is Jerry, Jane is Elaine, Motif is George and Andre is Kramer. We can also see a hint of romantic tension between Mulaney and Jane that was present in Seinfeld’s early episodes. The title of the show itself doesn’t fall too far from the tree it came from.

     Hate it or love it, Seinfeld revolutionized television. Since its debut, sitcoms have become more about nothing. There’s no more hugging and music played at the end. Comedians can use sitcoms as an avenue to get their material more exposure. Every year, we see a dozen copycat pilots aired and we know where they got their ideas. Although, we don’t know for sure from whom or what Seinfeld stole from, Seinfeld is its own brand. Yada, yada, yada, Larry David’s a genius.

Paper 1 - Seinfeld and Me

Deion A. Sainvil
Jeff Naftzinger
ENC 1145
2 February 2015

Seinfeld and Me

     I actually wasn’t raised watching Seinfeld. My parents never watched the show; as a matter of fact, my father hated it. It was through word of mouth that I heard of Seinfeld and one day it was on Crackle so I watched a few episodes. I wouldn’t say that I was “hooked,” but I do like the show and, nix my dad, so does the rest of America. There are two kinds of anything in this world: pioneers and settlers. Seinfeld is a pioneer. Since its premiere in 1989 Seinfeld has changed the way sitcoms are written. Gone are the days of learning life lessons in thirty minutes every week. Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld destroyed that and implemented a system in which characters are acceptingly flawed and do nothing to change. It’s a system that’s worked for over 25 years and it wouldn’t have been so successful if people didn’t relate to it or if came at a bad time.

    “Show me your friends and I’ll show you who you are as a person.” I relate to Seinfeld because I have friends. Close friends have an influence on us. Often times we act like them. To take it a step further, our closest friends are manifestations of our multiple personalities. They represent who we are or who we could be. I’m sure there were moments where Jerry reacted to a situation in a Kramer, George or Elaine fashion. That’s why Jerry, George, Kramer and Elaine get along so well, they’re the same person. George is Jerry’s neurotic side, Kramer is his wild side, and Elaine is his keen and extroverted side. Heck, look at Newman. He’s familiar Jerry and his group, but he has the best relationship with Kramer. That’s because they’re the same degree of crazy.

     We all can relate to Seinfeld because we all go through the mundane motions of everyday life. We’ve all had to wait an absurd amount of time for a table at least once. We’ve all lied in an attempt to impress someone. Even if we’ve never worn a puffy shirt on a live TV or dealt with a recently converted Jewish dentist, we’ve all experienced something of that nature. Seinfeld is relatable because it makes light of those trivial gripes of life. It’s the characters making big deals of things that we normally grumble about that makes it funny. It’s like we secretly want to react the way Jerry, George, Kramer and Elaine would.    

      Seinfeld couldn’t have come at a better time. Since Seinfeld’s debut, there’s been a dearth of sitcoms that aim to teach life lessons every week. Coming of age sitcoms are a thing of the past. Nobody learns anything anymore. The only thing they learn is that they’re terrible people and they seem to be okay with that. They accept the fact that they’re flawed. The success of Snow White showed that movies based on popular kid’s books were a profitable market. This allowed MGM to take a chance on The Wizard of Oz. Seinfeld is the Snow White of the modern American sitcom. Half of the sitcoms on air right now wouldn’t have made it past the sales pitch if we were still tuning into shows like Family Ties.

      If you look at Chuck Lorre comedies such as The Big Bang Theory, which is undoubtedly the biggest sitcom on air right now and Two and a Half Men, which will finally kick the bucket this year, you see unapologetic jerks that expect the world to deal with their flaws rather than work on them. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is another show that comes to mind. The main characters literally do the dumbest things to entertain themselves and by the end of the day, no matter how much trouble they get into, they never learn anything. In “Charlie Wants an Abortion” Dennis and Mac go to an abortion rally to pick up women while Charlie deals with a kid who he suspects is his own. At the end of the episode the kid isn’t Charlie’s so he’s never seen again and Mac and Dennis learn nothing about abortion.

    “It’s my world and you’re just living in it.” Seinfeld made this term a popular theme in sitcoms. The title tells you all that you need to know. Out with the co-stars, in with the marquee name. Before Seinfeld, there were shows like Cheers where the stars of the show were the group of friends. There was always a main character, but one couldn’t tell who it was if he or she were to watch a random episode. Back then, and with a few exceptions, the only shows to have the star’s name in the title were variety shows. Seinfeld led the way for Martin, Malcolm and Eddie, Becker, Frazier, Dharma and Greg, George Lopez, and Mulaney.

      Thanks to Seinfeld comedians can easily bring their material to sitcoms. They used to have to play a role like everybody else. Take Robin Williams in Mork and Mindy for example. Or look at Redd Foxx in Sanford and Son. Because of the success of Seinfeld, comedians can have their own shows based on their acts. The Bernie Mac Show is based on a bit Bernie Mac did on The Original Kings of Comedy Tour. Ray Romano and Everybody Loves Raymond, Chris Rock and Everybody hates Chris.

       While Seinfeld did set the tone for a generation of sitcoms, it’s not the first of its kind. Ecclesiastes 1:9 “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” The Everything’s a Remix video also supports this notion. Nothing is created out of thin air without inspiration. There was definitely a show, movie or play like Seinfeld but the mass majority probably never heard of it. Maybe it flopped; maybe it’s not foreign. Regardless, Seinfeld has been done before. Larry David has been on the record saying that Woody Allen is a big influence on him. You can see that in the show: the constant analysis of everything, the neurotic characters, the Jewish influence and New York City setting. These are all trademarks of Woody’s work. There’s definitely more that went into the maturation of Seinfeld, but as for now, that’s the only source I can trace.

         Once a body of work has been created and forms its own identity, it goes from being the copier to the copied. A lot of sitcoms today get their character inspiration from Seinfeld. Seinfeld can be credited for the 20-something-year-old-single-and-living-in-a-big-city character starter pack. This package includes: the leader, a kind-hearted but easily swayed straight man; the best friend who sometimes gives good advice but for the most part is a buffoon; the primitive friend who’s the loosest cannon of the bunch; and the compassionate, but self-centered friend who has a romantic history with the leader. New Girl is a current show that purchased that package and put a twist on it. Jess is the leader, Winston is the buffoon best friend… sort of. Nick is the self-centered one and Schmidt is the primitive loose cannon. Cece and Coach complicate this example, but the blueprint is there.

        The best example of a show that follows closely in Seinfeld’s footsteps is Mulaney. Mulaney imitates Seinfeld almost to a fault. John Mulaney plays a rising comedian who lives in New York City and has misadventures with his friends. His three best friends are another comedian but a fool, a primitive neighbor, and a female character who may or may not share a romantic history with Mulaney. The title of the show itself doesn’t fall too far from the tree it came from.

        Love it or hate it, Seinfeld revolutionized television. Since its debut, sitcoms have become more about nothing. There’s no more hugging and music played at the end. Comedians can use sitcoms as an avenue to get their material more exposure. Every year, we see a dozen copycat pilots aired and we know where they got their ideas. Although, we don’t know for sure from whom or what Seinfeld stole from, Seinfeld is its own brand. Yada, yada, yada, Larry David’s a genius.

About me | Class reflection

        My name is Deion A. Sainvil and I am a freshman at Florida State University. This is my portfolio for my ENC 1145 class. When I’m not in class, I’m blogging, writing for FSView’s Arts & Cultures section, and trying to get better in Fifa.

         I didn't know what to expect from this class at first. I was under the impression that we were going to watch Seinfeld episodes every day and write about them. I thought one of our projects would be writing an episode. Boy was I wrong. This class has been great even though it wasn't what I expected. Right off the bat the first thing I learned in this was how legit MLA format and proper citations are.

         I took a Creative Writing class at a local community college during my sophomore year of high school. It introduced me to workshops and gave me a glimpse of what a college English class looks like. We didn't do any research papers. High school prepared me for research papers, in-text citations, MLA format and all of that. It wasn't enforced as strongly. It was more of an introduction. So the Seinfeld research paper and the Jeopardy game we played were two eye opening experiences that informed me the importance of proper citations and formatting.

        Because of this class I know what it means to have a portfolio and how important it could be to have one. I guess resumes and cover letters aren't all that is needed anymore, now you have to show and prove what you've done. I’ll keep this in mind for the future. The only thing that makes me skeptical is someone stealing ideas or work from my portfolio.

       This class has helped me prepare for the future by deadlines, as if I don’t have enough of those already. The days in class where we would peer review each other’s papers showed me that there is always room for improvement. And that’s what I found most beneficial to my learning. That there’s no such thing as a perfect paper. Whether it’s a research paper or it’s an opinion piece there are always going to be things to refute the argument or statements made that can be elaborated further. There is no paper that can argue or cover a topic and be able to cite every source on it. Knowing this we just have to write to our personal satisfaction and call it a day. I would give myself a B- in participation. I wasn't by any means talkative in class but I did all of the work and I rose my hand or said an answer out loud once or twice a week.

Below are links to my papers:

Paper 1 Final

Paper 2 Final

Viral Campaign