Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Tuesdays with Media: Seinfeld

Seinfeld was a sitcom that aired from 1989 to 1998, though reruns continue to air to this day.  The basic premise of the show was where Jerry, a stand-up comedian, got his ideas for his jokes.  Yes, there was a big joke about how the "show [was] about nothing," but the original idea was that life is full of funny things that we can all relate to and laugh at together.

The really great thing about the show, in my opinion, was that all of the main characters were horrible people.  So many of the episodes were sharing the message of, "We can all relate to this one weird quirk about life, but that just makes us awful people."

I recently saw an episode where George, played by the very talented Jason Alexander, complains that he didn't get credit for putting money in the tip jar at a pizza place he went to because the cashier looked away when he added the money.  He further says that the only reason he ever tips anyone is so he can look like a nice guy.

The really funny part happened a few weeks later during a Sunday School lesson on the Sermon on the Mount.  We read and discussed where the Savior tells us to do our good works in secret and those that do their good works for the praise of men already have their reward.  So here was an episode that had a main plot point hinge around getting the praise of men for doing a good deed.  There were other great lessons to be learned from other episodes, as long as you do the opposite of what the main characters do.  Is it any wonder that the series ended with the four main characters being sent to prison?

So remember, Seinfeld wasn't a show about nothing, it was a show about how not to live your life.

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