The Joyless Exuberance Of Going Out
When Netflix announced that they are going to put all seasons of Seinfeld in their catalogue - I immediately started wondering what the show blurb will say. I never liked Seinfeld - or most sitcoms from that era (Friends, South Park) - because they were about a bunch of irredeemable characters with no seeming direction in life. They were all terrible role models for friendship and made it cool to be a philistine - influencing an entire generation to conflate sarcasm with friendship and gossiping with conversation. If any of the characters had a meaningful job - they were usually the butt of all the crass and humorless jokes. So I was quite smugly pleased when I finally saw the blurb
The "show about nothing" is a sitcom landmark...
Of course. The show is about nothing - where nothing matters and using the word 'whatever' is a sign of gleaming intelligence. I, obviously, am a mere speck in the dust to have any power whatsoever against the all knowing and all powerful Netflix algorithm and I immediately pressed play when it was 'suggested' for me. Finally someone who misunderstands me more than my ex.
The first stand up routine they show in the pilot is about - Going Out. He says 'Going out is one of the single most enjoyable experiences of life'
He is right. I love going out. I have been lucky enough to have gone out in cities which are known for going out. There is no distraction in life better than - going out. Although what Jerry Seinfeld doesn't tell you is how one feels after. About how life becomes when the sole purpose of every weekend becomes distraction disguised as entertainment. What he doesn't tell you is that being on the hedonic treadmill of seeking pleasure ultimately leads to a sense of emptiness within. Going out makes you feel exuberant in the moment, and yet nothing in hindsight. He did warn us though by making a show about nothing.
Almost all scriptures agree on one thing - the journey is within. How may we inspire a generation to go in - into their minds where they can conjure a way out of this nothingness to build a path towards something meaningful. Where the purpose of life is joy, not pleasure - where going in is a ritual, not an after effect of a dreadful hangover - where you have to spend time with your mind for a bit, because your body is tired of going out.