For a live-action community sitcom, “Seinfeld” was unusually controversial. The collection as soon as killed off George’s fiancée Susan through a wedding-invite fiasco, and sometimes trafficked in racial stereotypes for comedic impact. The latter penchant was constantly defined away by the truth that the collection’ 4 central characters — Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer — had been usually the worst folks in any given state of affairs. And that is why so many individuals love the collection: it is a present about jerks behaving badly or pettily (one thing we’re all responsible of doing and being once in a while).
Did “Seinfeld” ever go too far? Throughout its preliminary run within the Nineteen Nineties, there have been complaints however hardly ever any motion to again them up. One exception was “The Puerto Rican Day,” the penultimate episode of your entire collection by which the gang will get caught in Higher East Facet visitors throughout New York Metropolis’s annual Puerto Rican Day parade. Their predicament stings all of the extra as a result of they maintain getting caught behind a purple Volkswagen Golf that will not enable them to go on a crowded Fifth Avenue. (That is the place Jerry and firm are being their common jerky selves, as switching lanes is futile.) The quartet step by step separates, with Elaine attempting to flee the revelry on foot, whereas the opposite three enterprise out to make use of an condo rest room by posing as potential tenants.
If this all sounds fairly de rigueur for a “Seinfeld” episode, it just about is till the climax, which sparked precise, feet-on-the-ground protests.
Close to the tip of “The Puerto Rican Day,” Kramer procures a sparkler and unintentionally units a Puerto Rican flag on hearth. He instantly panics and makes an attempt to place the hearth out by stomping on the flag. Clearly, this sight enrages the parade attendees, who descend on him. He is capable of escape the indignant mob, however upon reaching the condo the place Jerry and George are, all of them understand nobody is in Jerry’s automotive — at which level they appear out the window and see the mob attacking the car.
That point Seinfeld discovered to not mess with Puerto Rico
“The Puerto Rican Day” provoked protests from the Puerto Rican neighborhood, the timing of which was unlucky for “Seinfeld” on condition that the next week’s episode was the hotly anticipated collection finale (which additionally cheesed folks off). The state of affairs grew much more fraught when it was revealed that the “Seinfeld” writers had refused to point out the episode to the Nationwide Puerto Rican Coalition’s then president Manuel Mirabal. Author Alec Berg additional infected the matter by saying, “We do not seek the advice of a rabbinical council after we do a present about Jews.”
The protests labored; NBC by no means aired “The Puerto Rican Day” once more, and pulled it from “Seinfeld” syndication package deal. Was it justified in doing so? I am undecided, however I do know the Puerto Rican neighborhood completely had a proper to be livid (that and “The Puerto Rican Day” deserves its spot on /Movie’s listing of the 5 worst “Seinfeld” episodes). All of it comes right down to this straightforward query: would “Seinfeld” have ever been allowed to air an episode the place Kramer unintentionally burned the American flag and stomped on it? Not an opportunity. This was a bizarre sort of punching down humor that could not assist however come off as racially insensitive, even when the intent was to make enjoyable of Kramer’s trademark obliviousness.
Given how arduous the island nation has had it through the years, getting hammered by hurricanes and denied assist by the Trump administration, comedians would do properly to search out one other goal, particularly in the event that they suck out loud at stand-up.
