Final First Draft

Television has been a mainstream form of media for decades and what is being shown on the channels are sending out an image, a message which the public take, whether they realize it or not. There are shows that the public don't suspect to be creating or redefining an image in society and those tend to be the comical shows, the sitcoms. As the 90's came close the number of sitcoms grew and they were based on all different story lines and have different backgrounds. The series Seinfeld became very popular as it spanned nine years. The length of the sitcom shows that its story lines were interesting and unique to keep the audience watching for that amount of time. The show was based on four friends living in the Upper West Side of Manhattan and they encounter many unique people and stories. These stories includes romances, friends and relationships with people from a variety of backgrounds. The issue with this variety is how do the plots construe the different races and ethnicities in the characters in the show.
In a search for an explanation to how Seinfeld portrayed races and ethnicities the article "“Does He Actually Say the Word Jewish?” – Jewish Representations in Seinfeld" by Rosalin Krieger gives examples of how the show expressed it Jewishness. Krieger does so by giving specific examples of the characters. She did that in a way to prove her argument that the Jewish representations of the show were because of tradition of self-censorship. She points out that in the show the characters don't openly express their jewishness, but in subtle ways and trying to emphasize the opposite stereotype that they are indeed showing its Jewishness. The reason she gives for why the show was not too open with the character's race and ethnicity is that at the time the came out there wasn't many successful shows that were based on a race or ethnicity. The censorship on races caused those shows to be cancelled. In order for Seinfeld to be successful, it tried to stay away from the characters actual heritage. Overall in the show they tried to stay away from race in religion, unless it was used in a comical way like the Festivas. The Festivus is a holiday the Constanzas made up to be an alternate to Christmas. The Festivus (for the rest of us) was a holiday for non-Christians, but in Krieger's opinion was supposed to be, the Jewish Holiday Hanukah. It are these spins and analysis that Krieger makes to acknowledge the representation of Jewishness in the show. And it is that same analysis needed to understand why episodes of the show would then depict a different race or ethnicity. Her explanations of the character’s appearance and personal lifestyles shows the Jewish ethnicity and by using that analysis to look at entire episodes that are based of off a race or ethnicity could explain why they used that story, how they portrayed the image in comparison to the original.
Rosalin Krieger thinks the shows tries to hide most of its ethnicities because it wasn't accepted, but in doing so it creates those subtle jokes that make the show funny. The avoidance of basing the show off of a race, religion or ethnicity strips away a part of reality from the show and when episodes pertaining to different racial stereotypes air they made the show realistic in that it was adopting those stereotypes from the nation’s culture and reflects the image back to them. In doing so they are also diffusing the tension of those racial matters. It is just like trying to hide the Jewishness in order to not be judged on it, but the opposite. They are coming right with the jokes, and trying to make light of the situation. Seinfeld was used in a way to represent the American population and try to change common beliefs and situations through hiding or exposing race and ethnicity.
Seinfeld's use of stereotypes were exploited in several instances to create and entire episode. It are these episodes that a wider audience could relate to because it is dealing with a larger image. In the episode called "Soup Nazi" the gang learns about this soup place which is to die for. The problem with the store is that it is owned by one of the strictest men alive, hence the name "Soup Nazi". They are using the connection with the term Nazi and the control in which Germany was under to describe this character. He had his rules of how to proceed into the store then order. Everything was structured, just like with the Nazis. When someone stepped out of line or did something improper the "Soup Nazi" would assert his authority and say, "No soup for you!". Sometimes he would even ban the person from the store for a certain amount of time. George's character asked for bread and was being charged and he pointed out that others before him were getting it for free, for speaking his mind in order to be treated fairly he was refused of his soup. Elaine's character also tested him, as she didn't believe he was the strict man that he was and took her time ordering banging on the counter. For doing that she was banned for an entire year. She was in shock that a man would actually follow the style of the Nazi's in that day in age. Later in the episode, Kramer gets a cabinet from the Soup Nazi and gives it to Elaine. When the Soup Nazi found it was for Elaine he was irate which says that his friendship with Kramer isn’t as important as his business. This also closely resembles Hitler’s mottos.
The character was clearly mocking that of Nazi Germany which has been a tense situation. The question is posed why was this character there, why was he presented in that fashion. The character himself was actually based off a real person, Al Yeganeh. Yeganeh was actually an immigrant of Iranian descent who owned a Soup Kitchen in Manhattan. He apparently also followed most of the strict rules that were presented in the episode. Seinfeld and Larry David saw this as a chance to present turn the story into a more controversial topic because Yeganeh’s style so closely resembles it. However we don’t know the actual ethnicity of the man playing the Soup Nazi in the show, his real name was not even said in the episode. It wasn’t until the very last episode of the show that they revealed it. By doing this the audience doesn’t get to know who the man is, all they know is that he is the Soup Nazi and when you hear the word Nazi people think and expect to style and actual representation of that.
The show stayed true and portrayed him as a dictator that did things his own way. However, it is way the main characters in the show interacted with him that created the accepted comedy. The main characters, described by Krieger, are very self involved people and come up with the craziest thoughts about people so they could reason that they are better. Better meaning, they are just pleasing their own egos and get what they want and if something goes wrong they blame it on the other person. The show’s success has been based on these four making fun of the styles each other and and the other characters they encounter. What the show is trying to do is incorporate these larger and more controversial issues into their comedy routines. In doing so they are trying to bring this issue in terms with an American experience. Even though they may make politically incorrect marks, they are taking in this sticky topic to show that it can be taken in a less extreme and a more casual manner.
Seinfeld shows an inclusion of race and ethnicity in order to raise the public image of the topic and mold it into an American custom. They are taking what the cultural displays and using that to reproduce a new image to the public. It is the inclusion of the American cultures into television and the acceptance of the edgy jokes that makes the show successful.