A Larry David Moment

Curb Your Enthusiasm is a comedy I like. Curb Your Enthusiasm stars Larry David, one of the creators of Seinfeld. Larry David is an old, balding, bespectacled, semi-retired millionaire Jewish screenwriter who roams around LA and gets himself into sticky situations. With Larry David, everything is Murphy’s Law - he’s the hapless victim of circumstance. Everything that can go wrong does go wrong. Every episode is like this. And it's like Seinfeld, but a West Coast version and minus the laughtrack, and IMO superior in every way. The handheld camerawork adds a documentary/reality-TV like dynamic. And it’s an HBO program, meaning it’s R-rated and no holds barred.

There’s one circumstance in which Larry holds the elevator door open for an oncoming woman. As they arrive at the doctor’s office, Larry, being the gentleman he is, lets the woman out first. The obese woman proceeds and signs in first at the reception, and Larry proceeds afterwards. The nurse then calls for the woman, which would’ve been OK.... except that Larry David’s appointment was scheduled first! The nurse informs him that it’s on a first-come first-serve basis. Larry is flabbergasted – what sort of a policy was this?!? – and vents his vexation to the reception and the other patients in the waiting room. To no avail. Of course, the woman is in with the doctor forever. And of course, Larry is 45 minutes late for his rendez-vous with Diane Keaton, and is forced to explain himself... over something he had no control over. Classic.

The beauty of the show is how it manages to find hilarity in the social conventions and mundanity of life... tipping, voice mails fading out, doctor’s office waiting rooms, shoes in the house... All the humour is observational and situation-based, predicated on situations in which you find yourself thinking Hey, that can happen to me!

Larry David is Jerry Seinfeld and George Constanza melded into one. And it’s a sensibility I share, because I often see the humorous subtext of conversations and people and situations... which means I can oft be caught smirking at inopportune moments. There have been numerous times where I’ve just sat on the couch, smiling, and Smiley asks me “What’s so funny Sen”.

Others don’t share this sensibility. Is this a pseudo-Jewish thing? Incidentally, the guy I related to best at my last internship was Jewish. Eddie calls me “The Brown Jew” and I think this moniker fits me pretty well. I think I exhibit all the qualities of Jewishness – thrift, wit, liberal politics, a preoccupation with race, neuroticism, a big nose, myopia... I’m a goy without the curly hair, and I’m not filthy rich.

Moreover, I find it's a show I can relate to on some levels, because I find freakish parallels between my predicaments and the situations Larry David gets himself into - like him, a victim of misunderstanding, miscommunication, and unfortunate circumstance. 'Twas a week of many bridges burnt. So much drama, and more emotional turbulence than in all my months at 125 Columbia combined. There was the Facebook episode with Brock Campbell of Wednesday/Thursday, though a quick ceasefire was signed. Reading the post two entries down, my first reaction wasn’t grief or sorrow; it was to laugh at the guy’s hissy fit and latent homophobia. The fact that his words didn’t hurt me, even if that was his intent, that I found humour in his rage... is there something wrong with me? I’m so steely and mellow, I’m boring - I can’t really recall a time in recent memory when I’ve lost my cool... except on this blog!

Friday was even worse. One colleague gave me the cold shoulder the entire day. The other wouldn’t acknowledge my presence altogether. I went through the day thinking Fucking passive aggression... what’s the matter with them, why are they being like this. Finally I confronted said person and came to the realization that she was upset over what I had thought was a trivial joke. A Larry David moment. I promptly apologized.

One of my buddies asks me why I even care. Just say fuck them, these tightwads won’t be successful in life if they keep on like this and move on. I guess that’s a pretty good philosophy – I ought to stop blaming myself when the problem lies with people who don’t have their shit together. The problem is that I'm caught in a compromising situation, because my desire to be on friendly terms with people overrides my desire to occupy the moral high ground or settle a score. And yes, perhaps there’s a degree of social klutziness on my part, because I’m not used to relating to temperamental people who wear their emotions on their sleeves, and it's a bit of a difficult adjustment. But I am grateful for this exposure because I will come across many people like that through life, and I’m learning from this experience and making an honest effort for the better.

Last week would have been ripe for Curb Your Enthusiasm. I ought to send a script to Larry.



(Me last week.)