Like millions of people in the last few days, I have seen the obnoxious rant by former Seinfeld “hipster doofus” Michael Richards on various news outlets, and like most, I was appalled and saddened by it. It’s hard to imagine what Richards was thinking, and regardless of what that might be, there is no excuse for it. In a Seinfeld episode entitled “The Letter” first aired on Mar. 25, 1992, one of Jerry’s never-ending string of girl friends painted a portrait of Kramer. Its buyer described the subject as “a loathesome, offensive brute, yet I cannot look away.” I think that is how many people view Michael Richards today.
I also saw the two young African-American men who were the objects of his wrath in an interview, who said the only thing they said to Richards was that “he was not funny.” I’m sure there are bystanders who could say who said what and to whom, but the irony of the whole situation does not escape me. You see there was a Seinfeld episode in which Jerry was heckled by an audience member and Kramer advises him to “tell the guy you had sex with his wife”. I’m sure Michael Richards wishes he had taken that sage advice, as offensive as it would be to some, it would not have created the firestorm that Richards’ real comments have caused.
I’ve never done stand up comedy myself, and apparently Richards has before, making it all the more inexplicable. I would think a racially charged diatribe would be about the worst way possible to deal with hecklers. In the 90’s movie Punchline, a comedian played by Tom Hanks asks a heckler “do you have naked pictures of your wife?. When the heckler responds “no”, Hanks’ character simply replies “would you like to buy some?”
Even though Seinfeld was the #1 rated show for much of the mid to late 90’s, there were reports at the time that it wasn’t nearly as big a hit with African-Americans. They introduced a few black characters into the show such as Jackie Chiles and George’s boss with the Yankees, Morgan. I’m assuming Jackie won’t be representing Richards in this matter.The show was never shy about tackling controversial topics, like race. In fact, in one episode George takes a black exterminator to dinner to prove to Morgan, that he has black friends and to have the man tell Morgan that he resembled boxer Sugar Ray Leonard. It seems George had already told Morgan that, to which Morgan replied “I suppose we all look alike to you”, so George’s idea was to get another black man to say the same thing. Ironically as soon as Morgan left, a black waiter came by and asked George “where did Sugar Ray go, I wanted his autograph”.
In more irony, there was another episode that first aired on Mar. 17, 1994 in which Michael Richards’ Kramer fell asleep in a tanning bed just before going to meet his new and black girl friend’s family. With a deep, dark tan, Kramer walks in with her, to which one of her relative’s (probably her Father) exclaims “I thought you were bringing home a white boy! I don’t see a white boy! All I see is a damn fool”!
Whether it revealed his true feelings or a complete lack of ability to deal with anger, either way the man has some demons that need to be dealt with immediately. This whole situation further proves that racism or the perception thereof is not confined to the South, as Richards is from California. There are many men of age 50 or older who still say things like that at times, usually not that obnoxious, but offensive nonetheless, but most don’t say it aloud in front of cameras and an audience. I don’t know how much better that is, but in my opinion, every American should view last years’ best picture Oscar winner, Crash, to see where we are as a nation when it comes to race relations. All racism is not White on Black, but all is equally appalling.
As for Michael Richards, I would hope that he would get counseling of some kind by a professional and deal with his demons, whatever they are. He surely doesn’t want a label like KKKramer to be the legacy of his life and career. As disgusting and disappointing as his behavior was, I enjoyed his work on Seinfeld and sincerely hope he can see how many people were hurt and angered by his comments and why, change his attitude and pick up the pieces of his life.
