Etch a Sketch in Paradise
Curb Your Enthusiasm - Season 7 (2009)
rating: 3 out of 5 cravats
on DVR at Stealth's
I've always thought of Curb Your Enthusiasm as the anti-Seinfeld. A lot of people consider Larry David the ultimate asshole, but unlike Jerry, Elaine, Kramer, and George, it isn't so much that Larry is self-absorbed as he is unwilling to deal with what he considers the selfish, superficial conventions of most day-to-day interactions. The joy of Curb Your Enthusiasm is watching a sane man cope in an insane world.
As the series stretches on, I think Larry the writer sometimes loses sight of that and slips into thinking about Larry the character as a fictional alter-ego of George Costanza (a copy of a copy). For instance, George is someone who would date a woman in a wheelchair in order to impress the people who don't like him. CYE might include a woman in a wheelchair, but Larry would help her in some small way for the right reason, only to have Ted Danson or Michael York mistake that kindheartedness for something cynical or perverse. I like to think I'm on Larry's side, but when he acts like George, I'm not.
Surprisingly, the Seinfeld subplot was pretty funny. I didn't expect to sympathize with the friendship between Larry and Jerry, but neither one of them can fool the other because they've known each other for so long. Larry's friendship with Jeff is a little different; there's more love in the relationship, and with Jeff cheating on Susie more gratuitously than he has in the past, it's nice to see that Jeff and Larry stay loyal.
But the best surprise this season was Marty Funkhouser. I never understood why he and Larry ever spent time in each other's company, since Funkhouser couldn't seem to stand LD. Was Marty Cheryl's friend first? Or is someone with that physical presence and that voice just too good to pass up for a foil? In Season 7, Funkhouser hits the clubhouse with Larry and Jeff, tells dirty jokes on the Seinfeld set, and even covers for Larry when the latter kills a bird. Suddenly, instead of a humorless jerk, Marty's a clueless frat brother. Instead of Larry and Jeff against the world, Larry gets a gang.
rating: 3 out of 5 cravats
on DVR at Stealth's
I've always thought of Curb Your Enthusiasm as the anti-Seinfeld. A lot of people consider Larry David the ultimate asshole, but unlike Jerry, Elaine, Kramer, and George, it isn't so much that Larry is self-absorbed as he is unwilling to deal with what he considers the selfish, superficial conventions of most day-to-day interactions. The joy of Curb Your Enthusiasm is watching a sane man cope in an insane world.
As the series stretches on, I think Larry the writer sometimes loses sight of that and slips into thinking about Larry the character as a fictional alter-ego of George Costanza (a copy of a copy). For instance, George is someone who would date a woman in a wheelchair in order to impress the people who don't like him. CYE might include a woman in a wheelchair, but Larry would help her in some small way for the right reason, only to have Ted Danson or Michael York mistake that kindheartedness for something cynical or perverse. I like to think I'm on Larry's side, but when he acts like George, I'm not.
Surprisingly, the Seinfeld subplot was pretty funny. I didn't expect to sympathize with the friendship between Larry and Jerry, but neither one of them can fool the other because they've known each other for so long. Larry's friendship with Jeff is a little different; there's more love in the relationship, and with Jeff cheating on Susie more gratuitously than he has in the past, it's nice to see that Jeff and Larry stay loyal.
But the best surprise this season was Marty Funkhouser. I never understood why he and Larry ever spent time in each other's company, since Funkhouser couldn't seem to stand LD. Was Marty Cheryl's friend first? Or is someone with that physical presence and that voice just too good to pass up for a foil? In Season 7, Funkhouser hits the clubhouse with Larry and Jeff, tells dirty jokes on the Seinfeld set, and even covers for Larry when the latter kills a bird. Suddenly, instead of a humorless jerk, Marty's a clueless frat brother. Instead of Larry and Jeff against the world, Larry gets a gang.
posted by NPK at 6:56 PM
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