Seinfeld: The Outing
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In the Outing Episode, the two main characters of the show, Jerry and George, are "outed" in the newspaper by a reporter even though they really aren't gay. The reporter incorrectly discovers that they are "gay" by means of a hoax, and then whenever Jerry and George try to deny it, their "stereotypical" actions convince the reporter again and again that they are gay. The episode plays on two standard gay stereotypes, first, how gay people act and what they look like, and two, the politically correct way to talk about gay people.
The show represents how our culture perceive that gay people look and act, how straight people react to being accused of being gay, how their friends and relatives act upon learning they are gay, and what the politically correct response to learning someone is gay is supposed to be.
As with all Seinfeld episodes, the show is clever in all of the subplots that run through it. The show opens with Jerry, George and Elaine at a restaurant together. The director uses a long shot to display Jerry and George sitting next to each other on the same bench, this portrays them as touchy and comfortable with each other. They are waiting for an NYU student reporter, that Jerry has never met, to come to the restaurant to interview him. The reporter and Jerry cannot find each other therefore he walks off to call the reporter from the restaurant's pay phone and while that is happening, George and Elaine have a quick conversation about what they are going to buy Jerry for his birthday. George has bought a pair of Broadway tickets to Guys and Dolls, in which he plans to accompany Jerry to the play. That is the first hint of the subject matter of the show and the first representation, that gay people like Broadway shows bec...
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...many of the stereotypes that society holds of gay people. The show was written in the 1990s but many of those same beliefs still remain the same today.
Works Cited
"All Gays Love Theater." RSS. TvTropes, n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2013.
Being Gay: Coming Out In the 21st Century. New York, N.Y.: Films Media Group, 2005.
Kenrick, John. "Gays and Musicals 9 - What Is This Thing Called Love?" Gays and Musicals 9 - What Is This Thing Called Love? N.p., 2008. Web. 06 Dec. 2013.
ProCon.org. "16 States with Legal Gay Marriage and 33 States with Same-Sex Marriage Bans." ProCon.org. 20 Nov. 2013. Web. 5 Dec. 2013.
“The Outing.” Seinfeld: Season 4. Writ. Larry Charles. Dir. Tom Cherones. Sony, 2005. DVD.
"Why Do Some Gay Men Talk Different." Editorial. UofTMagazine 2012: n. pag. Http://www.magazine.utoronto.ca. University of Toronto Magazine, 2012. Web. 06 Dec. 2013.