During an interview with GQ about his debut film Unfrosted, a Netflix-backed fictional comedy about the creation of Pop-Tarts, Jerry Seinfeld unloaded on the self-seriousness of Hollywood, describing film as an outdated cultural medium that has been replaced with general “disorientation” and “malaise.”
“It was totally new to me. I thought I had done some cool stuff, but it was nothing like the way these people work,” Seinfeld said regarding his first go at directing a movie. “They’re so dead serious! They don’t have any idea that the movie business is over. They have no idea.”
They asked him if he was serious. He said yes, and replied: “Film doesn’t occupy the pinnacle in the social, cultural hierarchy that it did for most of our lives. When a movie came out, if it was good, we all went to see it. We all discussed it. We quoted lines and scenes we liked. Now we’re walking through a fire hose of water, just trying to see.”
Jerry Seinfeld quips "the movie business is over."
“Film doesn’t occupy the pinnacle in the social, cultural hierarchy that it did for most of our lives. When a movie came out, if it was good, we all went to see it. We all discussed it. We quoted lines and scenes we liked. Now… pic.twitter.com/skQ5LUATNE
— Variety (@Variety) April 22, 2024
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They asked if this is true, what has film been replaced with?
“Depression? Malaise? I would say confusion. Disorientation replaced the movie business,” he replied. “Everyone I know in show business, every day, is going, ‘What’s going on? How do you do this? What are we supposed to do now?’”
“I’ve done enough stuff that I have my own thing, which is more valuable than it’s ever been,” Seinfeld said, referring to his work as a comedian, actor, and show writer. “Stand-up is like you’re a cabinetmaker, and everybody needs a guy who’s good with wood. … There’s trees everywhere, but to make a nice table, it’s not so easy. So, the metaphor is that if you have good craft and craftsmanship, you’re kind of impervious to the whims of the industry.”
The recent success of stand-up comedians, like Shane Gillis, Andrew Schultz, and Mark Normand, has not been lost on Seinfeld. “Audiences are now flocking to stand-up because it’s something you can’t fake,” he added. “It’s like platform diving. You could say you’re a platform diver, but in two seconds we can see if you are or you aren’t. That’s what people like about stand-up. They can trust it. Everything else is fake.”
Shane Devine is a writer covering politics and business for VT and a regular guest on The Unusual Suspects. Follow Shane’s work here.
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