Should We Look to the Cookie?

One of Seinfelds greater feats in approaching controversial topics would be the fluid interaction with the issue of race. In "The Wizard", Elaine dates a man of an unkown ethnicity. She is completely satisfied with the relationship until his race is questioned and she becomes almost obsessed with figuring out the truth (Feb. 26, 1998). Constantly throughout the episode Jerry asks, "Should we be talking about this?". Seinfelds opinion on race remains unbiased yet it artfully shows the reality of societys discomfort with the topic. Although Seinfeld does not appear to be racist, its' characters frequently enhance ethnic stereotypes. Any ethnic character is usually stereotypical to the extreme such as the host in "The Chinese Restaurant" (may 23, 1991). In, "The Chinese Woman", Jerry's 'attraction' to a woman he met on the phone is brutely rebuffed when he discovers that despite her last name, 'Wong', she is a extremely jewish (Oct. 13, 1994). Here, Seinfeld highlights society's stereotypical thinking and superficial assumptions. Along with stereotypes an ignorance on race, Seinfeld portrays many people's hopeless outlook on the subject. During "The Dinner Party", Jerry eats a black and white cookie and spouts his philisophical parallelim of the cookie and racial issues in society, "The thing about eating the black and white cookie, Elaine, is you want to get some black and some white in each bite. Nothing mixes better than vanilla and chocolate. And yet somehow racial harmony eludes us. If people would only look to the cookie all our problems would be solved"(The Dinner Party Feb. 3, 1994). Not long after, the cookie causes him to vomit and ultimately display the idea that races cannot exist in harmoniously. Each of these circumstances show that Seinfeld does not take a stance on the subject, merely it displays our discomfort and unsure mannerisms about the issue.