In "The Alternate Side," an episode from the sitcom Seinfeld, Cosmo Kramer drops his groceries while walking by the set of a Woody Allen movie. This makes Woody Allen laugh, so Kramer gets a line in the movie: "These pretzels are making me thirsty!" The movie team is taking advantage of Kramer's clumsiness in order to add a humorous persona to their cast. Kramer is thrilled to have a small part in an important movie even though he is nothing more than an object of amusement. He benefits the movie producers by filling a role yet he is undervalued.
In Albert Camus's novel The Stranger, Meusrault only becomes friends with his neighbor, Raymond Sintès, because Raymond needs a person to unload his problems on. “Generally speaking, [Raymond's] not very popular. But he often talks to me and sometimes stops by my place for a minute, because I listen to him." Raymond makes Meursault write an aggressive letter to Raymond's cheating mistrss, “one with a punch and also some things in it to make her sorry for what she’s done.” Only after Meursault had finished did Raymond allow them to be "pals." Meursault did not mind writing the letter, but he was still a pawn in Raymond's scheme and Raymond does not appear to appreciate Meursault's kindness during their meeting.
Seinfeld's Cosmo Kramer and The Stranger's Meursault are both being taken advantage of and underappreciated. The characters are requested by someone who selfishly wants to utilize them, Raymond or Woody Allen. Although Meursault and Kramer are important and doing something kind, they are not respected. However, they are both too laid back to mind, and therefore are easy targets for their superiors.
Your comparison of Kramer and Meursault gave me a new perspective on the similarities between Seinfeld and The Stranger. I never thought about how both characters were being taken advantage of.
ReplyDeleteIn the future, perhaps try to encorperate the quotes better into your main points instead of having them as separate sentences. :)
ReplyDeleteincorporate. thank you for your input, gabby.
DeleteI enjoyed your piece because I had never thought about how both Seinfeld and The Stranger explore how friendships are often times based on utility. Meursault and Kramer are both viewed as objects by their "friends". Other examples friends being taken advantage of would be the relationship between Marie and Meursault and the relationship between Elaine and the old man. Elaine and Marie are both being used for sex.
ReplyDeleteIt is incredibly true that Kramer and Meursault are blind to others taking advantage of them, but as you pointed out they seem not to mind because Kramer and Meursault are laid back. There is a possibility that they do not mind not because they are laid back, but simply because they do not care about anything at all. In the future, perhaps you could consider incorporating some analysis in which you connect the two characters by their philosophical stances. For example, because they seem not care about anything maybe you could have said they were both absurdists or existentialists and then explained why along with textual evidence.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great connection because when one thinks of a nihilist, for example, they may think of someone who is hard to get through to because they don't care about anything and that includes what anybody else says. This shows that the opposite is true for both cases; they don't care so they are submissive because it doesn't matter to them.
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