The following essay is an excerpt from Chuck Klostermans I Wear the Black Hat:

Grappling With Villains (Real and Imagined), out now in paperback.

Theres a passage in the documentary The Perverts Guie to !eology here
dialectic !ar"ist superstar #la$o% &' i() ek goes on a tangent a*out ho to properly
satiri(e institutional poer+ His point, in essence, is that you cant success-ully
erode an institution *y attacking the person in charge+ .I suppose its possi*le
that this asnt exactly hat he as talking a*out, *ecause sometimes &' i() ek can
*e hard to -ollo+ But this as my takeaay, and my interpretation is $alid, e$en
i- its rong+ !isinterpretations can still *e accidentally true+/ 0ccording to &' i() ek,
attempting to satiri(e the pu*lic image o- a poer-ul person ine$ita*ly pro$es
impotent1 this is *ecause positions o- poer are designed to manipulate and
displace a high degree o- criticism+ 2ou can mock the president ith impunity
3nothing ill really happen to him or to you+ 4art o- the presidential %o*
description is the a*sorption o- pu*lic $itriol+ Its a ru**eri(ed target+ 0 comedic
assault doesnt change perception in any meaning-ul ay+ .5Its not the respect-ul
$oice that props up the status 6uo,7 !alcolm Gladell once noted+ 5It is the
mocking one+7 Gladell as su*se6uently mocked -or noting this so respect-ully+/
8lear, unsu*tle political satire on TV shos like "aturay #ight $ive and The %aily
"how and The Colbert &eport can succeed as entertainment, *ut they
unintentionally rein-orce the pree"isting orld: These $ehicles -rame the speci9ic
poer holder as the sole o*%ect o- scorn+ This has no impact *eyond com-orting
the ensla$ed+ 4oer holders3e$en straight:up dictators3are interchangea*le
9igureheads ith limited reach1 hat matters -ar more is the institutional system
those interchangea*le 9igureheads temporarily represent+
#o hat does this mean, outside o- an academic discussion a*out poer; Well,
may*e this: I- you ant to satiri(e the condition o- a society, going a-ter the ape"
o- the pyramid is a aste o- time+ 2ou need to attack the *ottom+ 2ou need to
ridicule the alleged ideological -oundation an institution claims to *e *uilt upon+
This is much, much more discom9iting than satiri(ing an ine--ectual prime
minister or a crack:smoking mayor+ This re6uires the $ili9ication o- innocent,
anonymous, orking:class people+ I- you ant to damage the political le-t, you
must skeer the le-ts *edrock myth3the idea that all people are e6ual and that
people ant to *e good (hich implies en-orced -airness ould make e$eryones
li-e *etter)+ I- you ant to damage the political right, you must likeise skeer
the rights *edrock myth3the *elie- that the human spirit is *oth sacrosanct and
irrepressi*le (hich implies un-ettered -reedom allos all people to prosper
e6ually)+ To illustrate ho either ideology is 9laed, you must demonstrate ho
those central notions are moronic+ 0nd this re6uires the satirist to present the
a$erage citi(en as a na<= $e sheep ho -ails to reali(e the hopelessness o- his or her
position+ The success-ul social satirist must sho a) ho the a$erage li*eral is
latently sel9ish and hypocritical, or *) ho the a$erage conser$ati$e -ails to
comprehend ho trapped he is *y the same system he supports+ 0 orld:class
satirist knos the truth a*out his audience and does not care ho e"posing that
truth ill make audiences -eel+
This is a di-9icult task (and i- you need proo-, %ust ask the tortured corpse o-
!achia$elli)+ >eep satire is a collision sport+ Its a little cold and a little
antihumanist, so most o- its potential pur$eyors dont go -or the %ugular+ But they
ent -or it on "einfel, and they did so relentlessly+ 0nd they did it so ell that
most people *arely noticed, no matter ho o-ten the riters told them directly+
"einfel de*uted in ?uly o- @ABA+ 8onsidering the limitations o- hat netork
tele$ision as (or could *e) in CBA, it has pro$en to *e the most imperati$e
li$e:action sitcom o- the modern era+ Dothing else comes close+ Eike the music o-
&eppelin or the teen archetypes o- #alinger, its su*sistence in the culture scarcely
dissipates+ Its -our principal characters are so engrained in the 0merican
consciousness that theres no need -or me to name them or descri*e ho they
are+ "einfel ill li$e in syndication -ore$er, partially *ecause the sho e"ists
ithin its on e$ergreen reality: a $ersion o- De 2ork thats o*$iously *ased in
Eos 0ngeles, populated *y a collection o- impossi*le personalities ho are
caricatures o- actual people+ Eike traditional sitcoms, "einfel emphasi(ed
character o$er plot1 unlike traditional sitcoms, the audience as ne$er supposed
to empathi(e ith any o- the characters they lo$ed+ When descri*ing the
programs *rilliance, it *ecame common (in -act, clicheF ) to say "einfel as a
-arcical 5sho a*out nothing+7 But that description as la(y+ It as not a -arce+ It
as social satire+ 0nd to nonchalantly claim it as 5a sho a*out nothing7
erroneously suggests that its $ision as empty+ "einfel as ne$er a sho a*out
nothing, e$en hen nothing happened+ "einfel simply argued that nothing is all
that any rational person can e"pect out o- li-e+ It as hilarious, *ut pro-oundly
*leak+ By consciously stating it had no higher message3the creators re-erred to
this as the 5no hugging, no learning7 rule3it as a*le to goo- around ith
concepts that *attered the deepest tenets o- institutionali(ed society+ It as satire
so se$ere that e pretend it asnt satire at all+
!ost episodes o- "einfel circuitously -orard to orld$ies: The 9irst is that
most people are *ad (and not $ery smart)+ The second is that caring a*out other
people is a*surd (and not $ery practical)+ It is the most $illainous sitcom e$er
made, particularly since its massi$e audience ne$er seemed to -ully grasp hat it
as literally seeing+ This as true -rom its inception+ Theres an episode -rom the
9irst season (5!ale Gn*onding7) in hich ?erry reconsiders his li-elong -riendship
ith a sel-:a*sor*ed man he hates+ The relationship is *ased on nostalgia1 as a
child, the despised mans -amily oned a 4ing:4ong ta*le+ ?erry longs to se$er this
relationship and resents that the man still desires his company+ 5I ould ha$e
*een -riends ith #talin i- he had a 4ing:4ong ta*le,7 he tells George (a di--erent
sel-:a*sor*ed -riend ?erry actually likes)+ 0ll o- this is -unny, *ecause ?erry
#ein-eld is -unny1 its also relata*le, *ecause adolescent -amiliarity sometimes
lasts longer than it should+ But consider hat this premise is really doing: It is
satiri(ing the notion that relationships matter+ It suggests that healthy
-riendships are disposa*le, and that the commitments e make to nonessential
ac6uaintances are a*surd e"tensions o- social politeness+ 0nd this is not the
su*te"t+ This is the te"t+ Eike The Prince, the collected "einfel teleplays generate
an ironic instruction manual -or not caring a*out other people+ Hramer e"presses
a -e altruistic -eelings, *ut ?erry, Ilaine, and George do not+ They sometimes
e"hi*it 6ualities o- loyalty, *ut mainly to 5the $ault+7 What they call 5the $ault7 is
the tacit agreement that they can tell each other anything, ithout -ear that the
in-ormation ill *e leaked to other in$ol$ed parties (they stick the in-ormation
5in the $ault7)+ Their deepest loyalty is to the art o- keeping secrets+
8ertainly, most o- the retrospecti$e credit -or this eltanschauung is directed
toard Earry >a$id, the *ald misanthrope ho created "einfel in orchestra ith
its namesake star+ 0s noted *y $irtually e$eryone ho has e$er ritten a*out this
program in any conte"t, ?errys 9ictional -riendship ith George is a simulation o-
#ein-elds real -riendship ith >a$id+ But that connection is only a -raction o- the
in9luence+ >a$ids deeper contri*ution as the in%ection o- his solipsistic morality
(hich ended up *ecoming the hole enchilada)+ #marter critics had suspected
this throughout the nineties, *ut it *ecame undenia*le once >a$ids impro$
e"hi*ition Curb 'our (nthusiasm premiered on HBJ in the -all o- KLLL+ Curb 'our
(nthusiasm as e$erything understated a*out #ein-eld, ampli9ied into aesthetic
totality+ >a$id ill e$en use random episodes o- Curb to directly point out
incidents -rom #ein-eld that ere *ased on his li-e, almost as i- he ants to make
sure e$eryone knos he as the i(ard *ehind the curtain+ 0t times, this
preoccupation can almost seem petty+ But its ne$er in$asi$e, *ecause that
pettiness is %ust a*out the only emotion e see -rom anyone in this uni$erse+
!ost o- the time, tele$ision depends on emotion+ Imotion is the intangi*le drug
that passi$e audiences cra$e1 e immerse oursel$es in 9ictional drama to -eel
something e ant (or miss) -rom real li-e+ But not in the -au" reality o- Curb
'our (nthusiasm, and not in the pseudo:reality o- "einfel+ Jn "einfel, the
characters e"press contempt -or emotion+ It is the eakest 6uality a human can
possess+ This could *e demonstrated in roughly hal- o- the shos @BL episodes,
*ut one does so o$ertly: In an episode titled 5The #erenity Do,7 ?errys thirty:
minute girl-riend (e"M)ull *ouse star Eori Eoughlin) pushes him to get angry,
simply to see i- he has the a*ility to e"press any kind o- emotion in any gi$en
scenario+ This is *oth a commentary on #ein-elds 9ictional character (ho doesnt
empathi(e ith anyone) and a meta:commentary on #ein-elds technical a*ility as
an actor (hich *orders on none"istent)+ When the girl-riends plan succeeds, the
9loodgates open+ ?erry *ecomes an emotional reck ho cries constantly, much
to his on con-usion (5What is this salty discharge;7 he onders aloud)+ His
emotional insta*ility makes him creepy and annoying, ultimately prompting him
to propose marriage to Ilaine -or no rational reason+ By the end o- the episode,
his hysteria has passed+ ?erry returns to his -ormer uncaring sel-, and e$eryone
(including the audience) is relie$ed+
Do3*e-ore you get the rong idea3let me note that the *leakness o- "einfel
as not the lone e"planation -or the programs success+ There ere many, many
other -actors+ Jne as the unadulterated eirdness o- so many o- its su*plots
(Hramers desire to co$er his *ody in *utter, the enigmatic in$ol$ement o- Heith
Hernande(, et cetera)+ 0nother as the accidental pro-undity o- its a*surdity
(most nota*ly, Georges reali(ation that his li-e ould *e more success-ul i- he
simply did the opposite o- hate$er his natural instinct suggested)+ #till another
as its con$ersational singularity (i- Im 9lipping through channels and catch %ust
9i$e seconds o- dialogue -rom any "einfel scene, I can ine$ita*ly recall e$erything
else a*out the entire episode, almost instantaneously)+ Because it as 9ilmed like
a play and did not emphasi(e realism, it ages *etter than any compara*le three:
camera sitcom1 *ecause its narrati$es ere so o-ten *uilt around a*surd
pro*lems that sym*oli(ed *asic pro*lems, the ideas continue to -eel more
rele$ant than logic ould dictate+ It as an unusually adult TV comedy, produced
in an era hen that as still rare+ But the darkness i matter+ It played a massi$e
role+ By the end o- the shos tenure, it as so sel-:consciously dark that it
started to resem*le shtick1 i- interpreted as satire, the 9inal season (and especially
its 9inale) as too o*$ious and much less e--ecti$e+ But that does not negate all
the pre$ious antihumanism that as slipped into con$ersations and congenially
consumed as play-ul+
This is a compliment+
Take 5The Raincoats7 -rom season 9i$e, a to:part episode that primarily re$ol$es
around the doomed possi*ility o- Hramer going into the $intage:clothing
*usiness ith ?errys -ather (ho as $isiting -rom Nlorida)+ 0 secondary plot
in$ol$ed Ilaine dating a character played *y ?udge Reinhold+ Initially, Reinholds
alleged 9la is that he is a 5close talker,7 ho in$ades peoples personal space
during con$ersation+ Hoe$er, this pales in comparison to his greater
transgression: He *ecomes o*sessed ith spending time ith ?errys $isiting
parents+ He takes them all o$er !anhattan, in$ites them to dinner, and lo$es their
company+
5>ont you think its odd,7 Ilaine asks ?erry o$er co--ee, 5that a thirty:9i$e:year:old
man is going to these lengths to see that someone elses parents are ha$ing a
good time; 0nd I cant e$en say anything, *ecause hes %ust *eing nice+ But no
ones this nice+ This is certi+iably nice+7
52oure right,7 responds ?erry+ 5Hes insane+7
Do, do I agree ith those sentiments; 2es+ I do+ I ould a*solutely think a
person ho ants to spend all his -ree time ith the parents o- his girl-riends
e":*oy-riend should *e classi9ied as insane+ I assume most rational people ould
-eel the same ay+ But heres the thing: I$ery single aspect o- this episode is
insane+ The hole idea o- Hramer going into *usiness ith ?errys dad is insane+
0nother 5Raincoats7 su*plot re6uires George to take a little *oy he *arely knos
to Nrance1 still another e"amines the ethics o- making out hile atching
"chinlers $ist+ I$ery element o- 5The Raincoats7 is nuts+ But only Reinholds
insane niceness is a problem+ Its the only thing that prompts ?erry and Ilaine to
ha$e a straight-orard con$ersation a*out ho such *eha$ior is unaccepta*le+
Its the one action they cant accept+ The idea o- someone *eing nice -or no reason
is enough to make ?udge Reinhold 5undata*le,7 hich places him in the same
category (according to ?erry) as AO percent o- the planet+ In another episode,
?erry speci9ically *reaks up ith a oman *ecause shes 5too good+7 Here, again,
he says this directly: 5#hes gi$ing and caring and genuinely concerned a*out the
el-are o- others+ I cant *e ith someone like that+7 Because hes so candid a*out
this distaste, it -eels like a traditional %oke+ But its not a traditional %oke+ Its an
omnipresent orld$ie that in-orms e$erything else, and its hat made
audiences -eel like they ere atching the most sinister (and the most authentic)
$ersions o- themsel$es+
The acridness o- "einfel as ne$er hidden+ It as certainly not something no one
else reali(ed, e$en as it as happening+ 5!eanness is cele*rated,7 rote Tim
Goodman o- the #an Nrancisco I"aminer in the run:up to #ein-elds @AAB 9inale+
5Do*ody is li$ing an e"amined li-e+ Getting yours is the goal+ 0nger and *itterness
supplant happiness+ Imotionless se" ins out o$er lo$e, and the mundane is
king+7 There ere periodic complaints a*out the sho throughout its e"istence,
alays -or this appro"imate reason (it made -un o- the disa*led, it played the
death o- a minor character -or laughs, it made casual racism hilarious, et al)+ Im
not *reaking ne ground here+ But I$e noticed something peculiar in the years
that ha$e passed since it ent into syndication+ I$e noticed that the li$ing
memory o- #ein-eld has changed+ Its no consumed like a con$entional situation
comedy1 the emphasis has shi-ted toard the memora*le catchphrases it
spaned and the lo:stakes com-ort o- its nonseriali(ed storytelling+ Its *ecome
more akin to I Eo$e Eucy or Dight 8ourt: an amusing distraction -rom a *ygone
age+ But that perception underrates its signi9icance+ It -eels eird to classi-y one
o- the most popular TV shos o- all time as 5underrated,7 *ut the programs ra
popularity latently misdirected its more signi9icant directi$e+ #ein-eld
mainstreamed day:to:day $illainy+ It made 0merica a di--erent place+ 0 meaner,
-unnier place+
I lo$e the sho !ts ,lways "unny in Philaelphia, mostly *ecause its a straight:up
hy*rid o- "einfel and Cheers ($ulcani(ed *y 4I>s and the Internet)+ The humor
on !ts ,lways "unny is3technically3crueler than anything ?erry or George
ould ha$e e$er said to anyone+ Its antagonism is less nuanced+ But theres
another key di--erence that matters ay more: I$eryone in$ol$ed ith Its
0lays #unny in 4hiladelphia is hyper:conscious o- the cruelty (including the
audience)+ Done o- the characters talk like real people1 e alays kno theyre
supposed to *e understood as sociopaths+ 2ou need to kno theyre cra(y in
order to appreciate hat they do+ 0nd thats not ho it as on "einfel+ Jn
"einfel, the psychopathy -elt normal3almost *or: ing+ The people %ust talked like
people+ They sat in a co--ee shop and casually discussed ho ci$ili(ation as
a-ul and e"istence is meaningless, and tenty:to million people atched it
e$ery eek+ It opened a indo hile pulling don the shades, and e cant go
*ack+ This is the orld no+ This is the orld+
PPP
Chuck Klosterman is the De 2ork Times best-selling author of six books of
non+iction .incluing #e", >rugs, and 8ocoa 4u--s an I Wear the Black Hat) an
two novels (>onton Jl an The Visi*le !an)+ *is ebut book, Nargo Rock 8ity,
was a winner of the ,"C,P-%eems Taylor ,war. *e has written for GQ, Is6uire,
#pin, the Washington 4ost, The Guardian, The Belie$er, an The 0+V+ 8lu*+ *e
currently covers sports an popular culture for ("P# an serves as /The (thicist0
for the De 2ork Times !aga(ine+
Copyright 1 2345, 2346 by Chuck Klosterman. &eprinte by permission of "cribner,
an imprint of "imon 7 "chuster, !nc.
To learn more about I Wear the Black Hat: Grappling With Villains (Real and
Imagined), click here.
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