Gregory Freeman: Spoiled, Whiny And Know-It-All; That's Us, Fellow Boomers. P-D 5/14/1998

Headline: SPOILED, WHINY AND KNOW-IT-ALL; THAT'S US, FELLOW BOOMERS
Reporter: By Gregory Freeman

Publication: ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Last Printed: Thu., May 14, 1998
Section: METRO, Page: B1, Edition: FIVE STAR LIFT

Farewell to `Seinfeld'
Well, folks, this is it. Either a night you've been awaiting for a while, or a night that you can't wait to be over.
It's the night of the final episode of "Seinfeld." After tonight, there will be no new adventures of Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer.

It took me a while to get into this show. It had been on the air for a couple of years before I started watching it. But once I started, I was hooked.
   Maybe it was because the characters are baby boomers, like me. I suspect that the biggest fans of "Seinfeld" are boomers. I took a very informal survey of a few colleagues in the newsroom and found that those of generations that preceded us boomers and those of generations that followed us didn't seem to be great fans of the show. The biggest fans, it seemed, were baby boomers.
   I suspect that's because the characters of "Seinfeld" demonstrate the qualities of we boomers. Let's face it: Like the characters, we're spoiled, we want everything to go our way, we think that we have all the answers, and we're whiny.
   "Seinfeld" is us!

Some boomers may argue with my characterization.
But think about it: When our fathers and grandfathers went off to war, they didn't moan and groan and question the motives of the nation's leaders like we did over Vietnam.
Had we spent as much time in 1941 wondering whether FDR was sending us to war in an effort to improve his approval ratings, World War II would still be going on today.

I need look no further than myself to point out the accuracy of my boomer theory.
   Where my father could fix anything that broke, I know how to find the Yellow Pages. Where my dad had a job pushing heavy boxes down chutes for the post office, a major part of my living involves typing. Where both my parents could make a good dinner, I can make great reservations.
   I'm sure the generation that came before ours looks at us as wimps. And were the "Seinfeld" characters any different? Think about it. Over its nine-year run, the only thing we ever saw Jerry Seinfeld fix was breakfast.
   To paraphrase the late Walt Kelly, we have met Seinfeld, and he is us.

This "show about nothing" is, in a way, like us. Ours is sort of a generation about nothing.
   Oh, we thought we were definitely a generation about something when we were out demonstrating against the war and demanding clean air and speaking out against injustice.
   In the end, though, we didn't change the world that much. Proof of that is found in the White House, where a generation of people who once protested against Richard Nixon now finds itself tangled in the same web of special prosecutors and calling for executive privilege.
   Ultimately we turned inward, much more concerned about ourselves, how much money we could make and how we could best enjoy it.
   And no one can argue that the "Seinfeld" characters don't think of themselves first. Who could forget the exhilaration that George felt after his fiancee died, making him a free man once more?

Most people either like "Seinfeld" a great deal or they hate it a great deal. Those who like it love it; those who don't like it often say they don't get it.
   That's what I found Wednesday when I visited the Galleria, asking people how they'd like the show to end.
   Mary Henze of Clayton thought the show should end with Jerry and Elaine getting married, George hitting on the woman minister and Kramer passing out fliers during the wedding on how to buy his coffee table/book.
   Juanita Hart of St. Louis suggested the show should end with Jerry finally getting caught for stealing a marble rye bread from an old woman and being forced to spend time in jail. That could be the beginning of a new sequel, "Seinfeld in Jail, " featuring a whole new (and much tougher) cast of characters.
   But perhaps David Slater of Wildwood had the most intriguing ending for the show: Jerry wakes up and realizes that the last nine years were just a dream.

Yadda, yadda, yadda.

Daniel Schesch - Webweaver

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