Pop-Tart movie director Jerry Seinfeld deems “movie business” dead
The director of the new breakfast business-based comedy, Unfrosted, Jerry Seinfeld gives a brief eulogy for the movie business
Aux News Seinfeld
No one has the confidence of Jerry Seinfeld. His supreme belief in himself oozes out of every mundane premise, slight irritation, and the half-cocked smirk that graces his lips when he comes upon one of his many hilarious observations. Every time a mere mortal raises the pitch of their voice and questions, “What’s the deal?” he only grows stronger. Only the hubris of a Seinfeld, a man flying too close to the toaster on wings made of Wild Berry frosting, would lead him to declare the movie business dead a few weeks ahead of the release of his directorial debut, the Netflix comedy Unfrosted. What’s the deal with this guy?
Speaking to GQ, Seinfeld reflected on his first time behind the camera by determining that “the movie business is over” and the “dead serious” people working in said business “have no idea.” Ultimately, Seinfeld lands on an unfortunate truth about society that we all must face: “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,” Seinfeld said. “Now we’re walking through a fire hose of water, just trying to see.”
The irony of his movie being put out by the largest, most powerful firehose was seemingly lost on the director of Netflix’s upcoming comedy about the invention of the Pop-Tart. Nevertheless, he continued dropping uncomfortable truths. While most of us believe Taylor Swift, a Knuckles TV show, and MrBeast thumbnails replaced movies, Seinfeld knows our reality is even sadder. In the comedian’s estimation, depression, malaise, and confusion now stand proudly at society’s center as Lawrence Of Arabia is chopped into 650 segments on TikTok for nothing.
“Disorientation replaced the movie business. 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?”
Of course, we’re having some fun with the old boy. He doesn’t actually mean that people are just getting confused at home instead of watching movies. He means that instead of a culture of showbusiness professionals knowing how to make good movies that people want to see, everyone in Hollywood is just running around with their heads cut off, greenlighting comedies about toaster pastries. What’s to be confused about?
114 Comments
Good lord, has this site become just about unbearable. Sean O’Neal is rolling over in his grave. Or perhaps his comfortable bed. I don’t know where he is now or in which time zone. Nonetheless, he can’t be pleased.
Paste just bought it to make Paste look smart
Apparently he’s at the Texas Monthly. That’s the Central Time Zone. Or Tulsa Time, I don’t know.
I feel like the things Seinfeld is saying in the interview are pretty perceptive. Schimkowitz even seems to largely agree with much of it. So why be so pissy about it all?We don’t need Vice Barsanti to assume the role in Barsanti’s absence. We can just leave the chair vacant.
I thought Hughes was Vice Barsanti. Schimkowitz is, like, Deputy Assistant Barsanti at best.
Assistant TO the Regional Spanfeller.
.
Secretary of State of Ennui
Chancellor of the Exchequer of Fucking Up the Comments Section Functionality For Months At A Time
Second shift at the SV Club has been like this for years. Even when they bring on new people to write in the evening, it’s all snark, all the time, no matter the topic or how deserved it is.It’s like it’s in the style guide or something.
It’s been real disappointing to see that Paste seems to be so far carrying on the same old. Even after firing Barsanti.
I don’t know, I feel like there have been more longer pieces, wider array of reviews, etc. over recent weeks. It may take time for some of the old habits to die but I’m somewhat optimistic.
Barsanti bragged on Twitter how he had the most AVC bylines to his name, which I think is how he picked up the reputation of Aimless Shit-Flinger, but you hit the nail on the head. All the writers write snark for snark’s sake.
“ he had the most AVC bylines to his name”I’ve had the most clothing changes instigated by wet farts in my home. Don’t deny us pride in our accomplishments.
Not hard to do when your typical piece is 300 words.
Honestly it probably is because they know when they are snarky for no reason, we all yell at them. Its all about the engagement
“Why be so pissy about it all?”
– The AV Club
He thinks he’s being “funny”
Because it’s 100% pure uncut Jerry Seinfeld, a man who has been utterly incapable of considering a perspective outside of his own narrow-ass view for his entire professional career.
So by that logic, it’s okay to get pissy about anything Seinfeld says? Because if 100% pure uncut Jerry Seinfeld happens to be pretty perceptive, I’m not sure where we, as a culture, can go from here.
But is he actually perceptive? Or did he come to some correct conclusions by accident?Also yes, I’m fine with anyone getting pissy about anything he says. I find him to be a mediocre, self-centered shitbird whose banal “observational” humor was never all that clever and whose most culturally relevant piece of work is an overhyped snoozefest.
I find him to be actually perceptive.
“The irony of his movie being put out by the largest, most powerful firehose, was seeming lost”Was it? Was it lost on him or do you not even understand the basic premise of your own article?Jesus Christ…
Am I in the minority that Seinfeld is a supremely irritating presence? A guy who seems so above everything, and comes across so humorless for a comic. If you thought I was hesitant to see a film based on Barbie, imagine how I feel about a Netflix-only film about one of the shittiest breakfast foods ever created.
I kinda feel he should get a pass since he’s never, as far as I can tell, evinced any humility whatsoever, even to the point that is was a major part of the DNA of Seinfeld.
I mean, they made the finale about how they are all arseholes with zero empathy.
Yeah me mostly floated above most of what the other cast members were dealing with (until he was dragged into it, usually by Kramer). He was sort of the audience surrogate.
Exactly, he was the least interesting character. Hell, the storylines about him were easily the most boring thing about the show, until they were elevated by another character like Kramer or George, or even one-shots like Lieutenant Bookman. How many people remember that Jerry was actually meant to be very fastidious and anal? That was, like, his character trait.
must just be you he seems humorful to me
You are not alone.
I was with you right up until the Pop-Tarts aspersion.I loved Seinfeld back in the day and I’ve just found him unbearable in recent years.
There’s a Blackberry movie, just for you!
I agree with Jerry, I miss when movies weren’t just a snickered reference between friends. I miss big movies and shows everyone knew. Not “everyone” meaning all my likeminded friends but everyone meaning everyone from the 16 year old at the checkout stand to the guy in the Trump hat in Missouri to the curious artsy media types in NYC and LA.
Old man yells at cloud streaming.Yes, Jerry, things are different now than they were 30 years ago. People have many more options now when it comes to watching video. If you find yourself walking through a fire hose and can’t see, try walking in a different direction.
I mean, he’s 100% right. It would be a bummer to pretend that a six episode sitcom that leaves all its talent so hungry they have to strike to not be replaced by computers is a fine replacement for when 8 massive movies came out every week from a plethora of incredible directors.
“when 8 massive movies came out every week from a plethora of incredible directors.”When was this?
This is some ridiculous rose-colored glasses nonsense. Find me one single week at any point in the history of film in which 8 films were released from directors whose names you know at all, much less ones who are “incredible.”
Pop Tarts aren’t the way they used to be, either. Why do they seem all dried out?
Listen, I hate modern day Jerry as much as the next huge Seinfeld fan, but he’s kind of right. I no longer have a clue what’s in theaters. I barely watch new movies. The only people I know who do also watch a lot of CBS. Very little rises to the top of culture like it once did. Some things do, but far more comes and goes today then even a decade ago.
I DON’T WATCH MOVIES AND SOME OF MY FRIENDS DON’T EITHER SO SEE? SEINFELD IS RIGHT
Yeah but the figures do back it up. Cinema ticket sales were slowly been trending down since 2001. But Covid finished them off. In 2019, 1.2bn tickets sold in US and Canada. In 2023, 850m. In 2001, it was 1.5bn.
You’re describing going to the movies. That’s not the same thing as movies.
No but it was the original posters point.
I sort of know what new movies are out based on headlines I see here, but I couldn’t tell you whether they’re in theaters vs. on Netflix vs. on Paramount+ vs. on Disney+ vs. etc.
It is incredibly bizarre to see someone comment on a pop culture website that they don’t watch movies
If only avclub covered media other than current film
It’s kind of nice that there’s less of a monoculture than there used to be.Like, it’s easier to find weird, niche stuff and there’s less FOMO if you miss something popular.
I mean sure but its also April. It would be hard for him to say this last year when Barbenhiemer was a thing
You know what I’ve noticed? Over the past 35 years, CBS seems to be getting more and more interesting every year.
Jerry Seinfeld was photographed in Israel in support of the soldiers there during the war with Hamas. Later, he was filmed in New York leaving a lecture by Bari Weiss.Presumably, this is the reason for the undercurrent of hostility that seemingly must accompany any coverage of Seinfeld on sites like this, even when he is making virtually objective observations about film’s place in the current cultural conversation (why did Barbenheimer feel like such an anomaly?)
I went ahead and ctrl+F’ed this article looking for “Israel,” “Hamas,” or “Bari Weiss”, but the only person bringing them up was you. Sort of strange from the person who posted this when I accused you of just trying to rile people up:I went ahead and clipped that at the time since I’d seen you all over every article even remotely relating to the subject, so it was a certainty you’d soon put your foot in it. And here you are, clearly trying to rile people up on a completely unrelated post not even a month later.Seinfeld is a boomer dork who has lost touch with what’s funny, and people have been ragging on him for it for years. You can see it in articles and comments here going years back. The only person who sees Hamas influencing The AV Club’s editorial direction is you— also a huge dork.
“You’re a huge dork” says the person who screenshots comments on AV Club articles.
There is one person in this entire comment thread who woke up and decided to make Seinfeld’s Pop Tarts movie about politics.And it wasn’t all the strawman you’re crying about.
I wrote it before I went to sleep.
… Well. Didn’t that work out?
Cute sidestep
I love that you did this.
Aim higher in what you admire.
No.
There’s an “undercurrent of hostility” on every Newswire. It’s what passes for snark on this site.
zionists wanna be the victim so bad lmao
I got an Oldboy notification for this?
If you look around an article and you can’t find the Oldboy, the Oldboy is you.
“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,”
This just tells me that Jerry was the only person in the country who didn’t hear about Barnie and Oppenheimer.
Barnie would be a good portmanteau name for Barbie and Barney movies.
Barnie and Oppenheimer.
“I love you, you love me, we’re a nuclear family”
Pretty much the only reason I still come to this dying website are the comments. Thank you for this gem that genuinely made me laugh.
True, but to be fair, that (and I put it as singular because the two fed off each other) was an outlier. When’s the last time that happened? Also, are people really quoting lines from Oppenheimer?
I’m no fan of the Marvel movies… but we’re really saying they have no cultural cache in the way Jerry means??
Who is we? Also I didn’t read his comments as saying movies have “no cultural cache.”
tbh irl i havent rly talked about those movies wit anyone except the ppl i saw them wit as we left the theater. i dont rly hear ppl quoting them unless its at a convention or sumthin which is basically a fansite irlthe monoculture is dead fr fr
Oh, for fuck’s sake. Write your damned words, ffs.
There was a Barnie movie? Was the Macy’s Day parade in it?
I agree in theory, but this is a really weird thing to say with Barbenheimer not even a year old.
I don’t think the existence of two movies last year that had a big cultural impact really disproves Seinfeld’s point. In the past, it really did seem like there were a lot of movies in any given year that had real cultural resonance.I looked at 1997, just as an example. That year had Men in Black, Liar Liar, the re-released Star Wars trilogy, My Best Friend’s Wedding, Face Off, Batman and Robin, Con Air, Jerry Maguire, Scream, and Austin Powers. All of these movies (even the bad ones) generated water cooler conversations and line quoting, because there was a good chance a random person had seen the same movie as you at the same time. Hell, G.I. Jane, a middling Demi Moore movie that was 1997’s 43rd best box office performer, generated enough cultural resonance that Chris Rock could use it in a joke a quarter-century later and piss off Will Smith. Do you think a quarter-century from now, someone will be able to use Gran Tusismo (2023’s 43rd best box office performer) as a punchline in a joke that a broad audience will understand?
Look at the top 10 box office grosses of 1994, and realize that the list doesn’t even include Ace Ventura, Shawshank Redemption, The Crow and Leon: The Professional. That’s a hell of a year:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_films_of_1994
AND The Flinstones outgrossed Pulp Fiction!
Are you saying My Best Friend’s Wedding had cultural relevance?
Men in Black… cultural resonance? Liar, Liar??
Your first mistake is looking at modern box office numbers because they completely overlook streaming. Yeah, no shit fewer people are seeing movies in theaters now.
And with Marvel existing.
That would’ve been a much more compelling point six years ago. Now not so much.
Snark is so 2005. Your audience has grown up, AVClub, maybe you should too.I don’t like Seinfeld, but he’s right. Audiences simply do not go for anything but triple-A blockbuster tentpoles anymore. Anything else, and they just stay away. But, and this is critical, those blockbuster movies have unsustainable ballooning budgets. The amount of money for CGI, marketing and what not keeps getting bigger, because it needs to surpass the previous blockbuster. And the only way to recoup that investment, is to reach an even bigger audience. So stories become broader and less specific, to appeal to more and more people, which has diminishing returns on its own, but with the political reality of China’s market becoming inaccessible, it has become more and more impossible to fill enough seats to cover those costs. And so costcutting measures like treating CGI workers as slaves, or using AI to replace any kind of labour, even actors & writers, find prevalence. Which in turn have detrimental effects leading to even less people filling seats. And that means that not only is this system unsustainable, but it’s already past the point of no return and in decline. That doesn’t mean it will disappear. We still have live theaters, we still have radio & phonograph record players, but that’s the endpoint for this branch of the industry.
I remember when the commenters on this site weren’t mostly whiny old people.
You’re conflating the decline of movie theaters with the decline of the film industry in general. You simply can’t get a feel for what people are watching just from box office numbers anymore. Go look at the dozens of movies released in the past few years with over 100 million streams on Netflix.
I’m not. I specified “this branch of the industry”, in that, yes, I was specifically talking about the industry in relation to movie theaters. I felt that that was the kind of “movie event” experience that Seinfeld was talking about. Now, I understand that you posit that streaming movies are functionally identical to that. I disagree, for several reasons. First, “views’ are notoriously unreliable, whether on Xitter, YouTube or Netflix. But also, a view doesn’t translate into a seat, because you don’t pay to watch a streaming movie, you pay for a subscription. And that means the financial incentive for streaming is different. You already paid the price of admission, so what exactly then is the quality value of that view? Is this content that you would pay for and therefore want more of, or is this where you landed on while you were waiting for the actual stuff you want?Compounding this is that in this model, content is less a product in and of itself, and more a marketing ploy to stay subscribed. That meant that during the streaming wars, diversification was key, and a lot of different content that never would have been given a chance was produced. A lot of money was invested, a lot of debt was accumulated platforms were running at a loss, just to create as big a marketshare as possible. Now that the streaming wars have ended, and investors want a return on investment, we’re seeing that same content crunch, less niche material and more broad appeal, identical to what’s happening with theater movies, albeit through somewhat different circumstances. So a lot of the same factors apply for streaming as for theater movies.There is one big difference though: theater movies are a communal experience. Streaming movies very much not. And what Jerry was talking about, that “pinnacle in the social, cultural hierarchy”, I don’t think any streaming movie has achieved. Maybe Glass Onion, but one could argue that even that movie, as a sequel, road at least partly on the coattails of it’s theatre run predecessor.
And the actors still think that we need them to tell us how to vote, consume and think.
Politely disagree: in 2005, the AV Club had decent, sincere writers.
If this were a Don Hertzfeldt joint I’d be 100% onboard.
“The irony of his movie being put out by the largest, most powerful firehose, was seeming lost on the director of Netflix’s upcoming comedy about the invention of the Pop-Tart.”Or maybe he was specifically commenting on it, and his role within it.
Are you unfamiliar with Jerry Seinfeld?This is a billionaire who gleefully admits to people 30 years later he still drives by the home of someone who passed on Seinfeld to laugh from his expensive car.He cares about money. And people not questioning him. He’s not nearly self-aware or emotionally mature enough to pull off what you described.
That’s certainly one guess.
“This is a billionaire who gleefully admits to people 30 years later he still drives by the home of someone who passed on Seinfeld to laugh from his expensive car.”You say that like it’s a bad thing.
What’s the deeeaaal with the AV Club?
At least the AV Club’s not airline peanuts!Airline peanuts having, of course, at least some nutritional value.
“Film doesn’t occupy the pinnacle in the social, cultural hierarchy that it did for most of our lives.” This is kind of true of all media these days, really. It’s the same with music. Albums were anticipated sometimes for years before their release and their release was big news, discussed in the numerous now-dead music criticism magazines and sometimes even in the mainstream media. You’d spend hours with your friends discussing lyrics and so on. You’d spend serious cash building a component stereo system to listen to music. Now, except for maybe Taylor Swift, a new album isn’t newsworthy, and music is just something in the background coming from their phones or cheap Bluetooth speaker.
There was also more discussion of TV when every had 6 or 7 channels or even when people focused on a limited number of cable channels. Also, back then, actors didn’t bounce back and forth from TV to film, as they do today. It used to be that being the movie business was more prestigious and, once you made it there, you didn’t go back to TV unless your career was in the toilet.
Yeah, people are all saying “he’s right!”. Well sure, but for the wrong reasons. And in the most narrow way, which is typical for him.
one album in particular that has been hyped by the press more than usual over the last few months: the new pearl jam album.
Because their main Gen X fan base grew up on physical media and listening to entire albums as opposed to downloading or streaming singles.
Seinfeld is one of the most un-self-aware, arrogant celebs.He made a movie about !!! POP TARTS !!! and is out of the other side of his mouth he’s whining that no one cares about movies any more.And… 2023 was a pretty amazing year for film. I can see how it seems bleak if all you do is wait around to be spoonfed what to watch. All you get is capes and “the other brother should have died!” But I’ll take Scorsese yelling at clouds over Seinfeld yelling at clouds all day every day.
This is only an armchair observation, so take it with a grain of salt:
1. The internet has introduced us to a much wider berth of media. This is good for broadening our horizons, but also means there is no “everybody watches the same TV show and discusses it around the watercooler” like there used to be.
2. People are still watching movies, but they are going to the theatre less and less. Rising costs and an inability to trust other people to behave are factors in this (as is the ability at home to pause the movie so you can take a phone call or a piss or something).
Plus some people, like myself, prefer to see certain genres of film at the theater and certain kinds at home. I tend to prefer seeing genres like action and sci-fi in the theaters, and genres like comedy and romance at home.
People are still watching movies, but they are going to the theatre less and less. Rising costs and an inability to trust other people to behave are factors in this (as is the ability at home to pause the movie so you can take a phone call or a piss or something).I see people online say this all the time, but I’m not convinced that they’re significant factors. To be clear, I’m not saying that they’re not factors, but if you look at inflation over the past thirty years, the cost of going to the movies has risen steadily along with everything else. The cost of going to the movies also varies drastically depending on the market, and on how many tickets you’re buying, which tends to go up over time for people as they have families. We’ve also had the ability to pause movies at home for over thirty years. I think far and away the biggest factors for declining theater attendance are how drastically theatrical exclusivity windows have been shortened (in some cases as short as a month) and increased competition from TV and video games. I think even if everyone could be trusted to be on their tippy-top behavior at the movie theater, there’d still be less people choosing to go the movie theater on a weekend when a big blockbuster game is released, which goes back to your point about people having a wider berth of media to choose from.I’m actually kind of fascinated by how you phrased “inability to trust other people to behave,” because I’ve seen articles about how Americans trust each other less in general, and I wonder if there’s any overlap there.
I can only speak for myself— I’ve seen a lot of bad behavior at previous jobs where I worked retail, but I’ve also been out to stores/theatres/restaurants where I was a customer, and saw someone else just acting super rude, or treating a public place like their house, or acting without courtesy to the fact that others were there.
I will say my two favorite “prestige TV shows” of last year were actually video games (Alan Wake 2 and Baldur’s Gate 3) and that I spent more time with them than any TV show/movie in 2023.
Movie Theater’s are killing themselves. Tickets are anywhere between $5 – $15. And any snacks or drinks are $5 – $20. And the folks that go now, can’t go 2 hrs. without looking at their devices 10 times. So it’s more of a hassle than a enjoyable night out. So I’ll watch @ home and lose the big screen/big sound experience for a better piece of mind. Pre 2019 enjoyable. After 2022 not so much.
“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,” Seinfeld said. “Now we’re walking through a fire hose of water, just trying to see.”
This still happens…? Granted, a lot of this will depend on how online you are, but I would dispute that notion that this is all some sort niche.All the talk about the death of the monoculture sounds like someone is out of touch (or, in other instances, is someone with little understanding of how people interacted with media before the internet).
You don’t think the fact that most movie discussion has moved online reflects how pop culture is more fragmented than ever and thrives in spaces where people with similar interests can find each other?There is a ton of self-selection bias that goes on online, making communities feel bigger and more important than they are in IRL.
It’s a mistake to see the internet as a bunch of individual niches with little overlap. Similarly, seeing the internet and real life as separate spheres is also a mistake. The two complement each other. I didn’t say that movie discussion moved wholly onto the internet, merely that the internet facilitates that discussion. I don’t necessarily disagree with the second point, but I do disagree with the broader notion that genuinely popular things can’t exist. The MCU has already been mentioned elsewhere, but awareness of other pop culture things like TV shows, games, Taylor goddamn Swift, etc. are still able to venture into one’s POV, even without actively seeking them.Overall, I don’t know, same as it ever was? Like even if I was aware of pop culture shit in the past, it’s not like I always had a direct interaction with it. And then some of that shift in awareness just comes from a shift in your social life, which is more or less the same as the arguments about niche interests. The death of the monoculture is really just a complaint about no longer being the (perceived) center of culture.
I guess I don’t disagree with your specific points, just the conclusions. For example, I don’t think Seinfeld is saying that movies as a medium are niche, and he definitely isn’t saying that genuinely popular things can’t exist. Maybe other people are making that argument, but if so, I can’t speak to it.I don’t know how long ago you’re referring to when you say the past, but the fact that you could be aware of specific pop culture shit without directly interacting with it was the monoculture at work. The concept of a monoculture isn’t mutually exclusive with niche interests, alternative art, etc. either.As for the death of the monoculture being “just a complaint about no longer being the (perceived) center of culture,” I definitely agree that there are people complaining about it because the world isn’t catering to them anymore, but it’s still a thing that’s happening. In the last 30 years, digital tools have lowered the barrier to entry so that millions more people than ever before could create their own art and we all carry a device that allows us to consume and enjoy that art essentially anywhere, at any time. Of course we still have things that are popular, or that reach across generational and cultural divides, but I think it’s fair to point out that it happens less frequently.
Our media menu is too big. Most of us resort to reruns of our favourite shows; they’re like chicken nuggets and fries…some might even prefer poptarts. Comfort food and comfort viewing are the same. Seinfeld’s right in this sense, that when I go to a restaurant with a smaller menu, I know I’m (usually) going to get a really good meal, more attention has been paid to its creation. And more attention is given when it arrives at the table, “Here, try this!” Fewer people eat at those restaurants. Even in my town there is only one independent and good restaurant that people talk about and make a point of going to. Most are content with nachos from Boston Pizza.
I will say this. I saw Jerry Seinfield last year and paid about $140 for each ticket.It was the laziest possible show anyone has ever put on. It was so fucking hack. He was a parody of himself. Remember in the late 80s, how comedians would re-use jokes? About 30% of his material was old stuff. For $140 he couldn’t even write new shit. The week before, the very week before, we paid $30 to see Kyle Kinane and laughed our asses off. Hell, even James Adomian did a grand total of four jokes but worked them so hard and so well, he had us doubled over for 40 minutes. Fuck Jerry Seinfeld. I’ll never forget how awful that show was. 100% changed my opinion of him.
Does he still date children?
“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,” Seinfeld said. “Now we’re walking through a fire hose of water, just trying to see.”Thirty years ago, US production companies put out 161 movies. Last year they put out 1271. We all went to see the same movies because that was the only thing to see.