# Seinfeld: "Not that there's anything wrong with it" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 19, 2015, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-not-that-theres-anything-wrong-with-it/738007 "2015-11-19T19:53:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2015, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-not-that-theres-anything-wrong-with-it/738007/21 "2015-11-20T02:09:50Z")
This just reminds me that \*Seinfeld \*actually aired before we were under the oppressive marshal law of political correctness… ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2015, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-not-that-theres-anything-wrong-with-it/738007/22 "2015-11-20T02:26:51Z")
Well, how do you think half of that stuff aired? Not that there is anything wrong with that. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2015, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-not-that-theres-anything-wrong-with-it/738007/23 "2015-11-20T03:05:49Z")
What’s funny is people complain about that episode now but at the time it won a GLAAD award for its treatment of Homosexuality. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2015, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-not-that-theres-anything-wrong-with-it/738007/24 "2015-11-20T03:19:17Z")
I always assumed that in the episode, characters said “Not that there’s anything wrong with that” when they emphatically DID believe there was something wrong with it, but didn’t want it to be known that they felt that way. Or didn’t want to admit it to themselves. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2015, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-not-that-theres-anything-wrong-with-it/738007/25 "2015-11-20T03:26:31Z")
I assumed the humor was because Jerry and George were absolutely HORRIFIED at being thought of as gay (didn’t it put George’s mom in the hospital just like when she caught him masturbating?), but then they always said “Not that there’s anything wrong with that!”. It was like they felt like there very much **was** something wrong with that for themselves, but then they would quickly add that they didn’t think it was bad for anybody else. And would sometimes follow up with a bit more elaboration (along the lines of “It’s fine if that’s who you are! People’s personal sexual preferences are nobody’s business but their own!” or whatever). It was a lot less eye-rolling than the episode “The Beard” that aired two years later. (That’s the episode where Elaine tried to “convert” her gay friend … I think his name was Robert? … after developing a crush on him after pretending to be his girlfriend because his boss was thought to be stuffy and conservative and homophobic [even though it later seemed like the boss and his wife had always just assumed Robert was gay and were actually shocked and skeptical that he supposedly had a girlfriend], but his conversion to heterosexuality didn’t last long because Elaine wasn’t as good as men when it came to sex, since she didn’t have as much practice with a penis.) Heck, even back when the episode first aired, when I was a devoutly religious teenager, I didn’t think it was very plausible that gay men were only gay because men were better at penis stimulation than women. ETA: Ninja’d by **Tim R. Mortiss** , at least for the part about assuming where the humor in the “Not that there’s anything WRONG with that!” phrase came from. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2015, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-not-that-theres-anything-wrong-with-it/738007/26 "2015-11-20T03:38:56Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > What’s funny is people complain about that episode now but at the time it won a GLAAD award for its treatment of Homosexuality. Those people complaining have completely lost touch with reality and are delusional and dysfunctional. Not that there’s anything wrong with that! ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2015, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-not-that-theres-anything-wrong-with-it/738007/27 "2015-11-20T12:59:35Z")
> [@Gordon\_Urquhart](#): > > \*\* > CarnalK\*\* pretty much explains my thoughts: > > I’d never compared the two phrases, but I can definitely see how they’re both made to modify a statement that could be perceived as insensitive in their respective usages. Someone who says “not that there’s anything wrong with that,” at least in my experience, actually means what they’re saying; saying “I’m not racist, but …,” again, in my experience, usually doesn’t turn out well. So if I have any kind of a query that is race based I can escape the dreaded racist label by following it with “not that there’s anything wrong with that” ? And I best not preface anything related to gay people with "I’m not a homophobe, but. . . ".? I think what everyone really means is that it’s never okay to comment or raise questions on anything remotely race related. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2015, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-not-that-theres-anything-wrong-with-it/738007/28 "2015-11-20T13:57:51Z")
Maybe you could combine them: _I’m not a racist but… not that there’s anything wrong with that._ ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2015, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-not-that-theres-anything-wrong-with-it/738007/29 "2015-11-20T14:10:05Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > So if I have any kind of a query that is race based I can escape the dreaded racist label by following it with “not that there’s anything wrong with that” ? Let’s go to the query and add shit to it! ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2015, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-not-that-theres-anything-wrong-with-it/738007/30 "2015-11-20T14:35:14Z")
Has anybody ever followed up the line “I’m not racist, but…” with a statement that wasn’t, you know, completely racist? ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2015, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-not-that-theres-anything-wrong-with-it/738007/31 "2015-11-20T15:29:03Z")
“I’m not racist, but there are a whole lot of Asian people in here.” ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2015, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-not-that-theres-anything-wrong-with-it/738007/32 "2015-11-20T16:01:51Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > “I’m not racist, but there are a whole lot of Asian people in here.” What do you mean by “Asian”? And what makes you think they’re Asian? ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2015, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-not-that-theres-anything-wrong-with-it/738007/33 "2015-11-20T17:53:21Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > Has anybody ever followed up the line “I’m not racist, but…” with a statement that wasn’t, you know, completely racist? To me, it’s right up there with prefixing or suffixing a statement with the lines “I’m just being honest” or “I’m just keepin’ it real”. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2015, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-not-that-theres-anything-wrong-with-it/738007/34 "2015-11-20T18:18:21Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > This just reminds me that \*Seinfeld \*actually aired before we were under the oppressive marshal law of political correctness… Would that be Marshal Dillon? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2015, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-not-that-theres-anything-wrong-with-it/738007/35 "2015-11-20T18:30:40Z")
You guys are totally missing the whole _Seinfeld_ thing. Pretty much 100% of the time, these guys are mocking their real-life counterparts, and in this case the “not that there’s anything wrong with it” would be something someone in NYC might have said at that time. The first of _Seinfeld_ is to not take anything in the show at face value. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2015, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-not-that-theres-anything-wrong-with-it/738007/36 "2015-11-20T18:37:06Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > Has anybody ever followed up the line “I’m not racist, but…” with a statement that wasn’t, you know, completely racist? I’m not racist, but Larry David was telling the truth. The characters were breaking the 4th wall a bit, winking to the audience that the show _Seinfeld_ had nothing against being gay. ---
**Author:** ![DonLogan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@DonLogan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DonLogan)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2015, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-not-that-theres-anything-wrong-with-it/738007/37 "2015-11-20T21:26:01Z")
What about when Kramer re-wrote Elaine’s New Yorker cartoon to have the pig at the complaint counter say “My wife is a slut.” WHERE’S THE 20 YEAR OLD OUTRAGE? ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2015, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-not-that-theres-anything-wrong-with-it/738007/38 "2015-11-20T22:58:18Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Just because I mention something online doesn’t mean I don’t get out. I’m not a racist, but I can vouch for **BigT** here. It is well known within the region that BigT is oft to take a constitional to the local cheesery. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I too enjoy my local cheesery. ---
**Author:** ![tarrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f0a364/32.png) [@tarrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tarrel)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2015, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-not-that-theres-anything-wrong-with-it/738007/39 "2015-11-21T05:22:12Z")
when I first watched it as a teen I thought he was saying it wasn’t anything wrong with it like he would be down if he the opportunity to experiment with a guy. lol ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2015, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-not-that-theres-anything-wrong-with-it/738007/40 "2015-11-21T17:21:39Z")
I see it this way — What the episode is mocking is the fact that Jerry and his friends nominally have no problem with homosexuality, but they are horrified at the thought that someone else might think they are homosexuals. This is a transition period for the acceptance of homosexuality in society. You might personally have no problem with it, but you don’t want others to think you are one—why? Because you’ll upset your parents? Because it will harm your career? Because you won’t get dates? Because in general people will start treating you differently? If we are moving towards a society in which homosexuality is accepted then it really wouldn’t matter if everyone thought you were homosexual. It would be a purely private, personal matter. But we’re not there yet. That’s what makes the episode a rather sophisticated commentary on the state of our culture at that moment in time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-not-that-theres-anything-wrong-with-it/738007.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seinfeld-not-that-theres-anything-wrong-with-it/738007.md?page=3)