A Note For Michael Richards

The way I see it, Seinfeld is a show with deep existential themes. Not necessarily about 'nothing,' the show is about selfish, greedy people who are damned by their own insensitivity. Their world is meaningless, offers little spiritual fulfillment, so the characters are cast adrift, filling their lives with drivel about shirt collar buttons and a girlfriend who eats her peas one-by-one.

Moreover, the characters are people who seek to satisfy their basest desires without considering the impact their pursuit might have on the other human beings around them.

On a variation of Satre's dictum, hell for the Seinfeld crew is not other people; hell lurks within their own tortured minds. Jerry, Elaine, George and, yes, even Kramer, are clearly anxiety-ridden, despairing souls. The brilliance of this conceit is that, despite this bleak world-view, it is a pretty darn funny TV show.

But reality...reality isn't quite so funny, is it Mr. Richards?