Seinfeldisone of the greatest and most successful TV shows of all-time, but this sitcom isn’t your usual stereotype of conflict ending in learning and hugs at the end of a half hour. No, the characters ofSeinfeldare the worst, a foursome of self-centered people who more often than not find trouble through their own selfish behavior. In the end, it usually ends in their comeuppance because, in the world ofSeinfeld, the motto was, “No hugging, no learning.” Still, there was one episode anyway, wherethe neurotic George Costanza(Jason Alexander) does briefly change when he decides to do the opposite of every bad decision that’s led him to this point. Today,Alexander said people still come up to him to let him know that this episode, “The Opposite”, changed their lives.
George Costanza Does Not Believe in Himself
Everyone inSeinfeldmight be awful, but at least Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld), Kramer (Michael Richards), and Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) believe in themselves. You can’t say the same about George.He’s miserable and self-loathing, which aren’t great qualities, but it makes for some hilarious comedy, as we watch George’s inner turmoil. Rather than trying to improve himself, or accept who he is, George will lie and cheat to make himself look better, which always ends in disaster.
George can often get away with his lies for a little while because he’s so good at it.As he once says, “It’s not a lie if you believe it.“He’ll convince people that he’s an importer/exporter or architect named Art Vandelay so that people look at him as someone important and interesting. He’ll pretend he’s a reader so he can get a job at Pendant Publishing, he’ll lie about his relationship status to go out on a date withMarisa Tomei, andhe’ll do anything it takes to get out of his impending marriage to Susan (Heidi Swedberg). If George used all of that effort to better himself, he’d have an easier life, but because of his self-hatred and plain laziness, George isn’t capable of that, except in one episode.
What Happens in “The Opposite”?
“The Opposite” is Episode 22 of the fifth season ofSeinfeld. In it, George is even more down on himself than usual. At the diner, he asks Jerry and Elaine, “It’s not working. Why did it turn out this way for me?” He speaks about the promise he once had, but now he knows his life is wrong and everything is the opposite of what he wants.Every instinct he’s had has been the wrong one. To shake things up, instead of getting tuna salad on toast, he decides to order the opposite, chicken salad on rye untoasted.
Elaine then notices that a beautiful blonde woman in a business suit (Dedee Pfeiffer) is watching George from the counter. She points this out to George, telling him to go talk to her, but he strongly disagrees with this, because bald, broke, unemployed men who live with their mom and dad don’t just go up to women.Jerry suggests to George that this moment is his chance to do the opposite. “If every instinct you have is wrong, then the opposite would have to be right.” For once, instead of running away, George is inspired. He goes right up to the woman and, with his head held high, shoots his shot with extreme honesty in one ofSeinfeld’s best lines: “My name is George. I’m unemployed and live with my parents.” Rather than being repulsed, the woman is interested, telling George her name is Victoria with an excited smile. It worked!
One of the Best ‘Seinfeld’ Characters Almost Never Happened
It would have been a totally different show.
George becomes cocky in his opposite approach. Why shave every day, he tells Victoria, when it’ll just grow right back. When someone cuts him off in traffic, he doesn’t get angry. However, when a group of guys makes a bunch of noise at the movies, he snaps at them, drawing applause from the surrounding people. He takes his new approach so far that when Victoria invites him up, he declines because they don’t know each other well and, like a badass, says, “I’m the opposite of every guy you’ve ever met.” Things are going so great that he even gets a dream job interview with the New York Yankees, and instead of blowing it,he tells George Steinbrenner that he doesn’t appreciate the bad choices he’s made. The Yankees owner is so amazed by his honesty that he hires George on the spot. At the end of the episode, the roles have switched, with Elaine now the loser of the group, while George strides into the diner wearing a suit and full of energy.A new George Costanza has been born.
“The Opposite” Changed the Lives of ‘Seinfeld’ Fans
Okay, that rebirth doesn’t last long. George does manage to keep his Yankees job for a long time, but the lying, loathsome jerk quickly returns. In “The Opposite,” he tells Elaine and Jerry that his crazy notionto do the opposite of his instinct had become his religion, but he loses touch with his faith. Later, George is sleeping under his desk at work, and having Jerry call in bomb threats when he gets caught. Still, the episode, written by Jerry Seinfeld,Larry David, andAndy Cowan, became more than a half hour of laughs for many people. It, in fact, changed their lives.
Speaking on an Inside Look featurette for the episode, Jason Alexander said:
“I know people that have done it. I mean, it became a philosophy. For real people in real life who prospered. They literally said, ‘My instincts are absolutely wrong. Everything I do is wrong. So I think I’m going to do the opposite of what I think I should do and see what happens.’ And I know a handful of guys who tried that for a considerable period of time and really prospered from it.”
It’s not at all ridiculous thataSeinfeldepisode of all thingscould change how people approach their real lives because, behind the laughs, there is a lot of truth to what’s being said. It’s not about simply doing the opposite, but what it means. We so often take the easiest route because we’re afraid of failure or judgment. Instead of being all we could be, it’s simpler to use less energy and do just enough. However,in “The Opposite”, it’s shown, through comedic effect, that we’d find more success and happiness if we were confident in who we areand accepted our flaws. We’d all be living as our true selves if we just took more risks and said what we felt. George Costanza always dreamed of becoming an architect, but instead, if only very briefly, he became a guru.
All episodes ofSeinfeldare available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.
