Jerry Seinfeld Says He Misses “Dominant Masculinity”: “I Like A Real Man”
Jerry Seinfeld got nostalgic in a recent interview and says he misses “dominant masculinity.”
In a sit down with Bari Weiss for The Free Press’s podcast Honestly, Seinfeld reminisced about growing up and wanting to become “a real man,” joking that he never “made it.”
More from Deadline
Jerry Seinfeld Heckled At Virginia Comedy Show By Pro-Palestinian Protester
Jerry Seinfeld Sees Dozens Walk Out On His Duke Commencement Speech
“I really thought when I was in that era, again, it was [John F. Kennedy], it was Muhammad Ali, it was Sean Connery, Howard Cosell, you can go all the way down there. That’s a real man,” he said.
Seinfeld said he grew up admiring these figures, but as a comedian, he didn’t become that because it is a “childish pursuit.”
He continued, “But I miss a dominant masculinity. Yeah, I get the toxic thing. Thank you, thank you. But still, I like a real man.”
The topic arose after Weiss discussed watching Seinfeld’s Netflix movie Unfrosted, set in the 60s.
“Just this period of like [the] early ’60s… and obviously there were problems. [The] Civil Rights movement had yet to start, like a zillion. But the thing that was present at that time, that I feel like isn’t now is a sense of like one conversation. Like a common culture,” Weiss said.
Seinfeld said that the key element in that era was that there was “an agreed-upon hierarchy, which I think it’s absolutely vaporized in today’s moment.”
“I think that is why people lean on the horn and drive in the crazy way that they drive because we have no sense of hierarchy,” he added. “And as humans, we don’t really feel comfortable like that.”
Watch Seinfeld’s interview in the video below.
“I miss a dominant masculinity… I like a real man.”@JerrySeinfeld on a nostalgia for the 1960s found throughout his new movie, “Unfrosted,” and what’s been lost in our culture today.
Listen to his full conversation with @BariWeiss now: https://t.co/NzOqYTgVTI pic.twitter.com/XGkEgAHuYl— Honestly with Bari Weiss (@thehonestlypod) May 28, 2024
Best of Deadline
Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
