Mike's Theory:
I have a theory on why so many people dislike the Seinfeld finale...
While the writers and actors looked at the characters as pathetic, despicable, bad people, etc., I don't think many viewers saw it that way. Some have said that all four main characters are unlikeable, but I don't think that is the case.
At it's core, the show dealt with everyday topics...being in a bad relationship, problems at work, miscommunications, obnoxious people you meet, and so on. In real life, everybody runs into similar issues, and social mores dictate that you deal with them in a certain way. On a normal sitcom, these problems are dealt with in a contrived and saccharine manor, with everything ok in the end. However, Seinfeld dealt with these problems much differently. They dealt the problem how everybody wished they could, but in real life cannot. In essence, the characters on Seinfeld represent everybody's id.
To prove the point, look at the most controversial episode, where Susan dies, and George's response is "restrained jubilation". Take the situation in real life...Suppose a man is engaged to a women and he absolutely does not want to marry her, yet is too cowardly to break off the wedding. I wager that this is not an uncommon occurrence. If some sort of tragedy were to befall the women soon before the wedding, the internal reaction of the man is very likely to be "restrained jubilation". Yet he cannot outwardly express that feeling. George simply reacted how a man in that situation would like to react. The same goes for many of the storylines, just at a smaller scale. Elaine loses her temper, Kramer is never afriad to tell the truth, no matter how insensitive, Jerry still laughs when somebody falls...all of these are reactions that many people wish they could have in that situation, and they like the characters because of that. People see a bit of their subconscious desires in the characters.
So why do people dislike the final episode? Because when the gang gets sent to jail for essentially being themselves, people were disturbed that these characters whom they could relate to on some level would be punished for being themselves. They like the characters. They don't wish them any harm. Just because you wish you could simply not care about some stranger doesn't make you a criminal. It makes you human. And people didn't like seeing their id's sent to jail.
Russ's Response:
How does the show fit into the Zeitgeist of the 90's? Was our society moving towards existential nihilism with the explosion of alternative rock and gangster rap. We were ecstatic to have history's most practical minded president who was admittedly morally bankrupt. The cold war's moral confrontation of good (America) and evil (Russia) was over and all that was left was good and lazy (America) and good and hard working (Japan and Germany) which just got more confusing because by 1995 it was good and innovative (America) and good and backwards (Japan and Germany). When Admiral Stockdale announced in 1992 "Who am I and what am I doing here?" wasn't he speaking for all Americans during our decade without a purpose?
Which asks the question about human nature: Are we truer to ourselves when not confronted by outside moral forces and we flirt with nihilism or are we our most authentic selves when enveloped in a moral crusade.
Which all boils down to: Does anything really matter?
Mike's Response:
Short answer: Yes with an 'if'
Long answer: No with a 'but'
