There are quite a few shows that I often mention here on Hive, ones that I feel I can always quickly return to from any point and have it feel as if it is the first time again, almost having managed to forget everything. The X Files, Psych, and The Office are some of these shows that I may have mentioned more than others. But there is one that I tend to forget: Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm. A show that came about around the start of the 2000s, a little later after the success of his show Seinfeld, which pushed David beyond just a writer's position and into a much more recognisable name. Relatable as it is, Seinfeld never really captured the chaos of modern life, too focused on the sketch and comedy side of things than being something you can really connect with. I feel Curb Your Enthusiasm managed to have a much larger ability to convey the oddity that is modern society, its weird complexities despite how logical and black and white it can really be.
With all the standards that are found within this modern society, an ideal person, none of us can really say we are that person. We all stumble through our days trying to be something we really are not. The issue of modern life turns us into an awkward member of society that tries hard but never really manages to pull it off. Larry David conveys this idea with great exaggeration, but it's absolutely hilarious, particularly in the many silly scenarios he finds himself in, many realistic but with exaggeration still, others less realistic but still very much relatable in portraying a fragile character that just can't seem to catch a break. There are few shows like this, with the ability to really portray its main characters as purely dysfunctional individuals, somehow managing to make it through life. Few contain characters as likable and relatable as Larry David, where each of us will find a little piece of his ideas in us, when we sit in cafes, go to work, meet new people. Each of us has a particular disdain for it sooner or later.
Curb Your Enthusiasm
One of the main strengths of Curb Your Enthusiasm that allows it to stand out is that first mover's advantage, coming way ahead of most. But despite this, Larry David was certainly far from a young man in that first episode. An aged individual that one might think would have plenty of life experience and thus general life etiquette; an understanding of how to behave and how to interact with others. Particularly in his line of work, coming from the film industry in which social connections are a major strength and necessity. We tend to believe that with age comes a more wise mind, but Larry David's character in fact displays the total opposite, a man that has never seemed to learn from his mistakes, always repeating them, always managing to find himself initiating some type of conflict with others out of spite or confusion. The idea that he could never be wrong, and others are only inconveniencing him.
At a glance this makes his character seem insufferable, but it is the writing that allows us to see him in a more positive manner, the fact that we see the structure of these conflicts building up throughout the episodes, the flaws in society that actually make us side with David rather than see him as the villain. Though this isn't always the case, sometimes we really do see that David is just is in the wrong, and we see his desperate ways to try to hide this or justify his actions, only to dig himself into a deeper hole with those around him, all to end on that famous note, the end credits, the sound of "Frolic" which amplifies that stupidity, the circus of life. The endless clown show of its events and how none of it really means anything. The sheer silliness of how we portray our lives.
Much of the simplicity of the show, and what makes it effective, is how most of the cast are unknown actors. Random actors that appear in the show, working regular jobs and being part of the insanity of the capitalist machine. People that David engages with often, members of retail and the service industry that he clashes with in everyday life. With unknown faces and settings we ourselves end up in, Curb Your Enthusiasm ends up being a series of complaints over the illogical side of life that should ideally just be dealt with in logical manners, corporate structures, rules for the sake of rules, and the refusal to accept them when none of us really want to anyway.
The way the camera just follows David around, often shaking with the handheld appeal, makes us feel like the show is a more real documentation of these events, where we witness reality for him, moments of his dysfunctional life. The show somewhat loses this appeal in the more recent seasons, but in the earlier ones it really adds to the charm of the show, lower quality, more handheld and seeming more authentic. Especially as you learn that the show's dialogue is mostly improvised, with the characters having a general idea of what they want to say to each other, a framework for example. But void of actual lines. This makes their reactions much more hilarious, the ways in which they interact and react to what the other has to say. It's pretty clear sometimes when they laugh at the other.
Words can't describe just how much I love this show, and how much importance it holds in throwing a spotlight at society and pointing out its flaws. You never really find yourself believing David is in the right, he makes his mistakes and often enough he is the bad guy in the scenario, but it's clear that sometimes it's a result of just things not really making sense. Things being a bit too serious. A bit too dumb when they shouldn't be. And the show throws us the question of whether we ourselves take things too seriously. Whether we are capable of laughing at ourselves and the silliness of what's around. I feel this is more important than ever in the touchy climate of armchair activism and the chaos of modern politics, where we all feel the need to pick a side and believe things have a specific structure.
