Not everyone knows that Seinfeld’s Cosmo Kramer character was based on a real-life individual: Kenny Kramer. Now, I already discussed the way television character and reality blend together in Michael Richards: Fiction and Betrayal. Well, I found a recent Naked Gord interview with Kenny Kramer that lends support to this idea.

Kenny Kramer immediately says that Richards is not a racist, and, he defends Richards a bit, which is really walking a pretty fine line these days; because, I for one don’t find anything mitigating about the argument that this is “new territory for him…he was a comic actor and now he’s trying to make it in stand-up.” And… And… And?????

Now, what Kramer (that is… the real Kramer) says is that he’s getting a lot of phone calls and people are saying that “Kramer is a racist.”

I feel for Kenny Kramer when he’s forced to give the following explanation. I feel for him that he’s dealing with a society that seems to have kindergarten levels of understanding. Kenny Kramer says,

“Kramer was a character that Michael did on television. It has nothing to do with what Michael does in his personal life. So, if you want to call anybody a racist, don’t make it Kramer… but, you know, people aren’t making the distinction I’m sorry to say.”

Yes, the Real Kramer… I feel for you. Truly. And, what does this say about the American public? I mean… really… many people, apparently, cannot successfully distinguish between a television character, the actor who played that character, and the individual the character was based on. Really??!!

Now, I’ve never been accused of over-estimating the intelligence of the general American public, but, jumping Jesus on a pogo stick if a lot of folks don’t understand the difference between reality and television, I think I’m really getting a bit scared… that’s really to say… more scared.

So, here’s the radio interview for you.

Take care,
Skippy

Important ideas, concepts, and terms in this post:Kenny Kramer, Cosmo, Cosmo Kramer, the real Kramer, radio interview, Michael Richards, Seinfeld, Jerry Seinfeld, comedy, television, reality, actor, character, American public, intelligence

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