Learning to love ‘Seinfeld’

For as long as I can remember, I have hated “Seinfeld.” I consider the sitcom as my gateway into being a hater.

On the other hand, my mom — who I love so very much — is obsessed with “Seinfeld.” When I was younger, it felt like I heard some variation of the phrase, “This reminds me of that one ‘Seinfeld’ episode,” every single day.  So, when my life was plagued with references, I made the executive decision to get hateful. It’s been deeply rooted inside me, and my loathing only grew every year.

Whenever my mom had the escapades of Jerry Seinfeld (Jerry Seinfeld) on screen, I would groan and leave the room.

Then, move-in week came. When my mom and I were exhausted in the hotel room after a day of light manual labor, I was given the choice between arguing for twenty minutes about what to watch or to give in and head to my mom’s continue watching list on Netflix featuring “Seinfeld.”

So we put the dreaded show on, and much to my dismay, I saw the vision. It was quite an enjoyable watch. We started in the middle of season seven — “The Soup Nazi” — which, according to Variety, is the second-best episode of the sitcom. To my surprise, I was laughing out loud. I understand why my mom likes to quote “No soup for you.”

For those unfamiliar with the premise of “Seinfeld,” it’s four friends in New York being annoying, unlikable and horrible. Three of the four protagonists  — George Costanza (Jason Alexander), Seinfeld and Kramer (Michael Richards) — I still hate. The other main character, Elaine Benes, deserves the world, mostly because she is played by the incomparable Julia Louis-Dreyfus. She’s just as bad, but as always, I support women’s wrongs.

While I was watching, sometimes I just couldn’t believe how much fun I was having. Some highlights include Jerry stealing a rye loaf from an elderly woman and George’s fiance (who he hates) just dying in the season seven finale. For every absurd thing that happened — and there were a lot — I wanted to fight off my sleep even more to keep watching.

For the three nights that my mom was in L.A., we watched over a season of the show. I had to admit, she was right; it’s a good show. And that’s something that I should admit more often.

I’ve been a good kid, probably to the point of being boring, my whole life. I was the “buffer” kid in class — a student who sat beside disruptive kids in hopes of helping their behavior. If I am being honest, though, I fulfilled the moody tween stereotype. I thought I was smart and knew what was best. I loved my parents, but I was under the impression that their music and shows were lame, and mine were cool.

When my moody teenage era got mixed with severe depression, I knew I had become unenjoyable to be around. My parents did the best they could, but I ended up isolating myself for many years. I didn’t want to take their advice; I enjoyed being a contrarian.

“Seinfeld” is a representation of that. I never gave the show a chance, I guess, just to be annoying.

My mom has been proven right so many times, as much as I never liked to say it. The biggest being my insistence on an East Coast college, with my mom heavily pushing (borderline requiring) USC. She was right. USC is great, and California is my home. I am grateful and privileged that I can go home for long weekends because I’ve grown out of my angsty teen phase, and just want to spend time with my mom.

I had an amazing time just being with my mom and watching TV. The entire summer, actually, instead of locking myself in my room, I preferred to be out in the open with my mom. It seems like such a small thing to be proud of — hanging out with my own parent — but it meant a lot to me. I truly understand why people say their mom is their best friend.

I’m not saying “Seinfeld” is my favorite show ever. I probably will never see the full thing as my former hatred forbids me from going back to watch the early seasons; I’m still a Taurus (stubborn). Still, I am here to publicly acknowledge an irrefutable truth: My mom was right.

Kimberly Aguirre is a junior writing about comedy in her column, “Comic Relief.” She is also an associate managing editor at the Daily Trojan.