Change Your Image
japiketo
Reviews
Jerry Before Seinfeld (2017)
My cameo in Jerry Before Seinfeld
One recent Sunday night, my nephew sent me a text with a screenshot of a photo taken of me in the early 80s, when I worked at the Comic Strip in New York City. That's where Jerry performed as a comedian at the start of his career and the setting for Jerry Before Seinfeld. My nephew was watching the film on Netflix, saw the photo and recognized me immediately. When I saw this picture of 'young me' in his text, I was stunned. At first I wondered how the producers could use it without asking my permission. And then I wondered about the context for which it was used. So I watched the show with this in mind. Until I saw the photo, I laughed a lot (hence the rating of 5). But seeing myself in the context in which the photo was presented made me feel sick. At the risk of writing anything that resembles a spoiler, I won't describe that context but I will say it hurt me profoundly. And the insinuation surrounding the photo is, in fact, untrue. It's deeply egotistical on Jerry's part, in fact. The whole 'bit' feels like it was done at my expense, and that seems pathetic to me. As well, when I think of the millions (Jerry was reportedly paid $100,000,000!)that were spent on this film, and the time and effort spent on retrieving archival tape and photos, the fact that no one sought my permission(and I am not that hard to find) is indicative of the utter disregard that the producers had for me as a person and for their portrayal of me(albeit momentarily) in this film. I think using me this way was shameful and so incredibly unnecessary. The film benefited not one iota from it, and its disregard for another being is deeply uncharacteristic of the Jerry who, at the beginning of his career, sat in my living room and dreamt aloud about having a one-bedroom apartment, a sign that he had 'made it.'