seinfeld episode native american

The Seinfeld “Native American” scene from Season 5, Episode 10 illustrates several sociological concepts. Like most episodes of Seinfeld, this one highlights Erving Goffman’s (1956) concept of embarrassment and social organization, as well as Goffman’s (1959) analysis of self-presentation and dramaturgy. In this scene, Jerry buys Elaine a “Cigar Store Indian,” a “kitchy” and darkly humorous relic from the past, from a time in which sensitivity to diversity, cross-cultural awareness, and political correctness were not yet normative.

A “Cigar Store Indian” is a stereotypical representation of a Native American, and is understandably offensive especially to people from Native American backgrounds. It also just so happens that Elaine’s friend Winona is Native American, and Jerry also has a crush on Winona. His excited purchase of the Cigar Store Indian represents a major social faux pas, something that is not normative, and an act that causes embarrassment to Winona, Elaine, and also to himself. The principle of dramaturgy is demonstrated several times in this episode.

When Jerry first bursts into Elaine’s apartment with the Cigar Store Indian, he claims, “I don’t need an occasion to give gifts. It’s my nature. I love to make people happy.” This shows how Jerry is “enabling others to know in advance what he will expect of them and what they may expect of him,” (Goffman, 1959, p. 1). As Goffman (1959) also points out, the individual tries hard to control the impression others have in order to achieve certain social goals.

The dramaturgical approach reveals the importance of conforming to social expectations, including social norms. When Jerry realizes that his comedic view of the Cigar Store Indian is not shared among the people he is trying to impress (the women), he quickly changes his stance and expresses sympathy with Winona. Kramer, on the other hand, is less concerned with what others think or of conforming to social norms.

His character exhibits less dramaturgy; Kramer does not control his words and behaviors in the same way that other characters like Jerry might do. According to Goffman (1956), when one’s self-presentation is inconsistent with expectations, embarrassment occurs. Embarrassment is characterized by extreme discomfort. The discomfort is felt not just by the individual whose self-image has been rattled, but by others in the group too. In the Seinfeld episode, Elaine, Winona, and all the other people present in the room are embarrassed and uncomfortable by Jerry’s gaffe.

Jerry works hard to make up for his mistake, especially because he is trying to woo Winona. Yet even more embarrassment ensues. First, Jerry asks Winona to dinner and she is about to accept when he accidentally asks a Chinese postman for tips for a Chinese restaurant. Jerry profoundly apologizes to dispel the embarrassment, and to make up for the “conflict in identity,” (Goffman, 1956, p. 271). Then, Kramer drives by with the Cigar Store Indian and makes a stereotypical Native American hoot.

Still, Winona is still willing to spend time with Jerry.

In the last scene of the show, Jerry is shown trying to maintain his composure and avoid further embarrassment by refusing to use all the most common verbal racial slurs that relate to Native American culture, from a ticket “scalper” to making “reservations” at a restaurant, and finally to being an “Indian giver.” In every social situation, individuals are controlling how they act and speak in order to control how they are perceived and/or to control their identity.

Goffman’s theories of embarrassment shows how violating.