It’s Larry David, my friend

I have been arguing with Jake Longstreth about Curb Your Enthusiasm for about a year. He thinks Larry David is a comic genius. He has adopted Larry David’s method of telling stories. He thinks that I am like Larry David’s TV wife, Cheryl. He thinks that issues that come up in our relationship are just like Larry and Cheryl’s issues. (Okay, that last one might be an exaggeration, but still!)
I watched the show a good few times and found it to be profoundly unfunny. I felt that Larry was just an asshole, and watching him be an asshole for half an hour did not make me laugh. I mean, this guy feels no remorse. He creates havoc wherever he goes, and he never seems sorry. I guess mine is a moral objection. I had the same problem with Seinfeld, specifically the George character (modelled after Larry David). Unhappy, distasteful, always complaining, Larry/George gets on my nerves. Or did. Until I watched the third season of Curb. Now I think I am hooked.
See, my roomate has the first two seasons on DVD. Over the last few months I ended up watching nearly every episode. On say, a Friday night, when I was feeling sick, and all of my TV choices were geared toward 11 year old girls, I would pop in a Larry David DVD. Just to remind myself how much I disliked the show. As time went on I was able to admit that I was sometimes, mildly amused, but not often of course. But then, this weekend, I was at the video store, and I wanted something episodic that I could watch all week since I have a lot of time now, and somehow I ended up with Curb Your Enthusiasm, season 3. And by god, it was funny.
Liz told me once that if you eat a food seven times you start to like it. She used to hate avacados, but she kept eating them, and now she likes them. Well, Larry David finally wore me down. I realized that Larry’s unapologetic attitude is what makes him funny. Or rather, if you watch Curb enough times you start to share his perception of the other characters. Why be concerned about the over-sensitive, uptight people around Larry? Why offer apologies to people who are clearly over reacting? Somehow the most unsympathetic comic character ever has won me over to his side. He has become likeable, an admission I never thought I would make.
Now it could be that the recent events in my life have made me more appreciative of mean humor. Maybe it’s not a coincidence that my conversion to Davidism came but a few short days after losing my job. I’m feeling rather put-upon, so I turn to the King of the Inconvenienced. Maybe when my morale rises I’ll snap out of this, but I felt I must confess it in the meantime. Just don’t tell Jake. Like Larry David, I hate to admit when I’m wrong.