Original artwork, not a still
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
— Seinfeld • 1989
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The joke is on the nervous straight man who fears being mistaken for something he is not, then fears sounding prejudiced for denying it. It broke ground in 1993 because the show made the characters' anxiety the target, not gay people. It has since become the standard way to add a reassurance that undercuts itself, in speech and in parody.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for SeinfeldShow the scene
In "The Outing" (Seinfeld, season 4, first aired February 11, 1993), Elaine, bored at Monk's, pretends that Jerry and George are a gay couple within earshot of an NYU student reporter who is about to interview Jerry. The reporter prints the assumption, the story spreads through the news, and the two men spend the episode denying it. Each denial comes with the same hedge, so nobody thinks they are against gay people: "Not that there's anything wrong with that." Larry Charles wrote the episode and was Emmy-nominated for it.
Sources (1)
- Seinfeld Wiki: The OutingPlot, Notes About Nothing and QuotesReference checked
Context reviewed
