Jerry Seinfeld misses ‘dominant masculinity’: ‘I like a real man’

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Jerry Seinfeld is getting nostalgic saying he misses the time of “dominant masculinity” in the 1960s.

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The standup star, who in recent weeks has railed about “P.C. crap” ruining comedy, recently sat down with Bari Weiss for The Free Press’ podcast Honestly, and spoke lovingly about growing up during a period where he aspired to be a “real man.”

“As a man, I’ve always wanted to be a real man,” Seinfeld said. “I never made it, but I really thought when I was in that era — again, it was (John F. Kennedy), it was Muhammad Ali, it was Sean Connery, Howard Cosell, you can go all the way down there — that’s a real man. I want to be like that someday,” the 70-year-old star said.

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Seinfeld added that his dream to be like those men was a “childish pursuit,” but said he misses “a dominant masculinity.”

“Yeah, I get the toxic thing. Thank you, thank you. But still, I like a real man,” he added.

Seinfeld and Weiss were talking about the ’60s as it relates to his new Netflix film, Unfrosted, which tells a mostly made-up story of the invention of Pop-Tarts.

The comedian said that during that era there was “an agreed-upon hierarchy, which I think it’s absolutely vaporized in today’s moment.”

“I think that is why people lean on the horn and drive in the crazy way that they drive because we have no sense of hierarchy,” he said, referring to modern times. “And as humans, we don’t really feel comfortable like that.”

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Elsewhere in his interview with Weiss, Seinfeld opened up on Unfrosted getting panned by critics and audiences at home. After debuting on Netflix earlier this month, the film boasts a dismal 43% on Rotten Tomatoes.

“The only thing I want to read are the absolute worst reviews the movie received because there is nothing funnier to me than people complaining that (they) didn’t laugh,” Seinfeld said. “They want to laugh. I related to it. I get it. I think it’s funny that you hated it because you wanted to laugh and you didn’t laugh.”

But he said he doesn’t pay attention to reviews.

“It doesn’t matter what you think of me,” Seinfeld continued. “Why would I think that I’m going to make something that everyone will like? What sense does that make? You have to be insane to think like that.”

And Seinfeld credited his career on the stage for giving him the tools to deal with criticism.

“If you’re built right as a standup comic you don’t care what people think,” he said. “I’m doing my gig, I’m getting the laughs and getting the money and getting the hell out of here. When your review comes out, I’m in another city doing the same thing.”

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