There are times when I've felt that the main characters of Seinfeld (Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer) are like parts of the psychic apparatus; that, to pick which character you most connect to is impossible since that is a matter of the situation (or episode and plotline) at hand. Some days I'm a bumbling buffoon who can't catch a break (George); other days I'm the calm, main character that it all revolves around (Jerry).
As such, it likely makes little sense to look to any one character of the show for the answer to all of your questions: How do I break up with someone? How do I become successful? That depends. Still, there is little doubt which character I agree with most as we approach the end of 2010 and the coming New Year's Eve celebration: Elaine.
In Episode 154, The Millennium, Elaine has the unique role of being the only desired guest of the central foursome. Kramer is hosting a party, Jerry is banned by Newman and George is generally indifferent to this main plotline as he's being courted by the Mets in a secondary plotline. Elaine, on the other hand, has been invited to both Kramer and Newman's parties.
This is the role I have typically found myself in the past. I don't usually throw parties, mostly due to the lack of not having the proper house for holding a party and out of respect to what a good party should be, I know better than to cram tipsy people into small living spaces just to celebrate a ball dropping. On the other hand, I've been blessed with good friends and typically have somewhere I could go on New Year's Eve if I wanted. But the truth is, I don't usually want to go anywhere, which is where Elaine's response comes in.
KRAMER: (pleading) Elaine, you can't go to Newman's Newmanniun.
ELAINE: (neutral) Okay.
KRAMER: No, no, no. You gotta spend New Year's nineteen ninety-nine with me and Jerry.
ELAINE: (neutral) Fine.
KRAMER: (frustrated shout) Oh come on!!
ELAINE: (neutral) Alright.
That's my feeling about New Year's Eve celebrations in a nutshell: (neutral) Alright. You want to have a party? Fine, I'm in. You want to celebrate going from one day to the next? Uh, I don't get it. We don't do this for August 2nd. Which is a totally random day, so don't go looking for deeper meaning. Sort of like how Caesar picked January 1st totally at random to signify the "new year" as opposed to celebrating it on the spring equinox like the Babylonians.
Which day we celebrate though is immaterial; my larger point is, I don't really see any significance in the "end of the year as a celebration" idea. To paraphrase Doctor Manhattan, I don't think things really end. We just start back up the following year in the same skin with same bad habits. Think back to last year if you can: when no one is looking, aren't you largely the same person you were on January 1st, 2010? How much can one really change?
Seinfeld ran for nine seasons and mostly the characters didn't evolve. Jerry was a comic from beginning to end. Kramer never held down a job and, with the exception of actually leaving the house, was still the nutty neighbor at the end. George screwed up everything he touched (relationships, jobs, bubbles) for nine straight seasons. And Elaine remained basically the only one of them who could hold a steady income or relationship for any length of time. Sure, there were funny episodes where Elaine became George or vice versa. But can you say that any of them really evolved?
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