Curb Your Enthusiasm

The cliche about writing is that you should write for yourself; write the story that you would want to read. But so many writers struggle with this. So much material seems committee-tested, pandering.

Then there is Larry David. Here is an extraordinary recent scene from "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

A group of friends has opted to dine at a Chinese restaurant. One friend discloses that he is dating a powerful executive at Disney. Now things become surprising--and somehow inevitable. The bawdiest friend discloses that he would like to fuck Tinkerbell. "She's so sexy, she'd bop over...wink at me....I'd put her in my pocket....." (Art gets at the truth--and the Tinkerbell in Disney's "Peter Pan" is bizarrely, inappropriately sexy. How often is this discussed?)

As if things can't get stranger, Larry David interrupts this discussion to observe a fish, in a decorative fish tank. The fish is clearly stuck to a filter. But the host doesn't want to deal with the problem; he insists (crazily) that the fish is merely "sick." You see, just because you've identified an issue, it doesn't mean that others will always act on your discovery. Larry doubles down--but his (relatable) aggravation doesn't get him anywhere. Suddenly, you feel that you're watching a documentary about your own life.

At the end of the episode, the "stuck fish" concept and the Disney/Tinkerbell discussion are braided together--in a way that sort of leaves me breathless.

I'm a fan of this season.

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