Let me preface this by saying if you are triggered by #MeToo and MAGAts, that is completely valid, and this episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm is not for you. I will never, EVER dismiss the reaction of those who can never, EVER find humor in either of the very real violence in those national and societal pathological illnesses.
That said, if there is anyone who can walk the line and absolutely NAIL the tiniest overlap in that Venn diagram where humor and MAGA and #MeToo meet, Larry David has done it. They were separate storylines in the Season 10 premiere, which debuted on Sunday, and the above clip is the culmination of the MAGA hat storyline.
Leave it to David to find the one and only useful reason for a liberal Democrat to actually wear the modern equivalent of a KKK white hood in public. Even for a solitary, curmudgeonly, combative old man who likes to be both in public and left alone at the same time, though, wearing the hat is a questionable solution.
Why questionable? Because of what I wrote in the first paragraph. #MeToo isn't funny. MAGA isn't funny. And in real life, folks who are made afraid — by entitled, rich white dudes who strut around in those hats like they're exercising rights they're afraid of losing (namely the right to oppress others) — aren't wrong to feel deeply afraid and uncomfortable.
The National Review explains the tension between this storyline's solution in a very cogent way:
David doesn’t see it, but there is an affinity between the way he thinks and Trumpism.
The MAGA hat has many meanings, does it not? It doesn’t really mean “Make America Great Again.” It’s more like a badge of defiance, of apartness. It says, “You’re all annoying.” It says, “I want no part of this.” It says, “Things used to be better.” It says, “Buzz off.” It says, “I’m deplorable.”
But boy does it deliver the laughs. Again, if you can find a way to laugh. I f*cking laughed my considerably-sized A$$ off, which tells me:
(a) I have some thinking to do,
(b) I should just relax and enjoy the show, or
(c) both of the above.
