Though Elaine Marie Benes begins Seinfeld as a fairly straightforward character, there's a lot more to her than meets the eye. Her adventurous and quirky traits are gradually revealed and fans eventually see her evolve beyond being just a stock character.
Elaine is characterized by plenty of subtle and complex nuances that strongly contribute to her iconic appeal. She is known as the belle of the Seinfeld ball and one of the greatest TV characters of all time. That said, there are a few fans who don't love everything about this trailblazer, and they have taken to Reddit to express their controversial opinions.
Seinfeld often showed that Jerry and Elaine were relationship goals, in every sense of the phrase. But Reddit user AxelPantheonXIV feels differently about her and says, "She [Elaine] is not funny, not attractive, and she talks with a mouth full of food."
But this opinion is clearly neither here nor there and there are plenty of reasons why. There's no doubt that Elaine reigns as one of the funniest sitcom characters. Her boss, Mr. Pitt, was on point when he compared her to Jacqueline Kennedy, for she was also the show's most stylish character. Furthermore, Elaine and Jerry's sizzling chemistry is still talked about to this day. The episode "The Deal," is a perfect example of this chemistry. Jerry wanted to be more than friends and, together, the two established a set of rules so that they could have sex while also keeping their friendship alive. It's a rarely observable phenomenon, and fans give props to Elaine's charm for it.
The fandom unequivocally agrees that Elaine is often at a disadvantage due to her friends' machinations. However, Redditor ishmeet1995 has a different take on the character. They say, "She [Elaine] creates problems for herself and takes out frustration on others. Many people might disagree but I see it this way, Elaine is [a] trouble maker."
While she is far from perfect, Elaine has suffered major professional and personal setbacks because of her friends. Thanks to Jerry's negligence, she was unfairly fired by her boss, Mr. Pitt, in "The Diplomat's Club." But most importantly, she landed in jail purely because of Kramer's shenanigans. Had he not jumped up and down in the aircraft in the finale episode, they would have never landed in Latham County and escaped their fate.
In another amusingly unpopular opinion, Reddit user Marsupilami_316 says, "Elaine has always been my least favourite of the 4 main characters. She has her moments but I just feel like the guys were a lot funnier and had more memorable lines and moments."
This is an unpopular opinion because while Kramer was famous for his physical comedy, George for his angry outbursts, and Jerry for his sets, Elaine was an all-rounder. She had a great sense of humor and was self-deprecating, sarcastic, and intelligent, all at the same time, while still being a master of physical comedy. Elaine's quotes ("Can you spare a square?") and quick-witted repartee are undoubtedly the standout moments from the show. She had great chemistry with all three male leads and hilarious scenes with various one-off characters.
Season 3's "The Red Dot" is counted among the best Elaine and George episodes. The plot features George buying Elaine a flawed cashmere sweater as a thank you for landing him a job at Pendant Publishing. While he hopes she doesn't notice the red dot in the fabric, Kramer helps point it out. Redditor ArthurVandelay23 thinks Elaine was being a terrible person when she called out George on the damaged sweater. They write, "Seriously, someone gets you a gift and you find a flaw in it and then you go back to that person and ask them if they bought it knowing that flaw was there."
This remains an unpopular opinion because Elaine never really cared about the red dot. She was offended that George bought her the sweater knowing there was a red dot on it and that he could get it at a discount. Her reaction was 100 percent justified considering the fact George didn't want to own up to his mistake. Instead, he went on a rant about the spirit of the holiday season.
In another unpopular opinion, Redditor r3dboiii says, "Jerry's a little more bearable, George is more self-aware of it, it's really just Elaine that's so self-absorbed."
The Redditor is clearly prejudiced towards Elaine, who always played second fiddle in Jerry and George's machinations. Costanza was arguably worse than her, and he and Jerry made quite a mischievous duo for nine straight seasons. Whilst Elaine started off the series as a reasonable person, she did become cynical because she was always down on her luck. She was arguably the only amoral character, while the rest of the group was proudly immoral.
In a Reddit post asking for unpopular Seinfeld opinions, user GamehendgeRanger simply states, "I like Elaine's dancing." Fans will recall that her dance at J. Peterman's shindig in "The Little Kicks" horrified George, party guests, and the viewers.
The next day, George aptly called Elaine's little kicks as, "It's more like a full-body dry heave, set to music." Taking this vivid description and J. Peterman employees' horrific reaction into account, it's no surprise why this opinion remains unpopular with the Seinfeld fan base.
Season 7's "The Soup Nazi" is full of quotes that live rent-free in fans' heads. The plot centers around a soup chef named Yev Kassem, who serves the best soup in all of Manhattan and has strict ordering rules in place. He's involved in an unwarranted tiff with Elaine, and in a typical Seinfeldesque fashion, she succeeds in bringing him down.
In a Reddit post delving deep into Elaine's shenanigans at Kassem's Soup Kitchen, Reddit user TessTrue says, "She [Elaine] didn't deserve to be banned..." from the soup stand. This opinion is clearly neither here nor there because Jerry had already briefed Elaine about the ordering procedure, and Kassem's need for discipline. Elaine, who scoffed at every little detail, crossed boundaries of decency when she started to bang the countertops down at the stand. Though Kassem let her get away with mischief, she truly offended him when she compared him to Al Pacino from Scent of a Woman. Appearance-based compliments can easily be perceived as insults, and Kassem was justified in banning her from his establishment.
