Jerry Seinfeld Finally Apologizes For Making Bee Movie Too Horny
Jerry Seinfeld's recent Pop-Tart movie "Unfrosted" landed with a thud for most critics, but no matter what Seinfeld does next, he has at least one project that the internet loves turning into a meme every so often — "Bee Movie." The film follows Barry (Seinfeld), who wants humans to stop exploiting his fellow bees, but develops a sort of romantic entanglement in the process with the very much human character Vanessa (Renée Zellweger).
Seinfeld has previously said that he never intended Barry and Vanessa to appear romantic toward one another, but that's how audiences have taken it. The belief persists so much that the comedian apologized for their relationship while delivering a commencement address at Duke University, which was uploaded by TikToker @drummerofphc. Seinfeld got laughs from the crowd by saying, "If any of you felt slightly uncomfortable about the sexual undertones in the relationship between Barry B. Benson and Vanessa, the florist who saves his life, I would like to apologize for that now."
It seems odd that Seinfeld wouldn't have known what he was doing, as there's quite a bit of flirting and subtext between Barry and Vanessa. Fortunately, the movie never crosses any lines, or else it may have wound up on a list of the most awkward love scenes in movie history.
No, seriously, what's going on between Vanessa and Barry?
"Bee Movie" almost feels like a fever dream. It's ostensibly for children, but there are a ton of jokes and references only adults would enjoy or even understand. One of those is the odd relationship between Barry and Vanessa, which gets to the point where Vanessa's boyfriend, Ken (Patrick Warburton), tries to kill Barry because he's jealous of all the time they're spending together, resulting in Vanessa breaking up with him — over a bee.
Say what you will about Jerry Seinfeld, but at least he understands his audience. Making this kind of joke to a bunch of college students makes a lot of sense, as the graduates would have been little kids when "Bee Movie" first came out in 2007. Perhaps the movie influenced them in ways they're only just beginning to understand. But the idea that Barry and Vanessa's relationship could be read as romantic isn't a new development. In fact, "Bee Movie" co-writer Spike Feresten told The New Statesman that he, Seinfeld, and the other writers needed some perspective: "Often we would lose sight of those characters in the room ... Let's dial it back to friend, and make it less romantic, because it's getting weird."
That weirdness is precisely why the internet has probably loved making memes about the movie for so many years. Maybe it's time for "Bee Movie 2" to finally get off the ground and clear up how Barry and Vanessa are just friends once and for all.