Go Back to Japan
Iron Chef America, which premiered tonight on the Food Network, is a mistake. I love the original Iron Chef series, but Iron Chef America is the sequel you wish they never made. The Food Network has missed the point of the original entirely.
Iron Chef is not about food. It's about fetish.
What makes Iron Chef entertaining is its other-ness. In the best and worst meanings of the word, it is Oriental. We watch it, not to enjoy the spectacle of cooking, but for the voyeuristic thrill of observing an utterly foreign culture from the safety of our living rooms. We watch it for sequined epaulets and ruffled lace cuffs; for a giggling woman-child's description of what a meal is doing inside her mouth; for a chef who will shave his head to prove a point that nobody seems to be arguing with him about. We are hypnotized by stiff-backed bows and politeness in victory, by puns that don't hurt us so much because they originated in another language, by a misplaced sportscaster in a silver bow tie. We revel in the double-irony of those who take their theatricized combat seriously. The food's main purpose is to trigger an otherworldly ballet of preparation: ritual slaughter, fanciful knifework, seafood desserts. It is only when the bizzarre, sometimes grotesque dishes are presented for tasting that we finally connect in any recognizable way to what we have witnessed. The outlandish weirdness of it all ultimately resolves itself in the most universal of human experiences: a meal.
The popularity of Iron Chef in this country is a silent testament to the chauvinism of American leisure. It thrives on the same smug sense of cultural superiority that made Lost in Translation one of the most popular films of 2003. But we cannot possibly admit to ourselves that this is what entertains us about it. So long as it mimics formal details like a know-it-all commentator, a stoveside correspondent radioing in updates, and a stern-jawed "chairman" presiding meaninglessly over the fray, many Iron Chef fans will never understand why Iron Chef America does not provide them with the guilty pleasures of its forebear.
That's why the best part of tonight's broadcast was an Orbit chewing-gum commercial, in which a female Asian kickboxer hurled an incomprehensible obscenity at her blonde caucasian adversary, scandalizing everybody but the oblivious target of her insult.
News Flash, Iron Chef lovers: we're the blonde.
Comments
So, maybe it isn't so bad that my new place doesn't have cable?
Posted by: emily b. hunt | April 24, 2004 12:54 PM
I agree that it's not the same, but not for all the same reasons. I can't wholly put my finger on it yet. After watching the second episode in a row, I can see one thing. I haven't heard one negative comment from a judge. I mean, they weren't common on the original show (that I recall) but they happened enough that you knew the judges could bite. And, on a subtle note, there's the fact that they've reversed the kitchen. The Home Team is on the left and the Away team is on the Right. Sure, I know the original Iron Chefs belong on the right, but, darnit, change is bad :) And yes, the ingredients aren't as unique. But the remaking is to pull in the 'general' american public. Is this a side effect of being a melting pot? Rather than pulling together all the unique and wonderful 'outskirts' of wide ranging cuisines, are we left with the joining points where only the 'normal' foods are focused on?
But the original is on now. And my thoughts are fevered and odd. But as I'm watching, I wonder if part of the draw of the original was also the fact it tried to take itself serious. Or made it look like it. But hey, I've been off of cable for a long time. Since when is the Chairman both dubbed and subbed?
Posted by: John Eddy | April 24, 2004 11:04 PM
err, I take it back, they only dubbed him for the intro to the challenger chef.
Posted by: John Eddy | April 24, 2004 11:12 PM
The Japanese version is fun to watch because of the silly dubbing. In the U.S. version, that's missing, leaving only the boring commentary.
Posted by: teahouseblossom | April 25, 2004 09:24 PM
I watched all of them this weekend...and I'm a rabid fan of the original. While I agree that the US version lacked much of the charm of the original...I enjoyed it on some level.
One thing that I didn't like was their choices of judges at times. Why is that annoying woman from Trading Spaces on there? Why is Big Pussy talking about food beyond sausage and pepper heros and chicken parm?
The thing, and person, I think I hated the most was Jeff Steingarten. I've read some of his stuff...and I know he's a giant in the food writing industry...but he just came off as pompous and snobby...everything that is bad in the "gourmet" world if you ask me. And, where did he learn how to hold utensils? He's a slob.
Posted by: Lenn | April 26, 2004 11:49 AM
I think you're wrong about Lost In Translation; it's not about American cultural superiority but about culture shock and the language barrier in general. I feel that the fact that it takes place in Japan is essentially irrelevant to the movie in general. It could have taken place anywhere and been the same movie.
Posted by: Anonymous | April 30, 2004 10:55 AM
Anonymous: what the movie is about and what makes it popular are two different things.
Posted by: jeremy | April 30, 2004 11:01 AM