Americans are totally loud. Don�t get me wrong -- I love my country and am very proud of our notoriously boisterous and aggressive attitude towards life, but there comes a time when a certain level of reserve is called for, and some Americans are unable to show it.
Take, for example, an episode of Iron Chef I caught this weekend. World-renowned (apparently) New York-based chef Bobby Flay was going up against Iron Chef Morimoto in a battle to the death! Well, not really, but that would have been cool. For those of you unfamiliar with the intricacies of Iron Chef, here is a very brief description:
Top chefs from around the world come to �Kitchen Stadium� (ie -- the set for Iron Chef, located in Japan) where they select their opponent from the gallery of Iron Chefs. Among them are Iron Chefs French, Japanese, Italian, and�one other guy I don�t remember. Whatever. Anyway, the challenger selects his opponent, the main ingredient around which they must both base four or five gourmet dishes is revealed, and they have sixty minutes to put together these dishes and present them for judgment by a panel of more or less qualified Japanese celebrities. The best part is the fact that everyone is dubbed into English by a bunch extremely enthusiastic voice-over artists, and it takes on a real What�s Up Tiger Lily? atmosphere after a while.
Anyway, watching this show, you begin to quickly realize what a serious affair it is. The chefs really work hard to put their best foot forward, and the camera people are constantly up in their faces, making poorly-dubbed comments like, �Wow! Look at the sweat on his forehead! I�ve never seen Chen Kenichi look this stressed!� and �The challenger is using�yes, it looks like taro root! He�s using taro root!� And then the panel of judges make stupid remarks like, �Taro root! I love taro root! How creative!� Like, thanks for the valuable input, guys.
In any case, there�s a kind of respectful hush over Kitchen Stadium as the cooks go to work and the audience just admires the expert skill and care they take in their craft. At least, there�s usually a respectful hush over Kitchen Stadium. Not so the case with Flay vs. Morimoto.
Americans will root for anything, you guys. We loooooove competition of any kind and can�t wait for a contest to break out so we can choose sides and start cheering. Don�t you sometimes get the feeling that some people just walk around with posterboard and a magic marker, waiting for their chance to create a �WE LUV [insert name here]� sign? Those people were at Kitchen Stadium for Flay vs. Morimoto, and those people were loud.
There were signs, there was hooting and hollering, and there was the requisite chanting of �Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye�, a staple at all American sporting events. There was also the usual bravado as the Americans instigated a little international sniping, part of the game ploy known as �psyching out your opponent�.
In some ways, the proceedings were hilarious and refreshing -- and in large part, the newscasters and celebrities seemed to be eating it up -- but in some ways it was also kind of embarrassing. I mean, it�s a freaking cooking show, guys! And you�re in a foreign country with a reputation for being a little more conservative, at least in public, than America. When in Rome, guys. On the other hand, though, it made for some great television!
Oh, and incidentally? The American chef won. Wooooooo!
