Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Bad Aftertaste From Anthony Bourdain Show

The producers of Anthony Bourdain's food show came up with a good recipe; Mixing food and political commentary on a travel show enabled them to graduate from The Food Network to CNN. However, the recent show on Israel left many of his previous fans with a bad aftertaste. In the show's introduction, obviously taped after production, Bourdain acknowledged that the show may cause some consternation among it's viewers.  Had the show been produced by a Palestinian Ministry of Propaganda, it could not have been more slanted to their point of view. Graffiti by Israelis is painted as a threat to Palestinians, while actual attacks by Arabs are not mentioned. The wall is portrayed as a prison for the Palestinians. Most walls, as stories, have two sides. Why the wall is necessary wasn't discussed. We were shown that the Palestinians in Gaza were living in squalor, from the diaspora. Bourdain omits the reality that the Arab collective nation has refused since 1948 to recognize Israel's right to exist, and had encouraged most of the Palestinians to leave the Jewish section temporarily, until Israel could be destroyed. The Bourdain crew failed to show Gaza City, a modern seaside metropolis. Bourdain has always owned the commentary on his programs, sometimes even saying that the producers want him to do this, but in all honestly he must do that. He consequently must own this program on Israel. He is entitled to his perspective, and I'm entitled to switch channels.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

He should be teaching at any of our local institutions of higher learning, he would fit in perfectly.

Scott Armstrong