So while I was supposed to be totally butt in chair and moving ahead on a new project, I will confess I got sidetracked by the Rachael Ray show.
I'll admit it - twelve steps style - My name is Joy and I used to be a Rachael Ray junkie. Used to find that thirty minutes of 30 Minute Meals at 5 PM was soothing. Cheery little chipmunk Rachael racing about the kitchen with her Evoo and dramatic carries whipping together some yummo meal while I shook off the day with a cup of coffee or glass of wine (or sometimes both just to confuse my system utterly and make me race around myself) and tried to throw something together for our dinner too.
But then she got famous. And more famous. And suddenly, cheery was frenetic. And my little secret guilty pleasure got Oprahized and now even 30 Minute Meals has been redone and the set is ORANGE like her cookwear and the camera work is filmy looking not digital, which works for Giada Delaurentis and her slow moving sexy style but not so much for little cheerleader, president of every club Rachael who simply now looks muted and far away while she runs amok and even that's been slowed down, although her delivery style has not so it's simply a mess as far as I'm concerned.
Anyway - I was going to turn off the tv, I swear. But who was her guest star? President Bill Clinton!! Bill and Rachael? Together for an hour? It was too good to pass up.
The main thing I was supposed to get was that both of them are promoting healthy eating programs for kids. A good thing. Very good. American kids need to eat a more healthy non-nugget diet. I agree. (Even though someone convinced Rachael to call hers yummo.com which honestly is a deterrent for me, but whatever.)
But the thing I couldn't look away from was the fantastic role reversal thing. Cause Bill isn't running for pres anymore. Hillary is. So yes, President C. is promoting his health program. But the subtext is - here's our first first man, doing a cooking segment. Cooking turkey chili with Rach and stirring a pot and talking (albeit a tad reluctantly but still) about how he now snacks on some gluten free granola with berries and yogurt and how he has a slight wheat allergy. And because he's Bill, he's doing it with a smile and style.
But still. How awesome was that?? Even if he did seem a little dumbstruck by Rachael and the whole evoo thing.
It still is no excuse for why I didn't actually get writing as soon as I should have. But it certainly was food for thought. Pun absolutely intended.
Til next time...
2 comments:
So are we starting a group? Hi! I'm Beth Hi Beth and I was a Rachel Ray Junkie.
I admit it. I really liked her at first. I loved her old-fashioned oven and the way she used to drop stuff like a normal person. Now that she's Rachel Ray the airquoted pre-packaged media product, not so much. We'll stick to Good Eats reruns, thank-you-very-much. (I've got another meeting later for people who are addicted to cooking shows with sock puppets.)
Also - how awesome would it be to have a First Husband?Mister?Spouse? Wouldn't it be nice to finally expose the ridiculousness of the institutional misogyny of the whole "First Lady" thing.
I'm a bit confused. Are you guys nixing the hour-long daytime RR show or her food network show?
If it's the daytime show, I agree that it's not watchable. For one thing, she screams the show. I guess she doesn't trust the microphone to carry her voice to the back row. I was also a fan of her 30 minute meal show but the screaming and the patronizing (?) attitude she displays on her daytime show just is a turn-off. I'm curious how many of her fans agree with us.
But Bill! I'm sick that I didn't know about it! That's amazing that she got him to cook! Darn, darn, darn!
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