The character that Gordon Ramsey puts on for Americans is so wild. Certainly he’s to the point and frank whenever he appears on British TV, but he’s far from this raging aggressive personality he has on American TV.
That right there tells you how to appeal to Americans: Loud, Derogatory, Belittling Insults from an Authority Figure.
American Dream right there, being an unimaginably brash asshole to subservient employees, and that makes you famous.
American Dream right there, being an unimaginably brash asshole to subservient employees, and that makes you famous.
In his (our?) defense, isn’t he usually fairly kind (if still foul-mouthed) to the staff, and relentlessly harsh only on the owners?
For Kitchen Nightmares that’s true, but Hell’s Kitchen is another story altogether for his persona.
Well, in Hell’s Kitchen they’re contestants. That’s just our inherent schadenfreude towards people who volunteer for anything.
Kitchen Nightmares was fairly educational. The format was:
GR: expert advice, pragmatic offer of recommendations, expectations of compliance
Owners/Chef: “No.”
Hijinks ensue
And we (Americans) eat it right up because anyone with a British accent automatically exudes authority and instills a bit of brow-scraping from the frothing masses. Also, a large portion of American has never traveled to other countries, nor experienced anything but domestic accolades and propaganda for their whole lives.
So yeah, the irony.
I’ve only watched a few episodes, but it seems like he’s kind to the wait staff and cooks generally, and reserves most of his venom for owners and managers
You watching the US or UK version?
Kitchen Nightmares (US)
Nah, gordon ramsay is known in the industry for being an absolutely insufferable fucking dickhead.
His british tv persona has done wonders to rehabilitate his image; hes much, much closer to his hells kitchen persona than you realize.
hiding in the back, drinking orange grenadine straight from the bottle
“I went to cooking school for this.”