One of my guilty pleasures is watching the first half of many Gordon Ramsay show. Not the game shows, but the bad hotel or restaurant shows. I like his disgust at the food and his fake shock that there is substance abuse happening in the food service industry. I am not sure why I like it, but the bad food makes me laugh, the indignant owners and chefs are bullies I’ve always hated, and Ramsay’s self-righteousness is so poorly scripted and delivered it feels like a parody. I am bored with the saccharine second half of the show when people cry and worship at his feet. Give me the drama without the resolution.
There is one trope that I really loathe. I hate how quickly the subjects of the episode start making fun of Ramsay for being British. It gets really nasty and makes me totally uncomfortable. The xenophobia that people deploy is shockingly at the ready. There are countless reasons to call Ramsay an asshole, but the fact that he is British is not one of them. I just hate those parts and it make me sad. Ad hominem attacks are a refuge of the truly stupid.