There are many people out there today who say “I don’t watch television”. It usually has nothing to do with whether they can afford television. Instead, it has become a calling card for coolness to say that you don’t. Many of these same people watch endless streams of videos on their Macbooks or iPhones, but somehow they think that this is different. People are silly. The silliest thing about this is that television has never been better. It has also never been worse, but that is the inevitable price we all pay for the infinite variety of content. The point is that there are some amazing shows on television. Game Of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, Family Guy, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Charlie Rose, Bizarre Foods, Louie, Frontline, Sons Of Anarchy, Justified, and any others you care to add to the list are all great viewing. Has television ever been better? I don’t think so. In the category of non-fiction, No Reservations has officially placed itself atop the heap, a show that is now in its eighth season, and continues to get better and better. This fact, in and of itself, makes it a remarkable production.
No Reservations is hosted by the enigmatic Anthony Bourdain, the former journeyman chef, who has, against all odds, turned himself into a media powerhouse. Bourdain travels 200 days a year, hosts two television shows, has written several books, contributes to magazines, does public speaking engagements, writes a comic book, is a contributing writer to the HBO show Treme, and is the head of his own publishing imprint with Ecco. That is a lot of cookie jars to have your hands in, but what is more astounding is the fact that each of these avenues is incredibly high quality. Bourdain has certainly been a man to speak his mind, stir up a little controversy, and essentially blaze his own trail. And nothing is more indicative of this than No Reservations, a show that simply has no peer, and accomplishes things that may never have been done on the small screen.
This past week, the eighth season debuted, with an episode exploring Mozambique. If I’m being completely honest, I will have to admit that prior to this week I would have been hard pressed to pick this country out on a map. I knew it was in Africa, but that was the extent of my limited knowledge. In the course of a forty minute episode (one hour minus commercials), Bourdain and his Zero Point Zero production team took viewers on a roller coaster ride through Mozambique that was part history lesson, part human interest piece, part food odyssey, part celebration, and part cinematic gem. It was that good. I was literally choked up at times with the sensitivity at which the struggle of poverty was portrayed, never condescending, with zero shock value that would have cheapened the story. There were also moments of great hope and humane beauty that flew in the face of all the odds that are stacked against an all but forgotten former colonial outpost.
What first drew me to No Reservations was food, and in this episode there was beautiful food. The killing of a goat in a place where the chance to eat meat is so rare, and so celebratory, as to make our own life of privilege seemed rather unjustified. No Reservations is a food and travel show, and this episode was no exception with the Pir Pir chicken, a crawfish the size of a small dog, and the pounding of cassava each beautiful in their own right. Yet, to see No Reservations as merely another food show is to miss 90% of what makes it so incredible in its breadth. It is really a show about people, culture, history, and an appreciation of the common threads that bind us. I just so happens that food is the greatest common thread that binds people, grounds them, and makes them who they are. It is Sustenance, pleasure, community. Food is universal, and if you really follow the food, a deeper story is always unraveled. Mr. Bourdain has often talked about the way that sharing a meal with people creates an opportunity to see them in a different light, or simply to connect on a level that is otherwise missed. The various locales where each episode is shot differ dramatically, but without exception (maybe Iceland), a story is told. Always a true story, and always one that makes the world seem both bigger and smaller at the same time.
Some people may find Mr. Bourdain’s humor offensive, crude, or simply not their thing. I don’t experience any of these issues, and find it incredibly refreshing to see someone on TV who is so unabashedly different from the norm. The truth is, Bourdain is both incredibly funny, and deeply intellectual. In the end, it is his unique personality, with all its flaws and foibles, which make the show so compelling. His writing first brought him to prominence, and his gifted storytelling abilities shine through in his dialog, his voice-overs, and his unpretentious outros. If you have never watched No Reservations, please do yourself a favor and rectify this situation immediately, you will be a better person for it.
During a recent stint of "unavoidable" inactivity I watched every episode of every season of Bourdain's show...and read his book, and I justed wanted to say that I strongly agree with your views concerning all the aforementioned topics regarding everything.
ReplyDelete