Why I Love Watching Gordon Ramsay

If you’ve ever watched Gordon Ramsay’s chef competition show, “Hell’s Kitchen,” you’ve no doubt witnessed lots of screaming, lots of bleeping sounds, and lots of dishes and food being thrown about.  When I first saw a TV ad for the show, I’ll admit, I was drawn in by the shock factor of watching him scream and berate the would-be chefs.  But multiple seasons later, he’s still has as much appeal for me as he did during the first season.  It made me wonder, why do I derive so much pleasure from a watching such a loud, foul-mouthed man who acts so irreverently toward others?

While it’s true, he doesn’t coddle contestants, when he yells at someone, they usually did something that warranted it.  And nothing is off limits when it comes to expressing his emotion.  When a contestant screws up, he lets them know it, and he doesn’t care if they cry.  Learn and move on, or be eliminated. 

Then it dawned on me.  Watching him is cathartic for me.  As a mother, he’s the male version of how I sometimes wish I could act, minus all the expletives with half the volume.  When my kid does something bad, I don’t have the luxury of yelling and screaming and throwing things around.  I can’t act upon raw emotion.  I have to stop and control myself because I don’t want some therapist saying I was the blame for my kid having some screwed up chidhood.  Besides, if my kid cries, that’ll end up making it far worse for me.

Of course,  while watching him over several seasons, I’ve come to realize that he doesn’t just yell and scream for yelling and screaming’s sake.  He actually does care for the contestants and wants to make sure he does what he can to mold them into the best chefs they can be, much as we as mothers try to mold our children into the best people they can be.  When he offers a compliment, it’s pure and genuine.  It may not seem like it, but he’s like a male mother hen to an otherwise seemingly clueless flock.  And while I may not share his use of the 4-letter vocabulary, I will continue to enjoy watching him shape his contestants into true chefs.  Just don’t expect me to invite him over for dinner.