I Hate Everyone

If you’re somewhat of a regular visitor here or on my Twitter page, you know of my crazy obsession with all things Gordon Ramsay.  Hell’s Kitchen just recently wrapped, so now my sole Ramsay fix is in the form of Masterchef.  Last night’s episode cut the contestants down to six in what was definitely an emotional and somewhat surprising episode.  As with many reality shows, Masterchef gives us heroes, villains, underdogs, and all kinds of real and manufactured drama.  Reality can sometimes be boring in the minds of producers, so they generally are always very careful in their editing choices and storytelling so that the audience remains hooked and continues to watch the entire season.

Natasha Crnjac was the go-to villain when Masterchef kicked off.  The self-proclaimed beautiful and talented home cook was easy to despise with her bad attitude and her lack of compassion for others.  But lately, Natasha has shown a softer side, not giving the producers much “evil” to work with other than the occasional eye roll.  Somewhere along the line, she has become a bit humble.  We are now seeing that she is in fact making friends in the competition, even though that was probably not her intention when things began.  She definitely isn’t my favorite, but it’s nice to see another side of her.

Taking her place as the resident bad guy has been Krissi Biasiello.  She frequently claims to hate her fellow contestants and always seems to be in a foul mood.  Outside of Masterchef, Krissi has been accused of making a racist joke about rape and using the n-word on her personal Twitter page (it has since been deleted).  Doing a Google search for information on her will give you as many results related to her racist remarks as it will about her time on Masterchef.  On a recent episode, she expressed her hate point blank for fellow contestant Bri, who is a sweetheart.  Obviously there was no fancy editing there, but former contestant Ben Starr does offer up some background information on his blog showing that Krissi and Bri are in fact friends.

For those who don’t read Starr’s blog to gain insight or who don’t do any of their own research, Krissi is nothing but a bitter, loud-mouthed ball of hate.  It’s nearly all we see of her on Masterchef, at least until last night.  The first challenge the home cooks faced was to cook a meal to honor their families.  To give the contestants some inspiration, family members were brought in and briefly reunited with each cook.  Each cook except for Krissi.  Her son was “unable to make it” for a reason that went unstated and Krissi was left alone with only a recorded message from her son to inspire her.  It would be a gross understatement to say that she was visibly shaken and incredibly upset.

Had it been me on that competition, watching my fellow contestants hug their children and parents and spouses, then seeing that not a single person was there for me, I would be a wreck.  I’m quite an emotional person and I enjoy physical contact and a lot of communication.  These contestants are denied both of these luxuries, unable to see or speak with their family and friends.  They are isolated, so a visit from family has got to put them over the moon.  Seeing Krissi’s face once she realized that she would have to go without a visit was pretty damn heartbreaking.

I don’t agree with the nonsense that Krissi briefly posted on her Twitter page and I don’t enjoy her “I hate everyone” attitude toward her fellow contestants.  I think she needs to settle the hell down and stop being so hateful towards others; even if the hate isn’t genuine, the words are real and they are unnecessary.  That said, you have to be heartless not to feel for her after last night’s episode.  It’s clear that her son is her life, and clear from the audition that her son considers his mom to be his whole world.  She didn’t deserve the pain of being alone while everyone around her celebrated a few moments of joy and happiness.

If there is something positive for Krissi to take from last night’s episode, it’s that the unfortunate turn of events was key in showing the audience that Krissi is human and not just some hate-filled monster.  She is a loving mother of a sweet little boy who loves him dearly.  She is in this competition not just for herself, but for him.  She also has the unfortunate luck to have cameras following her every move and loving it when she says something cruel that makes for a great sound byte.  I don’t know a single person out there who hasn’t said they hated someone else in a moment of stress or anger.  Putting yourself in her place, in a stressful competition away from everyone she loves, can you really fault her for letting her emotions get the best of her sometimes?

Krissi, like Natasha, is not one of my favorites in this season of Masterchef, but I am beginning to view them both as more than what the producers want me to see them as.  They are both perfectly normal people who were thrust into the limelight and who have no idea how to act in front of a camera.  They aren’t 100% sure on how to censor themselves or how to behave.  They surely forget at times that a camera is on them and recording every little thing.  Through editing choices, they are being molded into characters that don’t necessarily represent the people they truly are.  We don’t know them and it’s unfair to pass judgment and go so far as to harass them on social media over what we see in an hour or two of reality programming.

With former contestant Josh Marks facing heat over felony charges and subsequently catching crap from people on social media sites, the danger of judging a book by its heavily edited cover should be clear.  The fact that reality shows mostly consist of people who are no different from the rest of us needs to be crystal clear.  It’s fine to have opinions and to express those to your friends, but it’s a whole other thing to be making harsh judgments and reaching out to these people in a malicious way.  Understand that these people do have a softer side to them, one that we can relate to and sympathize with, as we saw last night with Krissi.  Understand that the magic of television can do wonders to a person’s demeanor and that the stresses of the camera can bring out things that are very uncharacteristic.  Cut them a little slack and don’t become that horrible kind of person that attacks someone on their Facebook page over a random remark they made on an episode.

And The Winner Of Hell’s Kitchen Is…

I posted about the Masterchef contestants earlier, and now I’d like to tackle the same thing with the Hell’s Kitchen contestants that remain.  I’d like to offer my view on who deserves a spot in the top four and who deserves to earn the head chef’s position in Gordon Ramsay’s Steak at Paris restaurant in Las Vegas:

Barbie Marshall – Barbie is the villain.  I think.  At first, I thought we were going to get the next Elise in Barbie, but she has proven to be one who minds her own business and seeks only to get the job done.  Yes, she makes some faces and rolls her eyes, but she isn’t poking at any fires or trying to cause any chaos.  That being said, I don’t think she is a strong enough competitor to reach the top four and definitely not enough of a leader to become head chef for Ramsay.

Brian Merel – I don’t like Brian.  He’s weird, he sings a lot, his sense of humor is odd, and he has creepy eyes.  That being said, he has been a strength to a mostly weak men’s team and has proven himself worthy of a spot in the top four.  I don’t see him going much further after that point though, as he doesn’t seem to be enough of a leader to be a head chef.  His odd persona will also likely work against him, as he appears to be a very difficult person to be in the same room with.

Clemenza Caserta – I expected Clemenza to be eliminated early on, but this chef is hanging on by threads and refuses to give up or go home.  At least for the moment.  With his lack of grace, his talent for creating huge messes in the kitchen and on himself, and the fact that he’s a bit too out of shape to last for long dinner services leads me to believe that Clemenza will not reach the top four and may see elimination next.

Dana Cohen – Dana is loud; she screams at the camera in confessionals the way an 80-year-old screams into a cell phone.  She’s not a bad chef, but she’s also quite unremarkable, not doing anything to stand out other than be loud.  I’ve watched her for weeks and I’m not quite sure what her intentions are or even if she cares about the head chef position.  The lack of passion will definitely be the end of her.

Justin Antiorio – Justin, like Dana, doesn’t stand out as far as what is shown of his personality.  He does, however, stand out in ability, drive, professionalism, and the need to win and secure the job with Ramsay.  He avoids the unnecessary drama and focused on completing dinner services and excelling at challenges.  I believe if he continues to stay focused on the prize, he will not only break into the top four, but secure a spot in the top two and possibly walk away with the head chef position.

Kimmie Willis – Somewhat of a gentle giant, Kimmie has a strong personality but will cry at the drop of a hat.  She is a talent, there is no question, but she does not seem to be in control of her emotions, at least not enough to take command of a kitchen properly.  If she could take her tough demeanor from confessionals and put that into challenges and dinner services, she would have a shot, but as it stands now, I can’t see her making it into the top four.

Robyn Almodovar – Robyn is annoying.  She’s loud, argumentative, and vicious, but the woman can cook and can lead a kitchen.  Her talents with food and her understanding on how to run a dinner service will definitely earn her a spot in the coveted top four.  However, the qualities that make her strong will also be her downfall and keep her from walking away with the head chef position.  She’s unable to tone it down and turn off the energy, resulting in unneeded conflicts and an attitude I don’t see Ramsay inviting into the kitchen of his restaurant.

Tiffany Johnson – Tiffany looks like a pig, mainly because every dumb face she makes involves her wrinkling her nose up into a little snout.  When asked by Ramsay how much she cared on a scale of 1 to 10, she answered with “like a 9.”  She is not still in the kitchen because she has great skill, she is there because other chefs were worse than she was and deserved to be eliminated first.  I can definitely see her as the next chef to leave Hell’s Kitchen.

Christina Wilson – She looks like Maya Rudolph, she’s funny and warm, assertive when necessary, and an all around wonderful chef.  Christina is incredibly strong and while she doesn’t buy too much into the drama, she’s not afraid to defend herself or address problems as they arise.  She has been a front-runner throughout the competition and continues to shine and be strong.  At this point, I don’t see how she can NOT win this competition and become Ramsay’s new head chef.  Out of everyone, she is the most qualified and the most deserving and I would love to see her win.

UPDATE July 16, 2012: 

At some point over the weekend, Justin and Christina got a hold of the link to this entry and shared it via Twitter with their followers.  I was surprised by it and also to see that I had seemed to offend Justin a bit with the personality remark.

Look, I can only go off of what is shown, and not much of Justin’s personal life or personality quirks make it on air.  He’s not involved in petty drama, he’s not easily distracted, and he’s not a loose cannon.  It wasn’t an insult whatsoever and I’m a bit confused that it seems to have been taken as one.

Brian also surprised me.  He may have changed my opinion of him with this.

Okay, I still think he’s weird and annoying, but the guy definitely has a sense of humor.  Kudos to him for taking what honestly was a jab at him and turning it into something positive and funny.  If you do end up winning, Brian, I’ll take back the “annoying” part.  Sticking with “weird” though.

I Blame Omarosa. And Maybe Jerry Springer

I seem to be addicted to television shows featuring foul-mouthed men with British accents.  It’s the only way I can explain how a marathon of House can lull me to sleep better than the sweetest lullaby, why Ricky Gervais podcasts dominated the radio during a very long road trip, and why I watch every single show Gordon Ramsay comes up with.  Masterchef has ended, but I still have the F Word, Kitchen Nightmares on BBC and returning to Fox soon, and of course Hell’s Kitchen.  Last night I fought slumber to watch the final 5 become 4 on Hell’s Kitchen.  A few weeks ago, I expected Jennifer and Will to make it to the final 2, but sadly Jennifer took the long and lonely walk out of the kitchen instead of Elise.  If not for the fact that I’d been up since before 5am that morning, I would have thrown the remote through the television set when Elise was sent back to the other three chefs, safe yet again after conning the boys into “having her back” during elimination.

Elise embodies every horrible characteristic you can put into a reality show character, or person in general for that matter.  She’s smug, obnoxiously loud, has zero consideration for people around her because she’s “playing the game,” is beyond lazy, a total shit-starter, and a liar who forgets everything she does there is filmed.  Her time seems to be up, yet she remains on the show.  Last night her high-priced creation (which included macaroni and cheese, because that’s what we all picture on a $30+ dollar meal) was compared to something a dog chewed up, plus she ruined hundred of dollars worth of salmon during dinner service due to ignoring advice and help.  She picks fights with everyone who doesn’t kiss her ass.  She refuses to assist during punishments (cleaning, redecorating, kitchen prep, etc).  She cost her team a few challenges by allowing her personal vendettas control decisions rather than actual talent.  Speaking of talent, I don’t believe she has enough, as she constantly has to ask if she’s cooking things properly.  She’s a waste of space.

She remains on the show for the same reason MTV stuck a gay person and a racist on every season of the Real World before it became a show about how many people can bone in 45 minutes.  The same reason Trading Spouses and Wife Swap takes two totally opposite families to switch lives for a week.  Elise is a pain in the ass, but she’s a pain that attracts viewers, generates discussion, and raises ratings.  I’ll admit, it would make for boring reality television if everyone got along and all was well 24/7.  Conflict is interesting and it’s something we can all relate to, as I’m sure none of us are lucky enough to live drama-free lives.  Maybe we like to see other people suffer or maybe it’s just simple entertainment, but the drama is definitely a selling point with the TV audience.

Producers know we love it and they love to milk it for all it’s worth.  That fight pictured above was nothing more than a bunch of yelling and furniture throwing which ended when Mike slammed his own head into a wall.  Not what the audience expected, considering every preview leading up to it edited the events in such a way that it seemed Ronnie had nearly taken Mike’s head off with one of his steroid-filled fists.  Hell’s Kitchen’s previews are now always filled with Elise and her spiteful glances at her fellow chefs, her ugly comments (when she’s not shouting), and her smug one-on-one interviews.  I tuned in last night instead of going to bed and catching it on DVR later because I was SURE that last night would be her last time cooking in that kitchen.  Well done, producers, you got me.

The winner of Hell’s Kitchen becomes the head chef of BLT Steak in New York.  This is an honor that can not go to Elise, who confuses yelling at the top of her lungs with good communication and strong leadership.  She’s a cancer in the kitchen and has proven herself to be incapable of receiving constructive criticism, being a team player, or working hard at all necessary tasks and not just the ones she feels like doing.  This show is about talent and leadership ability and she’s treating it like it’s one of the islands on Survivor.  Sorry Elise, you may be great for ratings and publicity, but you can’t be in charge and control a kitchen if you can’t even manage to control yourself.

GO

HOME

ELISE!

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