3 hours ago, Tri2Cook said:None of that has anything to do with why I posted it so nobody is actually agreeing with me. It doesn't bother me at all that some of the kids have to lose and be eliminated. If you go into any type of competition, cooking, sports, whatever, unable to accept and deal with the possibility that you might not win... well, life teaches tough lessons sometimes and losing is part of the game.
I have no problem with the winning/losing aspect of competitions. My children play sports and understand pretty well that sometimes in life it feels like you spend a lot of time losing in the name of winning. My problem is with letting this all play out on a national (arguably international) stage in the name of keeping a flailing conglomerate like Food Network alive. I was flipping through the channels the other day and there was a kids episode of Beat Bobby Flay on. After the competition was over, three child "judges" came out and gave their critiques of the food. They spoke almost identically to the food critics and restaurateurs they have on these shows every single day, like they had been placed in front of a set and forced to absorb the mannerisms and lingo. Again competition is fine in life, necessary I think sometimes even. But when I see a kid bawl their eyes out on national television, telling the world about how they don't think they will ever be a good cook, followed by a commercial for Sargento cheese and Ritz crackers, I have to wonder who is really winning and who is really losing in all of this...
Edit: I guess I should say too that I wasn't responding to you directly above, just to the grumbling about these exploitative shows in general...
