At a time when prestige television seems fatalist (The Last of Us, Adolescence) or catty (The White Lotus, SportsCenter with Stephen A. Smith), I often find myself watching Food Network. My wife and I play it on our Google Nest Hub Max in our kitchen throughout the day because it’s rather fluffy and comparatively harmless content. Also, it’s a kitchen and having an endless stream of recipes spat at you in various competition shows often inspires at least a meal or two a week.
As someone who read the news for hours out of the day, the last thing I wanna do is flock to more depressing, anxiety–provoking content. And nothing balms the soul quite like Guy Fieri.
Guy Fieri caught a lot of strays over the last two decades. He looks like Steve Harrell, the now-deceased lead singer of Smash Mouth, albeit with bleach blond hair and a goatee. He says things like “yowza” and “Flavortown” quite a bit. He makes bad puns frequently and hates eggs.
But Mr. Fieri also made a career out of championing small restaurants, supporting them in times of need, and elevating cuisines that are far from American staples but have since found a place in more homes. (I’m willing to bet Fieri’s repeated bushings over gochujang are a contributing reason for its increase in popularity.)
He supports LGBT+ organizations and makes a concerted effort to elevate the visibility of vegan cuisine (with zero snark, mind you). And, sure, he’s played it as down the middle as possible politically to continue be for every person, the subtext indicates that he’s a decent human being, to put it mildly.
Other shows on Food Network involve people losing sums of money, embarrassing themselves slightly in a major competition, or going home with “nothing.” Fieri’s shows end with the losers still appearing as if they won in spirit. Their restaurant or charity is given primo television advertising in passing. Chefs’ restaurants, cuisines, and even cultures are seen by millions who never considered to look past meat and potatoes. This is not to say Fieri is out here steering people away from any abyss, but he’s certainly subtly opening some minds — even if just a smidge.
This isn’t giving Fieri too much credit. In fact, it’s underselling his contribution to both American cuisine, the restaurant industry, and the impact entertainment has on the average American. If Fieri can make people happy both on screen and in homes (myself included, of course), then he’s left a positive impact on American society. Which I argue he has, including with yours truly, who wants a slight reprieve after a day of reading horror stories in the news and seeing the worst AI and the adversarial nations using it has to offer.
Guy Fieri is that breath of fresh air. He is that moment of restoration. Yes, he looks the way he looks, and he says some corny stuff, but when you make millions of people happy while single-handedly elevating a slowly dying industry nationwide, you can be, do, and say whatever you want.