(...and ate at Paula Deen's.)
As I'm putting my cookbook together and trying to come up with a viable business model that will allow me to teach people to cook from the comfort of home, in my jammies and house slippers, which is how I usually cook, I am realizing that people like schtick.
Whether it's buying into the concept of a 30 Minute Meal that's *YUM-O* and *deLISH*, or into the fabulous (and backlit) lifestyles of people with lots of money and connections, or into the impossibly thick (and growing thicker by the minute) Southern drawl of a blue-haired woman who singlehandedly keeps the butter industry alive, there seems to be an overarching inclination to shackle a person to an image or ideal. As if the prison of that image and its preservation is the price you must pay for AWLL. THAT. MUNNY.
But what if you cook all kinds of crap and the only consistent elements in your cooking are your pajama pants and a point and shoot camera? What if your point of view is more like a blob? And even if you had a really focused point of view, how do you wrap that shit up in a package and sell it without feeling cheap, trite and sold out? If nothing else, this process has served to make me acutely aware of the Faustian bargains people sometimes feel they must make in order to cook up a buck...
Or perhaps it's that they want to make more than a buck. Maybe it's because they want to make lots and lots of bucks that they have to put themselves into neatly wrapped, easily digestible, lowest common denominator packages designed to appeal to as many people who are willing to buy into their schtick as possible. I'm hoping that's the case. I'm hoping that I can be free to be me, in all my incarnations, with all my quirks intact but not caricatured, and be able to contribute my fair share to a modest household with a modest lifestyle, by helping other people to love food, and the process of making it, as much as I do.
I don't begrudge these people the success they've earned by parlaying their personalities into huge financial gain, though I imagine it must exhaust one's soul to maintain certain appearances all the time. I just don't believe I was meant to pursue that definition of success.
So while I'm still on the lookout for a catchy title for my cookbook (I think a facebook friend suggested a winner this morning), I'm not looking to fit myself into anyone's jello mold of a food personality anytime soon. Here's hoping just enough people find value in what I do, the odd and eccentric way I do it, for me to finally start paying some bills again.
Wish me luck,
shinae
I would like to point out that Paula Deen didn't set out to be a food personality.... Her first cookbook was just sold in the restaurant. The right person picked it up and the rest is history. I have had the pleasure of meeting her before the fame and after the fame and find her to be quite nice....of course I am an over the top Southerner too.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your insight into Paula Deen.
ReplyDeleteI think I may have come across as uncharitable to her, but I hope it comes across that it's not personal. I don't believe she set out to sell out, but just as respects her media persona, I personally have found that her presentation has gotten too big and caricatured for my liking.
But that assumes that she started out something closer to what she's really like in person and ended up playing out a certain character because it's what the audience seemed to want from her. I guess it's very possible that she started out timid and just became more comfortable being herself and that she is indeed and genuinely WAYYYY too over the top for me personally to enjoy.
Either way, no ill will to Ms. Deen and thanks again for you comments.
Gonna go check out ya blog now... :)