On ‘Game of Chefs’, they discovered that vandalising Gazans’ homes makes them laugh
A joke that made the judges laugh on Israeli TV ‘Game of Chefs’ reveals how the reality of the past 11 months has corrupted every single fibre of our being.
By Roy Schwartz • Translated by Sol Salbe
Something made the judging panel on Game of Chefs laugh in last week’s episode. It was not a dish they were served, nor a joke told by one of the contestants, not even an anecdote from the successful careers of the three chefs. It was a short clip sent to chef Yossi Shitrit and he wanted to share with colleagues and viewers at home. “Welcome back to the country, here are some practices you’ll have to get rid of when you enter Israel,” he began, reading what was on his phone screen as the makeup crew were going through their paces for the rest of the filming. “You don’t enter a home through the wall,” he added, stressing that it was “for soldiers leaving Gaza,” while his colleague Moshik Roth does not hide his rolling laughter. “You don’t throw bags full of garbage out the window,” he continued, “you don’t scatter stainless steel trays at the entrance to the house, the carpet doesn’t serve as a curtain.” Roth continued to roll with laughter as if he were in a particularly hillarious stand-up comedy show, internationally famous chef Assaf Granit sneaked a smile, perhaps somewhat embarrassed, and Shitrit concluded: “Funny.”
Well, isn’t it funny? Soldiers vandalising civilians’ homes in Gaza — is there anything more amusing than that? Hilarious. Who among this trio of chefs would not want strangers in uniform enter their home, perform what Shitrit would probably describe as “pranks” and destroy everything they encounter. The main thing is that they shouldn’t do that, God forbid, when they return to the borders of Israel. Let them do whatever they want in the backyard, but confine it there, where it’s entertaining.
But the problem isn’t just that the esteemed judges on a reality TV show found abusing innocent people amusing. This is an edited program, remember this is not a live broadcast. The makeup artists chuckled too. And probably not only them. It’s a fact that none of the people who brought this episode on the air — from the director to the editor — thought there was anything wrong here. A comic break in time of war, to paraphrase the Passover Haggadah: pour out your wrath and mockery upon the nations. And if they are Palestinians, then that’s even better.
Some might say they didn’t think about it, didn’t pay attention to the horrifying message behind the amused speech and wide smiles. That would make it even worse. It’s an illustration of how reality here, nearly 11 months into the war, has corrupted every good — or even partially good fibre in our being. If such statements pass us unobtrusively and are perceived as natural, the kind that can be put on air in prime time, then you can really say that reality TV is the real thing and vice versa.
It is interesting to recall the early days of the war, when debates arose over the, at least partial resumption of normal TV programming. Who can forget the emotions aroused by the return of A Star is Born and how its first episodes corresponded with the war? There was also a debate surrounding Big Brother, which on the eve of its return to the screen launched a creative campaign with the statement: “Big Brother is back. Our brothers and sisters aren’t.” Three months have passed since then, and who actually remembers the campaign, or that there even was a dilemma.
Within a few months, we went from questioning the very programming to spreading the manure as part of the program. A mirror of a polarising, divided society, hating the other, enjoying the suffering of the other. From Together We will Win, we have moved to together we will mow them down and then we will jest. That’s how it is when Channel 14 invites Force 100 soldiers to the studio to explain that rape is fine, or when a senior commentator on Channel 12 News advises law breaking soldiers that if they want to get away with it, the secret is not to get caught.
When everything is so full of violence, bullying and extremes, even “ordinary” horrific opinions and tasteless jokes become mainstream. But we won’t be surprised in a few months that another boundary has been crossed, and chef Yossi Shitrit will be whipping up something for The Hague.
