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Thing a Day: 011/365

🕑 Added 2020-01-11 13:47:11 +0000 UTC

Comments

BullStud 180 BDE

OMG!!! You interviewed the Swedish Chef IRL?!?! So amazing he was my fave character (with Stadler & Waldorf as close seconds! Both say a lot about my sense of humor!) He has some of the best lines too beyond the "Vat der ferk?" meme the last line of this scene from the new Muppet Show is a panic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfQqhyxkBow

Heather Beck

Oh, I feel ya. I have a Swedish friend who loves the Swedish Chef. She thinks he’s silly, and stupid, and hilarious. Her only complaint is “he just sounds Finnish!” Which isn’t even a real complaint, because what he saying is gibberish, and that’s the point. I think a lot of us have forgotten about satire. When the Swedish Chef began, public television was full of a bunch of very talented, foreign chefs. Absolute luminaries in their field, but a part of the reason they were popular was because they were European, and exotic, and came from this immense culinary heritage during a time when, in the United States especially, the culinary scene was nowhere near as developed as it is now. So, enter the Swedish Chef. Sweden, a country that, unlike Italy, or France, is not necessarily renowned for its culinary scene. There are some foods they do really well! But when was the last time anybody saw “that trendy new Swedish restaurant in town”? The relative obscurity of Swedish fare, outside of IKEA, does add to the humor. And then, this character is an absolute bumbling buffoon, which I think is more of a commentary on the necessity of television chefs to also have a sense of showmanship so viewers stay tuned in. So when people find the Swedish Chef offensive, I can’t really get on board? To me, it’s all just a big piece of satire, that makes fun of the entire zeitgeist, without poking fun at Swedes in general. The joke would’ve worked identically if he was from Denmark, Finland, or Norway. Plus, and I know I’m walking into a minefield here, but shouldn’t the term “racism“ be applied more exclusively to individuals from cultural backgrounds and socioeconomic brackets that experience hardship as a simple byproduct of existing? Not to say there aren’t people from even the most developed countries who, regardless of these factors, don’t experience hardship. I just kind of wonder why outrage against the Swedish Chef usually comes from individuals who don’t possess any sort of outrage against, say, the circumstance of a black man from the south side of Chicago. There’s an interesting article that was published by a Swedish academic that talks about this a bit more extensively. I can’t remember his affiliation, nor can I remember the exact title of the article, but it was something very similar to “Derben Dorben der Chokolate Moooose: Bork Bork Bork.” I can’t speak for anybody else’s experiences definitively, because I don’t have the context. I will say, that as an American who has spent a great deal of time abroad in a variety of countries, that my existence is happier when I serve as the best possible ambassador I can, warts and all all, to my homeland. Sometimes that requires self deprecation, sometimes that requires a roasting from others who have their own American stereotypes, but it always involves a sense of humor. In certain circumstances, that’s where relatability comes from, and that’s where connections are made. You just have to have fun with this kind of stuff... while knowing that there is a pretty big difference between the Muppet Show, and a Minstrel Show.

Tropicalturbodave

The Swedish Chef's sketches were some of my personal favorites. To be offended by him as a negative / racist stereotype is just silly. Too many people are looking for any reason to find something offensive so they can ban it for everyone. I'm part French and have the surname to prove it, and I find French stereotypes and Frenchisms to be hilarious -and even spread them on occasion!