Antiracist Accountability: When Awful Stories Have Happy Endings

Hello again,

Now for a brief antiracist accountability post, which is ever more crucial given that I did not write one last month.

You may remember the awful episode in May 2020 in which white woman extraordinaire Amy Cooper, aka the Central Park Karen, called NYPD to make false allegations against a Black man just trying to enjoy some birdwatching.  While this was unfortunately only one of a dizzying array of examples of white women abusing their immense privilege and thereby risking getting their Black neighbors and fellow citizens killed, it was particularly ugly to watch her concoct her plan to lie to the police out loud to her potential victim, only to then actually have the audacity to carry that plan out.  The man she could have gotten killed through her attempts to mobilize the violence of the state is Christian Cooper (no relation, obviously?).

It was recently announced that Mr. Cooper will be hosting a 6-episode series on National Geographic (available through Disney+) called "Extraordinary Birder".  Mr. Cooper, who has evidently enjoyed birdwatching since he was 10 years old and has a career history that illustrates that he is extraordinary in many ways beyond his birdwatching, will happily now have the opportunity to share his beloved hobby with viewers worldwide.  Mr. Cooper is clearly a treasure, and the fact that he will now have a larger platform on which to share his love of birds is sure to be a huge treat.

One of the unexpected gifts of being home almost constantly during the past 2+ years has been that I have gotten more and more interested in birdwatching.  I installed a bird feeder I can see from the window over the sink in my kitchen, and it's become a daily pleasure to top up the feeder and feel like a modern-day Disney princess as our neighborhood birds immediately descend to get some snacks.  Even better, my Child has been enjoying several excellent board books profiling a variety of native birds and providing audio of their calls, and is now so keenly aware of birds that he can correctly identify them in the wild from their calls alone.  It is such a joy to share this interest with him, and I am so excited to share Mr. Cooper's show with him!

Be sure to tune in with us!

{Heart}

"Julia" Is A Delicious Treat

Hi team,

I am going to do my best to write two very quick entries before the end of the month.

So here we go:

Let's talk about the most recent movie about famous chef and cookbook author, Julia Child: "Julia" (2021).

Despite its relatively short run time, this film was a rich, dense biography of the life and career of a beloved food icon.  It provided insights into Child's childhood and early adulthood, the important relationships that shaped her, and how her earliest experiences in France forever captured her heart and ultimately changed the history of American cooking forever.

While the movie is deeply affectionate toward the woman at its center, it does not shy away from some of the more complicated and at times ugly chapters in her life.  For example, it explores the at times strained and contentious relationship between Child and her co-author, French chef Simone Beck.  It also acknowledges Child's history of overt homophobia, although it also allows her some degree of redemption by highlighting her remarkable about-face after her lawyer and dear friend Bob Johnson, who was gay, died during the AIDS epidemic; she later went on to become an early celebrity voice advocating for awareness, research, and treatment for AIDS.  

Unsurprisingly, one of the most prominent themes throughout the movie is Child's immense impact on the average American home cook.  So much of her life's mission was to reclaim nourishing and delicious cooking for all of humanity--to take "fancy" cooking out of the kitchens of exclusive and elitist restaurants and make it accessible and accomplishable in every home's kitchen.  Hers was a deeply admirable and humanitarian aim to reconnect people with their enjoyment of creating food they can love and be proud of.  It is a wonderful gift to her fellow human beings and an enviable legacy.

With that in mind, I found it particularly rankling with Ruth Reichl, chef and food writer, discussed with some pride how Child eventually lost influence and how the next generation of chefs--presumably Reichl's cohort of food professionals--"elevated" cooking again by emphasizing niche and artisanal ingredients not available to the average family.  It doesn't seem to occur to Reichl that the impact of her generation of chefs is actually to push excellence in cooking backward, again to a point that it is so "fancy", exclusive, and expensive as to be unattainable or intimidating to the average home cook.  It's a strange thing to congratulate oneself and one's colleagues for, especially in the context of this particular film celebrating the inclusivity and general empowerment of Child's cooking legacy.

At its conclusion, this movie is heartwarming and uplifting without being overly saccharine--a true honor to its subject.  I gave it a 5.

{Heart}