![]() Most of the reviews I've seen approach the show primarily from the standpoint of "authenticity," breaking it down based on how "accurate" it is to 1) cooking, 2) the city of Chicago, or 3) a particular set of emotional experiences. In the case of The Bear, I suspect what we're looking at is more nostalgia (or wishing) than gritty verité.Īdam Rothbarth: I agree. Authenticity is rarely a virtue in its own right, yet we desire it so, and rush to laud what appears to achieve it. Otherwise liberal academics are still enamored by Martin Heidegger’s authenticity, but ignore the fact that he was authentically a Nazi so. But I am interested in the pathos of the desire for authenticity. ![]() It’s about incommensurable loss and those parts of life that will never make sense. It's about doing the most and getting the least, and those few beautiful moments when effort and reward nearly, but never fully, converge. The Bear excels because it takes these unremarkable stories, this unremarkable place, these unremarkable people, and makes them undeniably remarkable. The show has added appeal to the hobbyist foodie, who can feel Very Smart because we get the references - another tried and true TV maneuver. These are all tried and true narratives because they never stopped resonating the conditions that gave rise to those setups have not meaningfully changed. ![]() It's a fish out of water story, a prodigal son story, a tortured genius story, a workplace ensemble story. The Bear is an extremely conventional TV show, executed very well. I love this show, and I’ve never worked in a kitchen or lived in Chicago. ![]() Props like the deli cup Carmy drinks from are just that: props. But I think this kind of misses the point. I'm enough of a foodie to appreciate the presence of Matty Matheson, and know enough about Chicago to really appreciate the Malört billboard above the restaurant. Allison Hewitt Ward: So much of the writing, both in tweets and think pieces, has focused on the show's "authenticity": it's an authentic depiction of working in a kitchen, an authentic depiction of Chicago. ![]()
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