Spending a day watching Food Network is like taking a trip through every section of New York City. The network represents almost every type of person, making it easy to relate to at least one of them. The idea behind this is that when you relate to someone you will watch them and try to emulate them. Sandra Lee is one of the idols on Food Network; her style is that of a fun, simple woman who likes shortcuts and great food. Her shows: Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee and Sandra's Money Saving Meals, display her knack for making seemingly great food with store bought items. Viewers tune in to watch what they believe is a fun and relatable woman, someone who doesn’t have the time or patience to make everything from scratch. She offers easy tricks to making canned food taste like a gourmet meal. Her show Sandra's Money Saving Meals also offers the frugal viewer tips on saving money and making a delicious meal that everyone will love. Here are videos of both of Sandra’s shows.
The settings for Sandra’s shows are simple kitchens that we can all relate to, what makes hers different than the audiences are the accessories her kitchen is stocked with. Her show Semi-Homemade is the perfect example, in every episode her kitchen changes depending on the theme of the day. If her niece is having a princess party then the kitchen is decorated in shades of pink even the small appliances, if it’s Christmas however then the kitchen is suddenly red and green, again including the small appliances. Unlike her middle class viewers Sandra has the money to buy a mixer in every color, and the crew to decorate for every show. She also includes a segment on table decorating for the particular theme, while some of her decorations are budget conscious, others are expensive accessories that the normal person couldn’t afford for one party.
Sandra Lee is what most single women can relate to, a fun happy woman who cooks on a budget with premade items. She makes it appear that every person can make what she is because she uses store brand items, she lead us to believe that we too should decorate with great detail for every occasion. The audience is sucked into the idea of a person like them that knows how to do just about everything perfectly. The Food Network is notorious for creating a melting pot of people with various lifestyles that they can sell.
Do you think that these shows are actually promoting healthy food recipes?
ReplyDeleteI think the subject of lifestyles portrayed by the Food Network ties into one of our past blogs. Many of us wrote about how no media text accurately depicted us. So, while these shows claim to represent "real" types of people, it is all an elaborate production. What does it mean when the Food Network won't show what it is like to cook when you barely make enough money to buy groceries? What can we learn from who is left out of their catalog of lifestyles?
ReplyDeleteI love how in the background everything is set up so perfect and yes every one of us have those blackberry bushes outside our home. Do you think the average single women have the time and money to make this recipe in order to fit this type of lifestyle?
ReplyDeleteI believe that newer shows are trying to promote healthy food recipes, it's almost like a trend to be healthy. In previous years no one cared about the amount of butter in a meal, but today with the focus on childhood obesity and obesity in general, shows are aiming to be current and follow the health trend.
ReplyDeleteI think that while there is no accurate media that truly represents us we can agree that it's certain aspects of the Food Network stars that we can relate to, and in turn we try to emulate other aspects of their supposed perfect life. We don't want to see the truth about how many people today can't afford to buy groceries, instead we want to be entertained by people who share certain common ground with us. They play up their lifestyles to draw people in and sell products.
ReplyDeleteI think that we have both the time and money to recreate the food but in terms of the lifestyle she created the answer is no. We can try to keep the kitchen looking perfectly coordinated to the day, but the truth is that we don't have a crew of people to help us produce a perfect kitchen, with new appliances and expensive cookware.
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