|
 But even if the fourth season of his Emmy Award-winning CNN
show fosters cultural diplomacy or raises drug awareness, this
outspoken New York chef insists he is on no kind of socially
minded mission. And he's not an advocate, activist, journalist
or expert on anything.
"There have been times I have had an agenda or developed an
agenda or came back feeling very strongly about something, but I
am not out to make the world a better place or inspire people to
do one thing or the other," Bourdain told Reuters ahead of the
Season 4 premiere on Sunday.
If, however, more Americans got passports and traveled the world
and walked in other people's shoes by seeing his show, he would
feel good about that.
"But I am not so pompous as to think that is any kind of a
mission of mine," he said. "I am a lucky son of a bitch who gets
to travel around the world and talk about it."
It's not just about telling a story for Bourdain, who broke out
of the culinary world and into popular culture in 2000 with his
best-selling restaurant chef memoir "Kitchen Confidential." He
puts a premium on the show's artistic elements, depicting
offbeat destinations like Detroit or the Congo with cinematic
flourish.
The season stars with "Shanghai." Bourdain says he and his crew
take the show to new aesthetic heights, inspired by the joint
work of Hong Kong film director Wong Kar Wai and cinematographer
Christopher Doyle.
They used splashes of red - in flowers or a handkerchief - and
varying camera speeds to mimic the atmospheric effect of films
like Wong's "In the Mood for Love." The episode ponders the
longing and desire that comes with China's explosive economic
growth.
[to top of second column] |
It took years for Bourdain to get official clearance to do an
episode in Iran, but he now can think of nowhere where he has been
more warmly received.
"The Iran you know geopolitically and the Iran you see walking down
the street, it is a very jarring difference," he said.
The lineup also includes sojourns to Paraguay, New York City's Bronx
borough, Jamaica, Vietnam, Tanzania and then takes a deeply personal
turn in the episode in Massachusetts, where Bourdain, himself a
former heroin addict, takes stock of the drug's ravages.
"You could see the public health problem becoming a criminal justice
problem in small-town America," he said.
These days, the 58-year-old Bourdain is looking rather fit thanks to
his obsession with jiujitsu. And as much as he would not mind
retiring to Italy to grow tomatoes and make salumi, his Italian wife
won't hear of it.
"I have come to the conclusion," he said, "that it is New York for
me and I will keep working until I choke on a chicken wing."
(Editing by Eric Kelsey and Jonathan Oatis)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
