Why Gordon Ramsay Won't 'Show Mercy' To Young Chefs On Hell's Kitchen
Gordon Ramsay has made enough of a brand out of insulting people that there were times Eater says he made as much money as Beyoncé. It's his stock in trade, yet his harsh and reckless behavior, both on-screen and off, has drawn a lot of controversies his way.
There was shock and outrage when Ramsay made a man cry on "Hell's Kitchen" by mocking him, per Daily Mail. According to The Guardian, Ramsay has also been accused of playing some dirty tricks to make restaurants look worse than they actually are during filming his reality show "Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares." This purportedly cost a manager of a New York restaurant his job because Ramsay blamed him for all the horrors that were shown on TV.
Though the explosive chef has tried to revamp his image with YouTube videos that focus on his passion for food, his love of cooking, and his gentle home life, the fact remains that he's expected to be villainous. Which may be part of the reason why Ramsay won't stop swinging his verbal cudgel around, even when dealing with young chefs.
Ramsay may be cruel, but it's only to be kind
In a 2017 study published in the July edition of Psychological Science, researchers attempted to determine why some people will attempt to be cruel to a person and negatively impact their mood in order to help them. One of the criteria that researchers found was that sometimes one person would cause another person to have a negative emotion if "the negative emotion to be induced helps the target achieve a goal."
Though Gordon Ramsay may have built his brand around abuse, there was one young chef who reflected on his behavior when she met him on the set of the 21st season of "Hell's Kitchen." "He didn't really have a whole lot of mercy," said chef Ileana DSilva, via YouTube. According to her, Ramsay said, "I'm here to show you your flaws and what you should work on as a chef." It seems the point of his relentless browbeating isn't merely for his own sadistic amusement, nor for the ratings and dollars. He may very well be exposing problems so they can be solved.
It appears to have worked for DSilva, who said, "I had no idea that I was capable of doing, I mean, 80% of anything I did on the show just because he pushes you so hard." It may just be that brutality can be the galvanizing force that helps us be our best. Though, there's still no reason to call someone a "panini head."