This TV show makes me embarrassed to be an American

Man vs Food. Have you seen it? The basic premise is this: A guy travels around the country, visiting locally-owned and local-favorite restaurants, where he talks with the owners and cooks, then tries to eat a massive amount of food in order to get a post on the restaurant’s wall of fame.

Please understand something. I have nothing against the show’s host. In fact, he’s a likable guy. He’s funny, entertaining, charming. The fact that this show is still on, and seeing the number of people crowd around him, cheering him to finish the food challenge bothers me for some reason.

This show effects me in a few different ways.

1. It makes me hungry, usually.
Although I usually don’t eat meat, except for albacore tuna, I find myself wanting to drive to the nearest Burger King to buy a few Whoppers. Do I? No. It’s snowing and although the Honda Civic has new tires, they aren’t snow tires. So, I might get some burgers, at the risk of sliding off the road and into a ditch. Not worth it.

2. It makes me embarassed, to be living in America.
Seriously. Seeing this guy stuff his face is something I can do without. At this point, I flip the channel. Knowing that thousands of people die from starvation, every day, makes this not really fun to watch.

Entertainment or Overindulgence?
Granted, it’s just entertainment, and it is interesting, somewhat, to watch host Adam Richman travel around the United States exploring the kitchens of restaurants. I used to work in restaurants so I find it interesting when he interviews the cooks or talks to the front-of-the-house staff.

It’s not entertaining to watch him devour enormous portions of food within a specified time in order to get his picture on the wall. It’s overindulgence.

People are starving in other countries. People are going hungry in America.

Meanwhile, we’re watching some TV show about a guy eating an unhealthy amount of food as quickly as possible.

Seriously, America?

What gives? What will be the breaking point for our own over indulgence? Where does it end?

One day, America, overfed, over-shopped, over-texted, over-informed, over-entertained, and over-amused, will collapse under it’s own weight.

Then, we’ll be watching shows like Man vs Starvation, or Man vs Dumpster, and shows like Man vs Food will be remembered in the history books as entertainment–entertainment that hypnotized the masses into feeling less indulgent than the guy on TV.