Rachel Ray, Androids and why America needs both.

Rachel Ray is a fairly visible figure in American popular culture. She’s done the rounds on the food network, has two shows, a syndicated lifestyle-talk program, a magazine, cookbooks and an Emmy award. Oprah friggin’ loves her. She has no formal culinary training, but has been bitten by a snake whose venom has frozen her facial muscles into a perpetual smile and never stops talking about EVOO (Extravirginoliveoil teeheehee!), which is why she’s the most visible figures in the culinary TV world. She’s on Nabisco cracker boxes, has a wax statue that doesn’t smile nearly as much as she does, and will endorse everything from burger king to dunkin’ donuts. It doesn’t seem like she ever ages, and she doesn’t seem to have any other emotional programming outside of “perky”. In other words, she’s the most psychotic and well-known androids of all time, beating out the only other successful android in entertainment, Data from Star Trek.

Which one is the android? Are you absolutely sure? Really? REALLY?!

The only good explanation in regards to her personality is that she’s of Italian (Sicilian) descent AND from New York, which essentially means you can’t stop her from talking expressively about anything unless you run her over with a ford F-350, whereupon she might start endorsing Ford trucks that that lug over two tons of dead weight and has more torque than any other vehicle in it’s class.

To tell the truth, I had never thought too much about Rachel Ray, had not watched her shows or anything until she appeared in FHM men’s magazine, which I, um, stumbled upon while looking for the Home Gardening magazines at the mag rack. That being said, I started paying attention to her cooking channels on the Food network a little more.

People are very polarized about her cooking style, which doesn’t utilize measuring instruments, requiring you to “eyeball it”. Her recipes supposedly take 30 minutes or less to prepare, and she uses an excessive amount of catchphrases, like "yum-o," "so delish," "G.B." (garbage bowl), "Oh my gravy!", "stoup", and "how good is THAT?".

She is criticized because she has no formal chefs education and doesn’t seem to take cooking seriously, as well as being so consistently enthusiastic about everything that she’s been called a bobblehead by her culinary peers, of which I readily agree.

As much as I could criticize her for being the most pumped android on TV, she definitely is what America needs today. She has contributed to increasing the visibility of cooking in the “eat-out” culture that has often seen as a contributor to American health issues(Eg: Chipotle's huge burritos, fast food, Old country Buffet) . Whether or not people like her, they still pay attention to her and her cooking demos, which is much more than you can expect from renowned TV chefs like Billy Flay.

In conclusion, I would not watch her too much for fear of going crazy and losing my sanity. I appreciate her contributions, but like all things, you can absolutely have your fill of Rachel Ray.

Don't be fooled, guys. She's still a robot.