S15.E12: 7 Chefs Compete

[Julia]

Gee, that seemed sincere, and not at all ordered by higher-ups.

 

Yeah, right.

 

Well, since it put his direct supervisor neatly in his place, I'll take it.

[DoctorK]

I noticed that he apologised for ONE comment he made. I think the whole situation is more complicated that what we see (including production staff telling him what would work well in terms of getting more face time) but Frank does have a problem. I have worked with a lot of marines and he is not representative of the ones I have worked with.

[ZoloftBlob]

Well, since there is ALWAYS a "I HATE WOMEN AND I TREAT WOMEN LIKE HOLES TO FUCK!" chef contestant on this show, and there's ALWAYS a "Blue Team is men and we're men and being men, the women team sucks!" sentiment, I do allow that some of the sentiment expressed is producer encouraged.

 

But Frank's behavior on several levels was pretty crappy - I personally found his tendency to get red hot enraged to where he was puffing himself up and being physically threatening bothersome.

[Julia]

He and Jackie definitely filled what is apparently now Fox' goal to cast for the sheer watercooler power of the Robyn/Kimmie thug season (and because nobody will beat them on the race to the bottom, Food Network is actually trying to make Robyn happen. Geoffrey Zakarian gave her one of his very special scheduled winner tongue baths on Chopped because she's surprisingly awesome for a food truck cook).

Only, he chose to represent his service. Frankly, kid from south NYC who got pushed into the military at 19 over his behavioral problems doesn't scream needs to be scripted into impulse control issues. If he was, though, he chose to play along while presenting himself as a marine.

Edited April 6, 2016 by Julia

[RCharter]

Gee, that seemed sincere, and not at all ordered by higher-ups.

 

Yeah, right.

I can see the cue cards reflected in his eyes.  LOL.  How very sincere.

 

And it literally sounds like he is reading it.

 

On HK, which his supervisor and others are saying is fake and edited he sounded absolutely 100% real and genuine in his disgust and hate for women.  Yet he can't act half as real when reading his apology from a cue card?

[Julia]

Well, at the risk of being an armchair psychologist, Frank strikes me as a person who wants very much for people to think of him as a tough guy, and the company he works for employs a great many women who are more than capable of kicking his ass. It strikes me as possible that this disturbs him.

Edited April 6, 2016 by Julia

[RCharter]

Well, at the risk of being an armchair psychologist, Frank strikes me as a person who wants very much for people to think of him as a tough guy, and the company he works for employs a great many women who are more than capable of kicking his ass. It strikes me as possible that this disturbs him.

I certainly don't mind the armchair psychoanalysis.....because I've already figured Frank for the type of guy that is hiding the bodies of hookers in his basement.  He is just that angry guy....the sort that takes every real or perceived sleight as something personal that he obsesses over.  I can't remember having ever seen him smile or genuinely have a good time.  He seems like the sort of guy that hits on a girl, and if she kindly says "no thanks" he is calling her a stuck up bitch and following her out of the club to "teach her a lesson."

 

In fact, it wouldn't surprise me at all to learn that Frank wanted to go into the infantry but he was held back for some physical or mental issue...and no one really wanted to hand him a firearm in combat.....so he was sent to the kitchen.

Edited April 7, 2016 by RCharter

[Snarklepuss]

Since we're risking armchair analysis, I'll throw in mine - I think Frank's misogyny may be a defense mechanism against latent homosexuality or at least an insecurity about his own manhood.  It wouldn't surprise me if he was homophobic too.  And I agree that his being in the kitchen may have been a result of his not being suitable for regular duty.

[Sir RaiderDuck OMS]

And Frank has been fired from from his position with the Commandants' kitchen and been reassigned to something considerably less prestigious.

 

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story/military/2016/04/06/marine-chef-fired-blasting-women-hells-kitchen/82721802/

[Julia]

So, I guess that (unlike his supervisor) the Marines actually investigated what happened? Because it wasn't my impression that if someone confesses to a fairly serious offense on camera, taking his word for it that it was CGI was an option his boss had.

Edited April 7, 2016 by Julia

[Snarklepuss]

Despite the demotion being less prestigious it looks like a slap on the wrist for appearances sake only.  They should have fired the ass or made him peel onions, LOL.  My mother told me that KP duty was always considered punishment when she was a WAC.

[RCharter]

So, I guess that (unlike his supervisor) the Marines actually investigated what happened? Because it wasn't my impression that if someone confesses to a fairly serious offense on camera, taking his word for it that it was CGI was an option his boss had.

Honestly, as much as Frank concerns me......the comments by his supervisor concern me about 100x more.  

 

I don't know if you were the one pointing it out, but him explaining how other women are "fine" working around Frank, but the women themselves have said nothing bothers me greatly.  A situation comes off a little stinky when you're accusing a man of having a problem with woman, and his male supervisor explains that he works well around women, but the women haven't said much of anything (although I'm sure the Marines have no problems also giving them a cue card statement to read).

 

And the justifications his supervisor gave reek of the justification a lot of male supervisors give for male employees acting poorly.  "It was just a joke" "He didn't really mean it" "It was just bad lighting" "Are you sure that happened?" "Why don't you move duty stations?"  Perhaps its because I just got done watching "The Hunting Ground,"  but I don't like it one bit.

 

That his supervisor would come out like that lets me know that the bias is institutionalized.  Because no one seems to be asking questions beyond Frank, no one is asking why a supervisor felt perfectly comfortable dismissing the comments as "reality show editing taken out of context" when he wasn't there.  Have there been other complaints by women working with Frank that have been "taken out of context" according to this supervisor?

 

Despite the demotion being less prestigious it looks like a slap on the wrist for appearances sake only.  They should have fired the ass or made him peel onions, LOL.  My mother told me that KP duty was always considered punishment when she was a WAC.

 

In one respect, I'm just okay with the appearance of a severe punishment, so that people think twice before exhibiting this behavior.  At the same time, if he gets the exact same position in a year or two....there is no lesson learned.

[beesknees]

I can't believe he'd been in Korea for a year and a half and didn't know anything about how to make his "favorite" Korean dessert.  I admit - I've never heard of it, but I've never been to a Korean restaurant, much less lived there.  He talks about how much he studied "culinary arts" . . . but didn't figure out how to make something he professed to love?  I'm not a chef - just an average cook.  But one of the first things I did after falling in love with tiramisu was to learn how to make it.   

 

And his degrading comments about women were an embarrassment to him and to the Marine Corps.  Good riddance, Frank.

 

Seriously?  This really cracks me the eff up.  I lived in Korea for 6-7 years - Suwon (military base there), Osan (even bigger military base there), and Seoul.  Every time Frank opened his uneducated, stupid mouth I was thinking "Wow.  This dude reminds me of about every.single.young.ill-mannered, jerk-off soldier back in Korea" and man, there were plenty.   I haven't watched every episode of this season's HK so I wasn't even aware Frank had been stationed in Korea until I read it here but go figure.  Surprised never.

 

Please don't get me wrong, there were plenty of kind, gracious, well-educated, hard working military personnel through out Korea and I am truly grateful for all the sacrifices they have and will continue to make - I even dated a military guy for two years when he was stationed there.  I will say first hand there were a LOT of troubled youth (borderline gang members, those who were one blink away from incarceration who thrown into the military to be straightened out) being shipped off to Korea.  They didn't act right when they were back home in America and they sure didn't know how to act right overseas.  Basically they are representing our country when they are abroad.

 

Many of these young people have never left home, let alone board a plane to be shipped off half way around the world.  I remember once being seated next to a young army private on a flight from JFK to Seoul.  I wasn't much older than him at the time.  You really get to know someone when you're sitting next to them for 15-16 hrs. straight.  This 21-22 yr. old was scared stiff.  

 

He could barely read and write.  I had to help him fill out a small index-sized card for Immigration.  This kid did not know which box to fill out for "race" (I kid you not) let alone what to write in regards to his "ethnicity".  Sigh.  It was sad.  Many of these young military people are such rude American guests while they are stationed in their host country it's absolutely no wonder to me while most Koreans say they hate the behavior of the soldiers and/or are frightened of them.

 

And don't get me started on Japan because when I lived there many of the young military people doing their tours acted just as bad (I see you Okinawa).When I first started traveling to other countries I couldn't figure out "why" many locals seemed to be "hating on" Americans as a whole.  Of course there are many reasons but behavior like Frank's sure doesn't help.

 

And as to Frank's fave Korean dessert - lord, help us all if that dessert be "Batbingsu" (pronounced - pop-in-sue).  My god, I will eat anything and I love almost every single Korean dish on the planet.  Korean food is amazing and I found it much more flavorful and interesting than Japanese food for some reason.

 

"Batbinsu" (I think that's the dish Frank's referencing) is positively VILE in my opinion. And this is coming from a person who has eaten "Botsintang" (pronounced - potion-tongue) which is the traditional dog soup dish in Korea.  The parents of one of my university students invited me to an elaborate dinner of dog soup at their traditional Korean restaurant.  Only dog is served in these restaurants, and yay!, since I was the guest of honor I was the lucky recipient of the dog penis in my soup.

 

Did I eat some of the dog soup?  Yes.  Did I partake of the dog penis.  Um, no.  I gave that away to one of the men in the group.  I thought the soup was gross.  It tasted exactly like dirty-smelling, wet dog.  Now, If Frank can't make the very easy, shaved Korean ice dessert that I suspect he's talking about, well, then he is a straight-up moron.  It is literally a dump-and-pour recipe.

 

An 8 year old could make the traditional Korean dessert.  Most fast food joints in Korea whip this up in 2 mins. and serve it.  Basically, Frank, here's the recipe:

 

Take a glob of plain, shaved, snow-cone ice and plop it into a bowl.  Open up a can of condensed milk and pour some of it over the ice.  Open up a can of plain red kidney beans (the kind you use in chili).  Drain the beans and smash them up.  Leave some of the beans whole for contrast and texture.

 

Take a bunch of sugar and mix it into the smashed up beans until you make a paste and it tastes very sweet.  Dump the red kidney bean paste on top of the ice.  Open up a can of fruit cocktail and drain it.  Spoon the a good amount canned fruit over the sugary bean paste mixture.  You can also dice up a mix of fresh fruit instead of the fruit cocktail.  Then sprinkle gummi bears on top, fruit loops, (I've had it with other kinds of sweet candy on top or you can just eat it plain).  Enjoy! 

 

(Of course I am being a little facetious but I am not far off).  

Edited April 8, 2016 by beesknees

[Pathetica]

http://www.duffelblog.com/2016/04/food-service-pog-suggests-women-are-useless-in-the-military/

[AZChristian]

Wow.  From chef to the commandant to cooking in a tent at boot camp.  Congrats, Frank.  Not many are on such an amazing reverse career path.  Do you feel macho and tough now?

[mertensia]

Wow. From chef to the commandant to cooking in a tent at boot camp. Congrats, Frank. Not many are on such an amazing reverse career path. Do you feel macho and tough now?

There must be a lot of female Marines laughing right now.

[Julia]

I'm pretty sure that link is to a military-themed humor blog?

[AZChristian]

I'm pretty sure that link is to a military-themed humor blog?

 

But it has been documented that he was "transferred" to a much less prestigious assignment.

[Heni Fur]

On 18/03/2016 at 5:13 AM, HalcyonDays said:

 

I'm glad that Frank was relieved of his position in the wake of Hell's Kitchen. There is no place for hatred or bigotry ANYWHERE.