Acts of Conspicuous Compassion: Performance Culture and American Charity Practices

Introduction

1 Introduction “How fabulous is that?” purrs Ina Garten, referring to the steaming contents of the casserole dish held captive between her oven mitt–clad hands. Known more widely under the moniker the Barefoot Contessa, Garten is one of a stable of Food Network culinary superstars. Like her contemporaries Paula Deen, Emeril Lagasse, and Giada De Laurentiis, Garten has successfully stayed atop the entertainment cooking industry wave that propels and transforms seemingly obscure chefs and amateur foodies into highly lucrative commodities.Think Julia Child under the tutelage of Entourage ’s Ari Gold. Garten built her empire out of her highly successful gourmet food store, the Barefoot Contessa,in NewYork’s renowned vacation enclave the Hamptons . Her Food Network show, The Barefoot Contessa, features Garten presenting sophisticated and elegant dishes made simple and inviting, culled from ingredient lists that read like superlatives in a high school yearbook: the best, the freshest, the ripest, the most perfect, and so on. Garten portrays an image of homespun chic; she comes across to viewers as cheerful, neighborly, and unfailingly positive. She is part Martha Stewart, part Snow White. Periodically she breaks from her preparations to admire her (and presumably the viewer’s) skill, cooing one of her signature phrases such as “How fabulous is that?”1 In March 2011, however, life became much less fabulous and rather difficult for the cooking show star. A report surfaced on TMZ, the celebrity news and culture web site, alleging that Garten had refused to grant a sixyear -old terminally ill boy his Make-A-Wish request to cook with the famed chef. Enzo Pereda, a young boy with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and his family had approached the Make-A-Wish Foundation, an organization that helps make unique experiences a reality for terminally ill individuals, in 2 aCtS of CoNSPICuouS CoMPaSSIoN 2010 with the request for Pereda to meet and cook with Garten. According to reports, Pereda was one of Garten’s biggest fans; he watched her show faithfully from his bed every day, including times when he was hospitalized for treatments. Journalist Sheila Marikar writes for ABC News that at the time“Ina gave a‘soft no’ supposedly because she had a 10-month book tour.” Make-A-Wish asked Pereda how he wanted to proceed based on that information .“He said‘I will wait,’” stated Pereda’s mother.“And he did.”2 A year later Pereda’s second request was denied, prompting his mother to write on her blog: I told him [Enzo] the unfortunate news, [and] his reply was simply “Why doesn’t she want to meet me?” (As he is looking up at me with those big, beautiful brown eyes!) I would be lying if I said that I don’t find this to be shocking. To know that out of EVERYTHING (material Enzo could choose to have) or ANY PLACE (in the world Enzo could travel to) and out of EVERY PERSON on this earth he chose Ina and she cannot see what an honor that is.3 The online response to Pereda’s implied heartbreak was immediate, swift, and overwhelmingly critical of Garten. Major news aggregates such as ABC News, Huffington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and Business Insider, as well as numerous blogs, picked up the story. On social media sites such as Facebook and on forums such as Café Mom and The Stir, people voiced their outrage with Garten, excoriating her for her insensitivity and elitism. “I’d never thought I’d see someone turn down a dying child,”posted one woman. Another wrote, “Sorry, but I won’t be going back to admire her now that the Empress has no clothes and apparently no soul.” Fueling the online ire was an item in the story about Pereda posted on Business Insider that mentioned Garten had recently thrown a $100,000-a-plate charity luncheon for six women to benefit the Hamptons’Historical Society.4 Many people called for boycotts of her show and products. Others were quick to point out that she had an obligation as a celebrity and public figure (as well as a fellow human) to wholeheartedly participate in this act of conspicuous compassion .5 At first Garten’s representatives remained silent, but within days of the snub felt around the world they released a statement claiming that Garten had only recently been informed of Pereda’s request: Introduction 3 Ina receives approximately 100 requests...