What American politics can learn from The Great British Baking Show

Los Angeles Times

"Of course, The Great British Baking Show is a created world, set in a tent in a park, where the producers set the rules and judges judge," says Robert Lloyd. "But that is not so different from a constitution and courts, if you remember how those are supposed to work in an honest society. The media wants politicians to be performers, and rates them accordingly. The Great British Baking Show invites you to consider every baker as an individual, applying personal solutions idiosyncratically to the problem of deliciousness. They are young and old, Black and white and Asian, gay and straight, students, workers and homemakers. It gives you time to see them under pressure, and also just to see them, in a way that encourages empathy more than judgment; they have their good days and their bad days, and remain philosophical. Every elimination feels like a loss. There is none of the polarization that describes our modern political discourse, no ideology beyond, say, one contestant’s belief that marzipan is better with pistachio than almond. We learn a little about who the bakers are at home, but not whether they voted 'leave' or 'remain,' or think Boris Johnson is a total clown or just mostly one. There are no tactics, only the application of technique and taste, the mix of innovation and tradition. You cannot strategize your way to winning; being named “star baker” in one episode gives you no advantage in the next. You can’t bluff your way through, saying your soufflé has not fallen when everyone can see it has. 'Fake news' has no power here." ALSO: The Great British Baking Show feels off this season with coronavirus bubble, new host Matt Lucas and Nailed It!-like results.