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Out of all the celebrities, Bourdain would have viscerally despised this. He hated fake phoney people, or food. He hated when his production crew would stovep

Out of all the celebrities, Bourdain would have viscerally despised this. He hated fake phoney people, or food. He hated when his production crew would stovepipe his bits. He hated a scene in Greese (I believe) where crew went out and bought squid, and threw them into the water to made the shoot better. I really liked Bourdain. He was one of the few celebrities that didn't seem to change with fame, or money. I watched him for years, and knew he was unhappy, but never thought suicide unhappy.

jacobkg 5y ago
Agree 100%. Also just watched this episode last night, it was Sicily (Season 2)
- basisword 5y ago
  Important to point out it wasn’t the crew faking the scene. The guy that took him fishing had a friend throwing squid in, unashamedly. They showed the guy on camera. There was no attempt at trickery from the people producing the show.
two2two 5y ago
After reading his books, I would agree and was hoping someone had posted this. If anyone would vehemently oppose such manipulation, it would be Anthony Bourdain. Is there a disclaimer before this scene is shown? I'll choose not to watch such a documentary created by those with skewed ethics.
- AutumnCurtain 5y ago
  There does not seem to be any disclaimer regarding the manipulation, and the OP article questions whether the director would even have mentioned it had it not come up tangentially in the course of this interview.
ceocoder 5y ago
Just quick context on the squid bit: it wasn’t Tony’s crew (zero point zero productions), it was the combination of local fixers/boat folks who wanted to make it look like they caught fish.
- holler 5y ago
  Funny enough, him describing the ploy while sort of mocking it as it happened led to an enjoyable moment in that episode (imo). It showcased his humility, and ability to make the most out of a situation while not taking himself too seriously.
  - distrill 5y ago
    That's one of my favorite scenes. He is so angry drunk and it's his birthday and you can tell he doesn't like the chef at all (the chef is the same guy who took them out "fishing" earlier in the day).
  - ceocoder 5y ago
    Thing is, more I rewatch his shows, all of his comments about depression and anger have taken a really somber tone now given what we know. I wish someone was there with him to help him through through that time. His death really affected me in a deep way I didn’t expect. I miss him so much.
    - FireBeyond 5y ago
      One of the other big scenes like that is up-river in SE Asia, talking about "how he wished that he could say it would be difficult [to kill a pig with a spear], but that time and distance have hardened the person he once was".
      - deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
    - cun7_bourdain 5y ago
      You sound like a real shithead. Fuck you.
nailer 5y ago
The bone luge thing was completely made up. The restaurant didn’t do bone luges. It’s mentioned explicitly in World Travel. I have no problem with a fake voice reading Bourdain’s own words.
porknubbins 5y ago
That was the Sicily episode- Bourdain wanted to show the ugly, scammy underbelly of Sicily I think. This kind of thing is there in a lot of the Mediterranean, but it unfairly makes all of Sicily look bad. I had a bad impression of the whole island until I learned more about it years later. Sicily is mostly nice with a few pockets of unsavoriness like anywhere, not a mafia island. In my opinion too many episodes are like that- projection of a certain fantasy about a place while ostensibly engaging with the real authentic experience.
- nscalf 5y ago
  Ofter you see what you want to see in the world. As much as I adore Bourdain, I have to admit he was undoubtably jaded and there were trips where that colored everything. For many, depression comes in waves and lasts for periods of time. He showed a lot of the good and bad in these places, but everywhere has a bit of both.
  - porknubbins 5y ago
    Bourdain put out an incredible body of work overcoming a lot of lifelong issues and I still love his show. Its just recently seeing someone like Rick Stein in the Mediterranean I realized its completely possible to do an area justice while also highlighting its best features. I feel like Anthony Bourdain with his rebel image would worry about being seen as a sellout or too bourgeois if he went to a fancy restaurant in Sicily (unless he went ironically and didn't enjoy it). I question my perception of some countries I know only/mostly from Parts Unknown now.
    - Falkon1313 5y ago
      He did go to some really fancy places in some episodes, the kind with one-of-a-kind $300 appetizers and multi-thousand dollar wines with their own climate-controlled storage facility. But he also went to Waffle House and enjoyed it. And hiked through the jungle to eat and drink (mostly drink) at a local festival and sleep in a hallway with the rest of the locals. That was what really impressed a lot of us - he seemed to get along with everyone and to value and accept their differences. The food often seemed to be largely an excuse to explore and show that message.
andy_ppp 5y ago
As I understand it (I read this on Twitter so massive grain of salt etc.) the family concented to this explicitly. Would you feel better if it was a voice actor who could read Bourdain’s email in a perfect mimic? What about historical recreations, would you object to computers being involved in, say, recreating Abraham Lincoln’s voice? Does the age of the subject matter? I think the squeamishness about AI as it becomes more and more capable will be interesting to define why we are feeling it. The machine is going to be capable of (and consequently used to do) these things whether you like it or not.
- briefcomment 5y ago
  His widow did not provide consent [1]. [1] https://twitter.com/OttaviaBourdain/status/1415889455005716485 https://twitter.com/OttaviaBourdain/status/14158894550057164...
  - andy_ppp 5y ago
    Cool, great to get that clarified but also good to see I didn’t invent the fact they claimed to have asked.
    - shkkmo 5y ago
      That wasn't the fact that you stated.
      - rovr138 5y ago
        >As I understand it (I read this on Twitter so massive grain of salt etc.) the family concented to this explicitly. This is the "fact". Half of it is a caveat to take it with a grain of salt.
    - unishark 5y ago
      We don't know that anyone lied. The guy had two ex-wives and a girlfriend. Perhaps they didn't ask enough family members for someone's taste. But as others noted, an objection from one ex-wife doesn't really make that case very strongly.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
slg 5y ago
>Out of all the celebrities, Bourdain would have viscerally despised this. I would just like to point out the irony in this comment. You're speaking on behalf of a dead person in objection to someone else speaking on behalf of that person. We can debate the ethics of this whole thing without trying to lay claim to what Bourdain would have thought.
- stainforth 5y ago
  The comment also includes examples of his stated beliefs that allow us to postulate somewhat closely.
  - hugi 5y ago
    And that's how the christian church was founded.
- daniellarusso 5y ago
  Parent was not pretending to be said dead person, though.
  - bperson 5y ago
    I’m Anthony Bourdain’s ghost and I like your comment
- s1artibartfast 5y ago
  >You're speaking on behalf of a dead person in objection to someone else speaking on behalf of that person. The objection isn't to speaking on the behalf of the dead, it is to using phoney tactics to do so, playing them up for emotional value
- hellbannedguy 5y ago
  Watch a few episodes.
- bmeski 5y ago
  How dense are you?
mthoms 5y ago
I agree. Refusing to disclose which dialogue the AI generated serves no one but the documentary maker himself. He’s not protecting a source or doing anything commendable. It doesn’t make the documentary better on any way. It’s a media stunt. It’s despicable.
megablast 5y ago
He hated fake phoney food?? Like plastic food??
pivic 5y ago
This is not axiomatic truth. I reviewed Laurie Woolever's first posthumous book about/with Bourdain, check out how the 'bone luge' was invented for one of his shows: https://niklasblog.com/?p=24870 https://niklasblog.com/?p=24870 Also, as is clearly attested by many of Bourdain's friends in Woolever's coming oral-history book on Bourdain, he lied about things, as most people do. He claimed to be human and not perfect.

jacobkg 5y ago

Agree 100%. Also just watched this episode last night, it was Sicily (Season 2)

basisword 5y ago
Important to point out it wasn’t the crew faking the scene. The guy that took him fishing had a friend throwing squid in, unashamedly. They showed the guy on camera. There was no attempt at trickery from the people producing the show.

two2two 5y ago

After reading his books, I would agree and was hoping someone had posted this. If anyone would vehemently oppose such manipulation, it would be Anthony Bourdain. Is there a disclaimer before this scene is shown? I'll choose not to watch such a documentary created by those with skewed ethics.

AutumnCurtain 5y ago
There does not seem to be any disclaimer regarding the manipulation, and the OP article questions whether the director would even have mentioned it had it not come up tangentially in the course of this interview.

ceocoder 5y ago

Just quick context on the squid bit: it wasn’t Tony’s crew (zero point zero productions), it was the combination of local fixers/boat folks who wanted to make it look like they caught fish.

holler 5y ago
Funny enough, him describing the ploy while sort of mocking it as it happened led to an enjoyable moment in that episode (imo). It showcased his humility, and ability to make the most out of a situation while not taking himself too seriously.
- distrill 5y ago
  That's one of my favorite scenes. He is so angry drunk and it's his birthday and you can tell he doesn't like the chef at all (the chef is the same guy who took them out "fishing" earlier in the day).
- ceocoder 5y ago
  Thing is, more I rewatch his shows, all of his comments about depression and anger have taken a really somber tone now given what we know. I wish someone was there with him to help him through through that time. His death really affected me in a deep way I didn’t expect. I miss him so much.
  - FireBeyond 5y ago
    One of the other big scenes like that is up-river in SE Asia, talking about "how he wished that he could say it would be difficult [to kill a pig with a spear], but that time and distance have hardened the person he once was".
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
  - cun7_bourdain 5y ago
    You sound like a real shithead. Fuck you.

nailer 5y ago

The bone luge thing was completely made up. The restaurant didn’t do bone luges. It’s mentioned explicitly in World Travel. I have no problem with a fake voice reading Bourdain’s own words.

porknubbins 5y ago

That was the Sicily episode- Bourdain wanted to show the ugly, scammy underbelly of Sicily I think. This kind of thing is there in a lot of the Mediterranean, but it unfairly makes all of Sicily look bad. I had a bad impression of the whole island until I learned more about it years later. Sicily is mostly nice with a few pockets of unsavoriness like anywhere, not a mafia island. In my opinion too many episodes are like that- projection of a certain fantasy about a place while ostensibly engaging with the real authentic experience.

nscalf 5y ago
Ofter you see what you want to see in the world. As much as I adore Bourdain, I have to admit he was undoubtably jaded and there were trips where that colored everything. For many, depression comes in waves and lasts for periods of time. He showed a lot of the good and bad in these places, but everywhere has a bit of both.
- porknubbins 5y ago
  Bourdain put out an incredible body of work overcoming a lot of lifelong issues and I still love his show. Its just recently seeing someone like Rick Stein in the Mediterranean I realized its completely possible to do an area justice while also highlighting its best features. I feel like Anthony Bourdain with his rebel image would worry about being seen as a sellout or too bourgeois if he went to a fancy restaurant in Sicily (unless he went ironically and didn't enjoy it). I question my perception of some countries I know only/mostly from Parts Unknown now.
  - Falkon1313 5y ago
    He did go to some really fancy places in some episodes, the kind with one-of-a-kind $300 appetizers and multi-thousand dollar wines with their own climate-controlled storage facility. But he also went to Waffle House and enjoyed it. And hiked through the jungle to eat and drink (mostly drink) at a local festival and sleep in a hallway with the rest of the locals. That was what really impressed a lot of us - he seemed to get along with everyone and to value and accept their differences. The food often seemed to be largely an excuse to explore and show that message.

andy_ppp 5y ago

As I understand it (I read this on Twitter so massive grain of salt etc.) the family concented to this explicitly. Would you feel better if it was a voice actor who could read Bourdain’s email in a perfect mimic? What about historical recreations, would you object to computers being involved in, say, recreating Abraham Lincoln’s voice? Does the age of the subject matter? I think the squeamishness about AI as it becomes more and more capable will be interesting to define why we are feeling it. The machine is going to be capable of (and consequently used to do) these things whether you like it or not.

briefcomment 5y ago
His widow did not provide consent [1]. [1] https://twitter.com/OttaviaBourdain/status/1415889455005716485 https://twitter.com/OttaviaBourdain/status/14158894550057164...
- andy_ppp 5y ago
  Cool, great to get that clarified but also good to see I didn’t invent the fact they claimed to have asked.
  - shkkmo 5y ago
    That wasn't the fact that you stated.
    - rovr138 5y ago
      >As I understand it (I read this on Twitter so massive grain of salt etc.) the family concented to this explicitly. This is the "fact". Half of it is a caveat to take it with a grain of salt.
  - unishark 5y ago
    We don't know that anyone lied. The guy had two ex-wives and a girlfriend. Perhaps they didn't ask enough family members for someone's taste. But as others noted, an objection from one ex-wife doesn't really make that case very strongly.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

slg 5y ago

>Out of all the celebrities, Bourdain would have viscerally despised this. I would just like to point out the irony in this comment. You're speaking on behalf of a dead person in objection to someone else speaking on behalf of that person. We can debate the ethics of this whole thing without trying to lay claim to what Bourdain would have thought.

stainforth 5y ago
The comment also includes examples of his stated beliefs that allow us to postulate somewhat closely.
- hugi 5y ago
  And that's how the christian church was founded.
daniellarusso 5y ago
Parent was not pretending to be said dead person, though.
- bperson 5y ago
  I’m Anthony Bourdain’s ghost and I like your comment
s1artibartfast 5y ago
>You're speaking on behalf of a dead person in objection to someone else speaking on behalf of that person. The objection isn't to speaking on the behalf of the dead, it is to using phoney tactics to do so, playing them up for emotional value
hellbannedguy 5y ago
Watch a few episodes.
bmeski 5y ago
How dense are you?

mthoms 5y ago

I agree. Refusing to disclose which dialogue the AI generated serves no one but the documentary maker himself. He’s not protecting a source or doing anything commendable. It doesn’t make the documentary better on any way. It’s a media stunt. It’s despicable.

megablast 5y ago

He hated fake phoney food?? Like plastic food??

pivic 5y ago

This is not axiomatic truth. I reviewed Laurie Woolever's first posthumous book about/with Bourdain, check out how the 'bone luge' was invented for one of his shows: https://niklasblog.com/?p=24870 https://niklasblog.com/?p=24870 Also, as is clearly attested by many of Bourdain's friends in Woolever's coming oral-history book on Bourdain, he lied about things, as most people do. He claimed to be human and not perfect.