"Huh? That guy actually said the things Bella made are all pet food? This—this is way too insulting!!!"
"What??? Bella didn't even pass the audition??? How is that possible!!!"
"Oh my God, what is going on—"
"The three dishes Bella made all looked pretty good! Although I can't taste them or smell them, just looking at the visuals tells me her cooking skills are excellent, so she didn't pass the audition? Why?"
"Hiss—could this be a forced twist?"
"I think it's very possible!"
"But if it's a forced twist, deliberately creating trouble for Bella, then the rest of this movie will probably be—very average—"
The moment the audition result appeared, endless surprise immediately erupted in the large theater!
The confused discussion showed everyone's doubts, because just from the visual presentation, Bella's skills were very good.
Uh—
After all, current technology hadn't yet evolved to the point where it could carry information such as taste and smell.
When all machines in the world were unable to carry and spread any senses other than sight and hearing, the way people judged whether the food in films, television shows, variety shows, comics, and other artistic works was delicious was mainly by seeing whether that food looked good.
If the food in an artistic work looked good, okay, then it was delicious food.
And vice versa.
Moreover, this had even become an established judging standard.
For example, Etsushi Ogawa, the author of Cooking Master Boy, interpreted delicious food in his own work by making it glow.
Precisely because of this, when the food Bella made on the screen was extremely beautiful, the audience outside the screen recognized her cooking skills quite strongly. But now, she, whose cooking skills looked excellent, hadn't even passed the audition for the God of Cookery Competition?
This—
what the hell?
Amid everyone's confusion, the image on the screen moved again. The director of The God of Cookery gave everyone a wide shot, and then the audition site for the God of Cookery Competition immediately appeared before the audience.
It was a semi-open space.
Unrelated people couldn't enter.
But the relatives and friends of related people could still stop and remain at the audition site.
Precisely because of this, when Bella confidently took part in the audition, Atu, who was standing to the side watching, was full of smiles, ready at any moment to applaud for her friend, celebrate her passing the audition, and celebrate her gaining the qualification to compete.
However—
Bella's carefully made work ultimately received only a "No good" evaluation?
This was simply—
This was simply—
This was simply—
bullying people too much!!!
"Hey—you rude and arrogant guy—are you really a judge—"
Seeing that the tall, thin, bald man wanted to leave after casually dropping such a light sentence, Atu, who was standing in the spectator area, immediately stood up and loudly scolded him: "If you're not a judge of the God of Cookery Competition, then what right do you have to score contestants?"
"If you are a judge of the God of Cookery Competition, then why can you score a contestant's work without tasting it?"
"You didn't even taste the dishes she made!!"
"So how can you say the food she made isn't delicious!!"
"How can you know she doesn't have the qualification to participate in the God of Cookery Competition???"
The sudden questioning made the judge wearing gold-rimmed glasses stop in his tracks.
He looked toward the voice.
Perhaps because the judge was relatively tall?
Or perhaps because Atu was relatively short.
In any case, when the judge looked at Atu, his perspective was from above looking down.
There was a sense of looking down from a high position.
"So—you're her friend? You came with her to participate in the competition?"
The judge's tone was calm.
But between his brows, there was a sense of arrogance.
"Yeah!" Atu nodded loudly.
"Okay, in that case—I can understand how you feel right now. Your friend entered the competition, only to be miserably eliminated? As long as someone is normal, they'd find that hard to accept. But I want to say—you and your friend both don't understand cuisine."
The judge smiled at Atu.
Then he turned his gaze back to Bella and said, "The things you're making now can only be called food. After people eat them, they can only fill their stomachs. Food is an indispensable part of life's survival, but cuisine—"
At this point, the judge suddenly dragged out his tone.
It was as if he'd run out of words and was trying hard to find a suitable adjective in his mind.
But it seemed more like showing off, deliberately manipulating other people's emotions.
After pausing for a while and seeing that everyone was looking at him, he finally said, "Cuisine surpasses simple physiological needs. It merges with culture, with emotion, with art. It can carry everything while standing above everything. It's a pursuit that can make countless lives search for it their entire lives!"
"Therefore—"
The judge glanced at the dishes on the judging table, the corner of his mouth curling slightly, and once again sentenced Bella's work to death.
"When our competition is called God of Cookery, even if you make ordinary dishes extremely well, you still can't pass the audition."
"Because what we want to find is someone who can turn food into art."
"Not someone who spends their entire life studying how to better fill people's stomachs."
The moment his words fell, the judge nodded once more at Bella and Atu.
On the surface, he was very gentlemanly.
But that behavior of executing etiquette flawlessly was actually more like—
arrogance and contempt coming from his bones.
However, right now, none of that mattered!
Because although the judge's words were light, they were like a spark that once again ignited the emotional gas in the screening room.
"Oh—so Bella didn't pass the audition because what she made was only food and not cuisine?"
"If that's the case—then the setback Bella encountered is still reasonable?"
"Mm, the dishes Bella made are indeed a little too homestyle. If we really dig into it, these things really don't meet the standard of fine cuisine. Uh—what I mean is, the cuisine I see on TV isn't like this—"
"What? You people actually think the judge in the movie makes sense?"
"Exactly! Don't you think the judge in the movie sounds ridiculous?"
"Why? What's ridiculous about it?"
"OMG—shouldn't cuisine mean delicious food? If a type of food doesn't taste good, then even if it looks beautiful, what's the use? Also, food is meant to be eaten, not looked at!"
"Yeah~ I think this judge is sophistical! He just doesn't respect people! He looks down on British food!"
"But—the dishes in Michelin restaurants are all good-looking—so I think this judge's words aren't wrong—"
"Really? You really think so? Then let me ask you, does the food in Michelin restaurants taste good?"
The pointed discussion had the feeling of two armies confronting each other.
Although the viewing seats behind them were almost about to start fighting, J.K. Rowling, who'd observed everything, not only didn't mind, but instead curled the corner of her mouth and said quietly, "Isa, this movie of yours—the conflict was chosen very well."
The sudden whisper made Isabella narrow her eyes.
She leaned slightly toward her "What's good about it?"
"Everything is good."
Isabella's words had the feel of playing dumb, but J.K. Rowling directly ignored it.
She smiled and said, "If you only look at the opening of the movie, The God of Cookery feels like an ordinary dream-chasing story."
"But when the argument of 'how should cuisine be defined' appears, this movie becomes a story about arrogance and prejudice."
"Because in the eyes of the general public, including me, cuisine should be delicious food. It should be something everyone can easily touch, easily own, and easily taste. But in—in—in—"
"In the eyes of the elite class," Isabella suddenly said.
"Yeah~ in the eyes of the elite class~" J.K. Rowling picked up the thread and continued, "In the eyes of the elite class, cuisine should be an artwork made with high-end ingredients and beautiful techniques."
"When dishes detached from the masses are what the elite class sees as cuisine, as long as Bella, meaning you, can stay true to herself and pursue the origin of food, then this movie can gain the love of countless ordinary people."
"And if, during this process, you use simple ingredients to make extraordinary food?"
"Wow~ then this movie will become a classic~"
"Right?"
"Of course, in my eyes, these are only the tip of the iceberg beneath the surface."
"Because once the definition of cuisine begins to revolve around the topic of 'refinement'—"
"Why is Britain a culinary desert?"
"Is it because we follow pragmatism?"
"Is that so?"
J.K. Rowling threw out a playful little turn of phrase.
At this point, she even tilted her head and looked toward Isabella.
In the dark theater, the light from the screen wasn't enough for her to see everything clearly.
But Isabella turned her head, lightly swayed it, and bumped against her.
At the same time, she praised her, "As expected of a world-class writer."
"In front of you, I'm practically an elementary school student."
"Hahahaha~" Isabella's words made J.K. Rowling purse her lips and laugh softly.
Yes!
Just as J.K. Rowling said, Bella's miserable defeat in the audition had three layers of meaning.
The first layer was the simplest: creating conflict.
No matter what kind of artistic work it was, it would contain conflict.
Because a story without contradiction and without conflict wasn't good to watch.
The second layer was choosing a side and embracing the public.
Home cooking and elite cuisine were fundamentally different things.
Home cooking belonged to ordinary people. It cared about whether the food tasted good, whether it filled the stomach, and whether it brought comfort.
Elite cuisine, on the other hand, cared more about refinement, presentation, technique, and status.
So, when the film placed Bella's simple, comforting food against the judge's arrogant definition of "true cuisine," it was not just talking about cooking.
It was creating a value conflict that the audience could immediately understand.
Or rather, this was also a common Hollywood method: divide the public and create opposition.
Then, when the second layer of "division" appeared nakedly, the third layer of meaning could also extend from the second layer. That was wildly putting labels on things and frantically whitewashing the idea that Britain was a culinary desert.
No, no, no!
Britain had never been a culinary desert, because Britain had always been the representative of pragmatism!
The reason fish and chips could become a symbol of British food culture was that it was born during the Industrial Revolution!
The production work in society at that time was extremely busy.
Therefore, being able to fill one's stomach as much as possible within limited time was what everyone desired most.
And if the thing that filled the stomach could still taste decent?
Wow~
Then this thing would absolutely be a worldly delicacy!
Precisely because all of Britain had devoted its life and existence to the great cause of leading humanity forward, Britain seemed relatively rough in terms of eating!
What?
Someone says Charles Dickens wrote in Oliver Twist that fish and chips were actually a manifestation of capital squeezing labor?
Because the less time workers spent eating, the more things they could produce?
That this was squeezing workers' rest time to seize more profits?
This kind of argument has no soil to survive in!
Heh—
Because when the big colonizers can face 3.5 million documents and still say transparency is the greatest civilization, Oliver Twist? Isn't that just a novel? Looking for reality in a novel? Are you stupid?
Hehe~
Since The God of Cookery's main line had already been made clear, and its concept had already been fully elevated, the later development became very simple:
The result of not passing the audition made Bella very sad;
However, just as she was packing her luggage and preparing to go home, Atu suddenly jumped out and said that Bella failed the audition purely because the judges of the God of Cookery Competition were biased against British cuisine. She then pulled out a whiteboard and listed a pile of data;
"Bella, the World God of Cookery Competition has already been held 118 times!"
"But so far, only 27 British contestants have entered the finals!"
"And only 3 have successfully won the championship!"
"When there are very few British contestants in the World God of Cookery Competition, it's hard not to say that the judges of the World God of Cookery Competition are biased against British chefs and British cuisine!"
"Especially when today's judge gave you an out without tasting your food, I personally think their discrimination against British chefs and British cuisine is very, very serious!"
"So—you are amazing!"
"Okay?"
Atu's encouragement softened Bella's expression a little.
But at the same time, the words "feeling awful" were still written on her face.
Seeing this, Atu continued swinging her sandbag-sized fist and helped the soul-wandering Api regain his senses.
Perhaps he'd already gotten used to being beaten?
Or perhaps his body had formed a muscular response to Atu's beatings.
This time, after waking up, Api didn't even wait for Atu to speak. He very smoothly nodded at Bella.
That perfunctory response amused Bella.
The image of the "huge" Api having a good temper and the "thin" Atu having a violent temper once again made quite a bit of laughter rise inside the premiere screening room. Everyone felt that the combination of Api and Atu was very cute.
Then, since the hurdle in her heart had already been crossed, the hurdle in life also had to be crossed.
After a simple exchange, Bella said that she wanted to go to Hell's Kitchen in London to seek a master and learn cooking.
She wanted to receive instruction from Gordon, the only living God of Cookery in Britain at present.
That way, she could better embrace the God of Cookery Competition she'd been thinking about day and night.
However, when Bella arrived in London carrying her dream, she discovered that there was a huge gap between dreams and reality.
This was not to say she didn't meet Gordon!
Rather, when Bella and the others arrived at Hell's Kitchen, Gordon happened to be filming a program. In Bella's imagination, Gordon should have been an extremely amazing British chef;
someone devoted to cooking, eager to dedicate everything to food;
but after she briefly watched Gordon's show being recorded, she discovered that Gordon was actually a television star;
not a proper chef at all;
Gordon's words and actions, Gordon's dishes, all served his God of Cookery Screaming Show.
For example, when he felt that his student's dish was too oily, he didn't say to control the oil. Instead, he said, "Am I in the Middle East right now? This dish is so oily America wants to start a war and come rob it!"
Another example: when he felt that his student's octopus was undercooked, he wouldn't say to pan-fry it for another three minutes. Instead, he said, "Are you fucking watching SpongeBob? No? Then why can I hear Squidward shouting at SpongeBob to shut up?"
Another example: when he felt that his student's roast chicken wasn't flavorful enough, he didn't say to add seasoning. Instead, he said, "Do you know why the rooster didn't want to cross the road? Because it didn't want to hurry to the other side! It feels like it died for nothing!"
Gordon's irritable, vulgar figure left Bella with a very poor impression.
And when she later contacted Gordon and said that she wanted to become his apprentice—
Gordon took off his chef uniform while shaking his head in a tone that kept people a thousand miles away. "Sorry, I won't teach you cooking. Because you simply don't have the talent to be a chef."
"You say you're extremely sensitive to taste? If what you say is true, then you have a genius-level tongue."
"You say you can easily distinguish countless smells? If what you say is true, then in front of your talent, my nose is as rough as the damn Scottish Highlands!"
"But—"
"You say you want to take part in the God of Cookery Competition, yet you couldn't even pass the audition?"
"Heh."
"When you possess a top-level tongue and a top-level nose, if you still can't even pass the audition for the God of Cookery Competition, then that can only prove two things. First, God opened a door for you and then closed a window. You have no talent for cooking."
"Second, you're lying."
"So stop wasting my time here!"
"Teaching you cannot bring me any huge benefits!"
"My time is very precious. Every second is countless pounds!"
The moment the mocking words appeared, the huge theater exploded once again.
"Oh—shit—so this is the real state of the food world? They don't look at skill, only feelings??"
"My God! The attitude of the food world makes me sick! If they don't even taste it, then what right do they have to judge?"
"Here it comes again, here it comes again, here it comes again! The previous judge would rather use high-sounding rhetoric to defend his judgment than taste the food Bella made! Now Gordon can determine that Bella has no talent as a chef based only on guesswork! But isn't chef supposed to be a profession that speaks through technique? Why can these people make judgments using only their eyes?"
"Exactly, exactly—the behavior of the judge and Gordon makes me want to vomit!"
"Damn! These high-and-mighty guys look just like demons!"
"I can't take it anymore! Right now, I only want to see Bella slap these people hard in the face! Everything before my eyes makes me feel like I'm not watching a food movie, but Sherlock Holmes! Because whenever Sherlock Holmes runs into a problem, he asks Watson what he thinks, right?
If it's solving a case, okay, they can go wild with deductions. But cooking? Heh, this group of guys has absolutely no professional ethics!"
"That's right! Bella! Hit them! Slap them hard in the face!"