TVSquad

You say you don't want to bring politics into a TV blog, yet that's all this article was. She wrote an opinion piece about a book. Agree with her or not, what does it really have to do with whether to watch a reality cooking show. She doesn't eat meat so you "guess" the challenge will have to do with that, and you are probably right, but you still come off like a jerk. Zooey Deschanel had even stricter diet restrictions on Top Chef Mastesr, but she didn't write an article that you disagreed with, so no BS blog post. This is an entertainment blog.

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Way to leave politics out of the blog...

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P.S. Save a cow eat a vegan who thinks they're better than everyone else.

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Technically, Hemal wasn't "talking politics," he was talking ideology, ethics and morality. Politics is a much less intellectual topic of discussion.

And as much as I love Ms. Portman, I detest the idea of foisting one's ideals on everyone else.

I get it, animals feel pain. I also understand that I have a large stomach that has evolved to digest protein, a duodenum for the emulsification of fats, and a large intestine for starch and sugar absorption. I also don't have a cecum for the longer digestion needed to free protein out of plant materials and no way of breaking down cellulose. What that means is that the human body has the hardware to digest big chunks of protein and fat, as well as simple carbohydrates. Sure, that could mean tofu and whole grains. But my guess is that the human animal was eating meat and fish, along with fruits and starchy seeds.

Eat what you want, but don't deny the fact that your body was made for meat-eating. And don't force your crazy diet on me or anyone else.

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Being a pretentious, condescending plonker, whether it's about being a vegan or being a rock ribbed member of the Moon is Made of Cheese Party, isn't about politics, it's about conduct. It's Portman's conduct that's being objected to. Not that she's a hard core vegan, just that she's a jerk when she promotes it.

It's not a ground breaking monograph on ending third world hunger, but for a short rant on a TV blog it works well enough.

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I read the article, and as a devout carnivore, I didn't think it was preachy in the slightest. It advocates a position, and does so using a particular work (Foer's) as its basis, but advocacy is not the same as proselytizing. After reading your entry, I guess I'm just stumped as to the vehemence of your reaction.

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Nobody cares what you think.

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Kudos for this post dude. What really bothers me is that Portman uses the word "evolved." As if somehow our culture is more "evolved" than another culture which has ideals she disagrees with and a culture which has beliefs she does agree with is more "evolved" than us.

Except on rare occasions, my meat comes from local organic farmers, but she doesn't ever mention this as a middle ground. When someone becomes an all-or-nothing activist their message stops being about education and starts being about a culture war.

I agree that the world needs to eat less meat, but we do not need to stop eating meat altogether.

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I dont dislike Portman because she is a "vegan activist", which I wasnt even aware of until now. I dislike her because she is a lousy actress whose vapid facial expression and monotone voice make anything she is in virtually unwatchable to me. But, what the heck, if I can put up with the insufferable Padma everyweek, I can grit my teeth and sit through one episode with Portman.
Though I am not a big fan of the whole celebrity judge thing, I must admit that Top Chef is a minor offender compared to Project Runway. Runway is a good show, and I watch it every week, but some of the celebrity judges they have leave me scratching my head in confusion. I mean, come on, Lindsey Lohan!! It just bugs me that todays celebrities think that just saying "I'm a designer too" actually makes them a designer. Then people fall all over themselves kissing up to them, feeding their delusions that they are a real designer, or singer, or dancer or actor or whatever they are claiming to be.

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I agree with "Backing Logan on this one." I don't see the proselytizing at all. It's passionate and it's honest.

I think it depends how you come to vegetarianism. From Hemel's description as a lifelong vegetarian (never eating meat), I'm going to gamble it was either religious or a parental proclivity, but it's not the same as the epiphany you have when you actually see what's going on with the corporate production of meat and meat products (I'm a vegetarian, but I do eat locally produced cheese and ice cream). It's similar to when someone gets "saved" in Christianity. If you actually witness the putrification of chicken in their cages or just the slaughter of animal, suddenly the issue becomes very real and very much a moral question.

Even so, I think Portman was fairly respectful and presented her thoughts and facts in a reasonable way without disrespect to non-vegans and will be watching Top Chef without incidence. And hoping the chefs lay off poor Robin right before the chefs eliminate her.

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everyone, we can go back and forth all we want. but at the end of the day i'm just interested in seeing another top chef ep. all veggies or not.

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I just wouldn't watch it since she quite frankly isn't that great of a actress.

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I'm with the author on this one. Portman equivocated eating meat to rape on one hand, while professing support for a child-rapist on the other. We don't really expect much from actors, but this is a bit much.

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All of you seem to be forgetting one major thing - Natalie Portman IS better than all of us - how dare you to say she's wrong!

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I guess this will be another Zooey Deschanel challenge. No meat, no tofu, no gluten, nothing that casts a shadow. Good luck chefs!

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Isn't this supposed to be reality-free? Isn't Top Chef a reality show? What is this doing here! I don't care about Natalie or the writer's opinions. I don't want any mention of reality on here!

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What a lazy bunch of reading and writing here. Portman did not equate eating meat to rape, and anyone who reads her writing in this manner has not read and understood her writing...

The author of this post really should reread Portman's article before making such baseless charges, especially when they distort issues in such a careless manner.

BTW, I love steak and bacon.

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ok im really excited bout this episode, being a vegetarian i know its not easy making good food so i think it will be a good challenge for them.

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Well, if this is an entertainment blog, then mission accomplished!

Natalie Portman has slowly fallen from the top of my Top Ten list over the past several years. I used to be so into her; making sure to see pretty much all of her movies and even live on stage. I saved magazibe articles and newspaper clippings, etc. But in recent times, she has really made an @$$ out of herself. She once said she would rather be smart than famous [a celebrity], but despite her Harvard education, she has proven to have left a lot of her true intelligence in Massachussetts and is embracing her celebrity. I'm sure that she thinks that she is right about everything and that she is intelligent and that her celebrity can help spread her great ideas to her followers. But that is exactly what I don't want from celebrities. They don't live normal lives, no matter how much they may want to, so they can't consider themselves in touch with everyone else.

I don't regularly watch Top Chef, but I do like it. I started watching it last year when my girlfriend at the time made me watch it with her. I enjoyed it. Although, I haven't kept up with it. But I'm going to tape tonight's episode anyway because even if Natalie Portman isn't my #1 anymore, she's till on my Top Ten List...barely.

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