Schadenfreude, y'all?

Nah.

So the current news about Paula Deen's type 2 diabetes is generating gales of laughter. Well, all things considered, she probably should have come out with this a couple years ago after her diagnosis, especially given that she's a running joke of extreme cuisine just a rung below Sandra Lee and Epic Meal Time. Considering I've a long-held thing for laughing at stupid people, you'd think I'd be up on top of the pile with them.

Well... here's the thing. Paula Deen really doesn't bother me that much, because I've never taken her especially seriously. Yes, Paula's food is greasy, extreme comfort food, and way too much of it is deep fried. Yes, her iconic dish is fried butter. But seriously -- even Julia Child didn't eat like Julia Child all the time. Like the bulk of Mastering The Art Of French Cooking, Paula's stuff is obviously not that good for you. This should be (and to most people is) incredibly obvious; what she specializes in is tasty, not at all healthy, and more or less glorified fairground food, but most people know not to overdo food like that, and the few people dumb enough to treat her food as everyday cooking on some level know what they're getting into.

In fact, most of the blowback to her announcement is just simple fat-shaming. Truthfully, like I said, Julia Child didn't eat like Julia Child all the time, and I doubt Paula Deen eats like Paula Deen all the time. What connection her diabetes and her trademark cooking style have is really between her and her doctor, and it could just be that her pancreas is on the fritz for no reason other than the fact that it just isn't working right. There's a thing with a large swath of American culture that goes in deep for victim blaming, so the schadenfreude going around is loud, to say the least. But it doesn't really serve much purpose, does it?

So yeah, Paula Deen's got a problem. And she makes bizarre and unhealthy food. She's also a big ol' ham and knows it. Apart from the general message to watch what you eat, I just can't get too bothered about it. Paula Deen is a sometimes chef.