Old El Paso's "authentic" Mexican Festive Dinners

In the chapter “Eating the Other: Desire and Resistance” from Black Looks: Race and Representation, bell hooks theorizes the ways in which different races, ethnicities and cultures become commodified to fulfill the desires of white supremacist capitalist patriarchy. hooks explains that the “commodification of Otherness”—described as the claiming of racial, ethnic, or cultural difference as a product to be sold, bought, and consumed—allows for more delightful and satisfying options “than normal ways of doing and feeling,” which refers to white culture (21). hooks argues that this commodification of Otherness expresses a desire in white culture to experience greater pleasure by breaking from the (white) “cultural anhedonia [inability to feel pleasure]” because different races, ethnicities, and cultures appear as just that—different, exotic, exciting, intense, dangerous (26). Commodifying the racial, ethnic, cultural Other becomes an “alternative playground where members of dominating races, genders, sexual practices affirm their power-over” (23) a specific group so as to not only take over and consume, but also to be “transformed via the experience of pleasure” that their difference implies is a possibility (22)—hooks exemplifies this transformation by way of sex, travel, and rap music. This transformation, hooks suggests, is not one of appreciation of difference, but one of claiming the Other in the name of white culture, as a way to absorb otherness into whiteness—“[there is the] assumption that the exploration into the world of difference…will provide a greater, more intense pleasure than any that exists in the ordinary world of one’s familiar racial group,” but upon reentering the familiar world, which remained intact while one roamed in the world of difference, one has been transformed by the experience and holds some part of the Other for oneself that has been taken from the Other (24). hooks’ theory of “eating the Other” arises from her notion of the commodification of Otherness whereby the dominant white culture consumes and absorbs the Other’s difference to “assert power and privilege” (36); the difference and problem between experiencing a culture and consuming a culture as a commodity is when the Other is consumed and forgotten, or absorbed, into the consuming culture. White supremacist capitalist patriarchy can decide and essentialize the difference of the Other for its own consumption.

Although hooks’ idea of commodification and consumption of the Other is not specifically in the context of literally eating and ingesting it, there are examples of this in the mainstream culinary culture that will help to clarify hooks’ complex theory. Think of fast food places in malls that sell Greek food or Japanese food. In the mall I frequent, there is a Greek place in the food court that sells “traditional” Greek fare of gyros, baklava, etc., but it’s not real Greek food. It’s a commercialized version, an “idea” of Greek food that is sold to the American consumer. As far as I can tell, this place is not run by Greek people, nor is the food prepared by Greek people that know how to cook real Greek food. There are usually, white, black, or Latino people who take my order and who throw lettuce and tomatoes on a flimsy piece of pita and wrap it up in tin foil. This Greek place in the mall commodifies the Greek experience and the “idea” of Greek food and Greek culture marketed and consumed in a culturally American (arguably dominantly white) context. It’s a question of authenticity—it’s the Americanized version of Greek we are receiving. In this case, Greek culture and food has been taken over and appropriated to serve an American version of Greek. I argue that for this to be considered Greek cultural appreciation, the ones cooking and serving the food ought to learn from Greek people the authentic Greek way of preparing and serving Greek food.

Another example of eating the Other from the “commercial realm of advertising” is Old El Paso’s 1986 television commercial for its frozen festive dinners (26). Old El Paso foods did not originate in Mexico; the brand was developed in 1938 by General Mills, Inc., an American Company. Perusing the Old El Paso page on General Mills’ website, there is a statement that says, “For nearly a century, Old El Paso has inspired consumers to bring fun and flavorful Mexican food to their dinner tables.” On Old El Paso’s own website, there is a section that tells the story of how a small canning company in New Mexico was bought by a “clever amigo” who eventually established the canned goods into a brand. The figure responsible for establishing the brand is repeatedly referred to as an “amigo,” “compadre,” and “old man El Paso,” but it is clear this person is not really Mexican—the story and brand originate from New Mexico and El Paso, Texas. It is clear that the Old El Paso brand of Mexican food is an Americanized version of Mexican food and culture; likewise, the 1986 television commercial presents much the same image. The woman’s voice singing the jingle claims that Old El Paso’s frozen festive dinners are a “great new change of place,” while a white woman and white man smile and eat Zucchini Medley, Spanish Rice, Chimichangas, Beef Burritos, and Enchiladas. It is suggested by the tagline, “It’s a great new change of place,” that this Mexican food is a way through which American/white culture can experience an Other, a different cultural and ethnic food, that provides “entertainment nightly,” implying pleasure to be had from a cultural food. Then, a male announcer states “Ole El Paso authentic festive dinners are now in your grocer’s freezer” (emphasis added); the question of authenticity arises again. The Mexican food is first of all mass produced and commercially packaged, stripping the food of some of its authenticity; then the commercial suggests the food is offered as “new dishes to enhance the white palate” by filming a white couple eating enchiladas and burritos (39); lastly, by stressing the idea that the consumption of this food is “a great new change of place,” the food, and by extension Mexican culture and identity, is packaged as a site for white pleasure that is effectively absorbed and thereby forgotten by white culture. Seemingly, this Old El Paso commercial is an apt example of hooks’ concern “that the Other will be eaten, consumed, and forgotten” (39).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCsLoqPVZf4&feature=related

Works Cited

hooks, bell. “Eating the Other: Desire and Resistance.” Black Looks: Race and Representation. Boston: South End. 1992. 21-39. Print.

General Mills, Inc. “Old El Paso.” General Mills.com. General Mills, Inc., 2011. Web. 30 September 2011. <http://www.generalmills.com/Brands/Meals/Old_El_Paso.aspx.>

Old El Paso. Oldelpaso.com. Pet, Inc., 2011. Web. 30 September 2011. <http://www.oldelpaso.com.au/about-us/the-story-of-old-el-paso.aspx.>