a big thing that distinguishes great british baking show from other competition shows is that it allows its contestants to be friends. real friends. competitive, but there are no barriers to helping each other, even at cost to yourself, and being kind.

by contrast i was upset to see episode 5 of the big flower fight where one judge walked over and intervened to stop contestants from helping the others catch up and finish their piece in a time crunch.

the contestants *wanted to help.* they voluntarily took time away from their own work to help others. people naturally want to help other people and make that sacrifice, and that instinct was squashed. it was jarring.

and for a LONG TIME i think america has pushed the competitive ideal in education and business and that's shown up in our entertainment, whereas it's colliding with this british entertainment form of collaboration / cooperation, and the contrast is ugly.

two english-speaking countries, two methods of going about the world...

i'm obviously not a sociologist but i think americans responded positively to GBBO because we're sick of competing with each other and we'd like to help each other out. universal healthcare? yes please.

there's something in here worthwhile, i think. my political instinct says that americans are exhausted with competition and we want to live in a society where you can genuinely love your neighbor and cooperate, even if it "hurts" you in some way. i wish we'd try it.

because at the end of the day, everybody benefits from cooperation. i benefit living in a society where i don't have to gofundme my neighbor's cancer treatments. i can just know that we've all pitched in automatically to help and that they won't be bankrupt AND sick. ya know?

"it's just television. it's just entertainment."

well, it's a reflection, i think. a BLACK MIRROR if u will

it's a reflection of what we value and the methods we use to pursue happiness. and i think competition is failing us.

n.b. it's probably worth noting that the judge who made this move was british, and that the big flower fight is deemed as "british" on wikipedia, but it is produced by netflix and allowed american competitors and american judges, so at best it seems like a hybrid UK/US program.

SCARCITY OF INGREDIENTS is another thing that never happens on GBBO. everyone has as many eggs and as much flour as they could possibly need. in flower fight, they're literally fighting over the existing red flowers in the nursery. they get to hoard stuff from each other. ugh.