Mouthing Off | Why US TV host James Corden should stop dissing Asian foods as disgusting for cheap laughs – it’s cultural chauvinism
Talk show segment in which host makes celebrities eat so-called disgusting foods has shock-value entertainment for Americans, but Andrew Sun has had enough of slander against fried scorpions, cod sperm and cow tongue
I like James Corden’s US television talk show, The Late Late Show with James Corden. His recurring segment Carpool Karaoke is fun, the interviews are engaging, and his winning personality smoothes over even the most mediocre of jokes.
However, I do find one of his segments very irksome.
Spill Your Guts Or Fill Your Guts is one of the games he plays with celebrities. Corden asks the guests difficult personal questions: “Drew Barrymore, who was your least talented co-star?”, “Anna Wintour, who will you never invite back to the Met Gala ball?”, “Kendall Jenner, which of Kim and Kanye’s kids have the worst name?”. If the person won’t answer, he or she must take a bite from a selection of “disgusting” foods.
The lazy susan of gross stuff to choose from can include fried scorpions, cow’s tongue, jellyfish, chicken feet, a salmon smoothie, bull’s testicles and cod sperm (shirako). Other times they’ve had ingredients that Asians consider prized and expensive delicacies, such as durian, century egg, and bird’s saliva. Clearly, the show courts viewers who think Olive Garden is exotic.