Comment by Xcelerate
2 years ago
> Perhaps because the latter are associated with aspirational working class, which is to be mocked.
No, what’s being mocked is the quality of the food. The “aspirational working class” in Europe has much better food options for even better prices—has nothing to do with classism and everything to do with the development of an American culture that ruined food in this country.
My grandparents grew up in rural Appalachia and what they prepared themselves and ate back then was much tastier and fresher than Olive Garden.
>No, what’s being mocked is the quality of the food
If that was the case the "quality of the food" would be mocked elsewhere, in tons of brands with crap quality. But those seem to be particular targets in the way that say McDonalds and other fast food or higher tier but still crappy brands are not.
Besides, most references/parodies I've seen (like online, on SNL, movies, and so on) always seem to mock the working class in that context (or the ignorant lower middle class), in some "lol, these people think they're eating fancy" - usually with stereotypes about their appereance and mannerisms to match.
McDonalds is constantly mocked for low quality food. Olive Garden is much higher prices, but not much better in quality.
Note, but quality what we really mean is either health or taste. Both McDonalds and Olive Garden are extremely high quality in that everything is exactly the same and so you can go into any one around the country (and most of the world) and order something and be unable to tell the difference from any other.
What world do you live in where Olive Garden is attacked for its food quality more than McDonalds
Olive Garden is hardly cheap. Eating there costs my family just as much as many local restaurants that have better food. It's not a class thing as much as a culture thing.