Yesterday morning, I watched a couple episodes of Top Chef Masters that I'd missed. There's a big difference between the behavior of the "masters" and the chefs from the regular version of Top Chef.
There have been several challenges on Top Chef where some contestants have stabbed each others backs, sabotaged them during the challenge or thrown them under the bus in front of the judges. Even the ones who haven't openly worked against the others bad-mouthed them in the individual "confessional" segments.
Well, they are competing with each other, right? That's the nature of competition.
Not with the masters. One of the challenges yesterday involved each chef filling a mystery box for another chef. They had to use the ingredients in the boxes to make the meal they would be judged on. Every single chef filled the box they gave away with great ingredients that they knew the receiving chef would love to use. They all said marvelous things about each other during confessionals.
On another episode--during the finals, no less--one chef who finished early helped another by chopping tomatoes for him.
I've seen the same behavior with writers. Those who are unsure of themselves and their talent can be brutal to other writers. They take every opportunity to sabotage and shoot down someone they think of as competitors.
Then there are those who encourage and help each other. Who aren't intimidated by another person with talent. Are they more likely to become the "masters"? We'll see.
