Bourdain's personality rubbed me the wrong way at first. So I avoided his show. But then there was his unintentional coverage of the Lebanon war. Even though he was there to film a food show, his coverage of the war was better journalism than most mainstream journalists could dream of.

You see Hezbollah celebrating the kidnappings. You see his Lebanese hosts look on at this celebration with horror saying, in effect, "we are all going to pay for this." You then see a short period of almost deliberate denial when his hosts KNOW what is going to happen but they go out and party almost as if they suspect it may be their last time in awhile.

Personally I found an interesting parallel between the Lebanese youths Bourdain was hanging out with going to clubs in the face of war and a Current TV segment filmed by Israeli youths showing Israel as a party, club oriented place, sending the message in both cases that young people are the same in most places and really would rather be getting drunk and dancing in a club than clubbing eachother over the heads over religion.

Of course I also know that history shows that it is easy for society to flip the switch on many people sending them from "youths just want to have fun" mode to "Hitler Youth, Suicide Bombers, Brutal Soldier" mode. But that is a digression.

Bourdain's coverage of the Lebanon war then becomes actual footage of the Israeli attack with a very surreal series of scenes of his crew lazing in a hotel pool area as bombs devastate the city below.

Bourdain condemns neither Lebanon nor Isreael, but there is clear condemnation of Hezbollah not so much by him as by his Lebanese hosts, and Bourdain implies disbelief that Israel's response would be in any way constructive. The second half seems to be focused mainly on how incompetent the US Government's response to the situation was, almost paralyzed as if our nation had no real leadership (imagine that). Bourdain is scathing in his condemnation of our government's response to the war and how long it takes to evacuate the American citizens (his crew included). If the Lebanese party goers could predict what was coming, why didn't the US Government?

The film ends with their eventual and belated evacuation by US military personnel. The efficiency and kindness of the US military is contrasted directly with the inefficiency and apathy of the US Government.

Since then I have seen one other episode of Bourdain's show, the one in Ghana. And, given that it made me want to go to Ghana, it was doing its job well. I am not a fan, but I have to agree he is pretty cool.

If they reshow the Lebanon episode, watch it.