Popular travel channel host, Anthony Bourdain, spent a week in Beruit; and while his first two days were "paradise," the rest of the week he spent there was permeated by chaotic violence. While standing with his Sunni, Shiite, and Christian companions, gunfire erupted while Hezbolla supporters displayed their support of the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers. From that point on, Bourdain witnessed events we could all hope but never be witness. As such, Larry King of the Larry King Live Show interviewed him on his experiences.
While Bourdain offered insightful and inspiring answers to the questions he was asked, King's disposition was of a simplistic interrogative manner. His questions were short and to the point, leaving Bourdain unlimited expansion in his answers. Perhaps the most pressing question he asked was, "would you go back, Tony?" This question seemed to drive home the points Bourdain had been making up until then; he had explained how hopeful and welcoming the Beruitis had been, how there was a sort of refreshing feel to the place as though it were, "kind of a dream version of what we hope the Middle East to be some day." The people were "sophisticated, largely English speaking, food centric, and friendly." This of course was in reference to the city before the subsequent bombings and violence. He applauded the military's competency in the matter and questioned the disorderly actions of the embassy. Despite all of the trauma and grief he had documented during the week he was there, Bourdain said, "I would love to go back. I- I will- it is great unfinished business with me that I have yet to be able to show the world what was possible in Beirut, how good the food, how nice the people I met, how hopeful a situation I saw for only two brief days."
It seems this near perfect interview lacked only the mistake that King did not ask Bourdain how close he had been. Had he ever feared for his life while completely encapsuled by such danger? While this question could edge on a sort of gutsy sensationalism, it seems a more candid choice of question, one I might have asked, though perhaps not on television. The only other mistake seemed to be that more time had not be allocated for the guest to share his experiences in the eloquent way he does on his show Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.
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