She doesn't ask him to make her a burger in order to prove that he's a real chef and he doesn't comply because he's a narcissist, I'm kind of surprised how you could read the scene like that?
The chef is deeply unhappy with his life, where he has ended up and what he is doing. He is completely alienated from his labour, which has become feeding slop to uncaring rich assholes. The last time he felt joy and connection with his labour, was as a young man selling simple food to good folk. It was when he sold cheap cheeseburgers.
She asks him for a cheeseburger because of this, she wants to show that she "gets him" and to remind him that not all is lost. She is nervous because she is out of options and this is a huge gamble. When she asks him for the bag "to go" she is negotiating a way out within the confines of the system the chef feels trapped in.
It has nothing to do with having to prove himself, it has to do with being reminded of why he chose to serve food for a living in the first place. She is rewarded because she reconnects him with that base instinct.
Yes I have seen the scene in question, thank you for your condescension. Have you seen the rest of the movie? The whole reason she asks for a burger is because the only picture of him smiling is a hidden away photo in his home of him as a young man in a burger stand.
After the place burns down we also get a scene of her eating the burger in large mouthfuls.
In this scene she says that his food is made "without love" and that she would like a cheeseburger made "with love". He then says "I will make you a very good, very traditional cheeseburger". She says "I don't think you can".
Yes, she is challenging him, pushing him. This is part of the negotiation within the confines of the system. She cannot outright say "hey, don't you think it would be nice to make me a cheeseburger?" Because the rules of the world demand a different behaviour. Saying that would "break the spell" so to speak, for the same reason that she can ask to get a burger to go, but she would not be able to ask "hey man aren't you happy I reconnected you with your love of cooking? Please let me go now."
This also couples with the fact that she is an escort. She is just as much performing her labour in that moment as he is performing his. She is playing the role of a customer in order to give him satisfaction. Wether he rekindles her love for her work as she does for him, I cannot say.
As soon as she mentions a cheeseburger he is happy, but they must dance this dance in order to get it. It's not about proving he's good at cooking food - It's about enjoying cooking food, hence the "with love" instead of "tasty" or "fancy" or "perfect" or "beautiful" or any other adjective that could signify quality. He accepts the task because he wants to reconnect with cooking. Look at how he behaves thru the ordering process. It takes him back, it reminds him.
Edit: thank you for your response explaining how you got that read of the situation however. I can now understand how you could have interpreted the scene as you did. Responding with a link to the scene didn't do that, so I'm glad you followed up.
I don't know what the difference is between "she is challenging him" as you say and making him prove himself as a chef as I said. Frankly, I don't even know what point you are trying to make.
It misses the point of my post. The point of my post is that she ate the cheeseburger weird in the first burger scene because she was afraid for her life.
I explain what the difference is in the following sentence, but it's okay, we don't have to agree. I asked how you could get the read that you did and you explained it. That's what I asked for.
She doesn't ask him to make her a burger in order to prove that he's a real chef and he doesn't comply because he's a narcissist, I'm kind of surprised how you could read the scene like that?
The chef is deeply unhappy with his life, where he has ended up and what he is doing. He is completely alienated from his labour, which has become feeding slop to uncaring rich assholes. The last time he felt joy and connection with his labour, was as a young man selling simple food to good folk. It was when he sold cheap cheeseburgers.
She asks him for a cheeseburger because of this, she wants to show that she "gets him" and to remind him that not all is lost. She is nervous because she is out of options and this is a huge gamble. When she asks him for the bag "to go" she is negotiating a way out within the confines of the system the chef feels trapped in.
It has nothing to do with having to prove himself, it has to do with being reminded of why he chose to serve food for a living in the first place. She is rewarded because she reconnects him with that base instinct.
Edit: fixed punctuation
The escort escaped by using her skilled labor. Did no one else catch that?
Yeah I get into that further down in the thread. I feel like it's pretty obvious that the movie did that, but I guess not.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pls7lt9Fz-E
Yes I have seen the scene in question, thank you for your condescension. Have you seen the rest of the movie? The whole reason she asks for a burger is because the only picture of him smiling is a hidden away photo in his home of him as a young man in a burger stand.
After the place burns down we also get a scene of her eating the burger in large mouthfuls.
In this scene she says that his food is made "without love" and that she would like a cheeseburger made "with love". He then says "I will make you a very good, very traditional cheeseburger". She says "I don't think you can".
Yes, she is challenging him, pushing him. This is part of the negotiation within the confines of the system. She cannot outright say "hey, don't you think it would be nice to make me a cheeseburger?" Because the rules of the world demand a different behaviour. Saying that would "break the spell" so to speak, for the same reason that she can ask to get a burger to go, but she would not be able to ask "hey man aren't you happy I reconnected you with your love of cooking? Please let me go now."
This also couples with the fact that she is an escort. She is just as much performing her labour in that moment as he is performing his. She is playing the role of a customer in order to give him satisfaction. Wether he rekindles her love for her work as she does for him, I cannot say.
As soon as she mentions a cheeseburger he is happy, but they must dance this dance in order to get it. It's not about proving he's good at cooking food - It's about enjoying cooking food, hence the "with love" instead of "tasty" or "fancy" or "perfect" or "beautiful" or any other adjective that could signify quality. He accepts the task because he wants to reconnect with cooking. Look at how he behaves thru the ordering process. It takes him back, it reminds him.
Edit: thank you for your response explaining how you got that read of the situation however. I can now understand how you could have interpreted the scene as you did. Responding with a link to the scene didn't do that, so I'm glad you followed up.
I don't know what the difference is between "she is challenging him" as you say and making him prove himself as a chef as I said. Frankly, I don't even know what point you are trying to make.
It misses the point of my post. The point of my post is that she ate the cheeseburger weird in the first burger scene because she was afraid for her life.
I explain what the difference is in the following sentence, but it's okay, we don't have to agree. I asked how you could get the read that you did and you explained it. That's what I asked for.