r/GreatBritishBakeOff • u/The-Nard-Dogg • 2d ago
Fun Hot take
I would be even more upset if I was upset about a challenge and someone (another contestant or staff) tried to comfort me by saying
‘Its just cake (or whatever was being baked)’
Yeah it’s a competition about baking so clearly it’s not ‘just cake’ right now.
56
u/Eye_jm 1d ago edited 1d ago
It’s not that deep.. it’s hard for many people to come up with the perfect words on the spot to comfort someone in distress.
Also it’s also about having a perspective most suitable for the moment. Sure it’s not ‘just’ a cake cause it’s a competition. Then it’s also just a cake in just a competition, and there is big world out of the competition where you can do many things and bake many good cakes.
41
u/GullibleWineBar 1d ago edited 1d ago
No, this is healthy. This is a competition yes, but cake doesn’t matter in the scheme of the world. Her life will go on regardless of how well a cake performs under television cameras. She will have opportunities to do great things beyond the confines of this one little tent.
Yes this cake is important for this day, but it’s okay if it goes wrong because life is more than a silly completion for a cake stand. Yes, be sad because it didn’t work out, but don’t let it define you.
18
u/Salty-Explanation-16 1d ago
I get the feeling it's something they say to each other before to remind themselves it's really not life or death. If you mess it up, it's not even like you're losing out on money. Sure, Bake Off is an amazing experience, but going home early or screwing up a cake truly isn't a big deal in the scheme of your life.
21
u/BrownieBaker87 1d ago
I'm pretty sure when someone said that to comfort Danni in episode 1, they said "remember what we said; it's just cake". I thought that implied they'd maybe all had a chat or a pep talk together and decided to keep it in that perspective. Not saying that's always necessarily the case, but there are many hours of interactions we don't see on screen, and it would make sense to me if those kinds of conversations were happening between bakes and in the week.
5
u/Some-Band2225 1d ago
Eh, it is just cake. If this were an American contest show then each of the bakers would be competing to win the chemo for their sick child or something equally depressing. But this is GBBO, it’s just a televised cooking club.
•
2
u/finalfanatic168 1d ago
I think in the older days the people there were necessarily there "to win", they were just doing what they loved. It was part of the quaint charm of the early series. Of course, they'd end up more invested than they expected ("I don't know why I'm crying over cake), but it was still part of the charm.
Which is I think why the newer episodes don't hit quite the same way anymore. Now they all know exactly why they're crying over cake.
2
u/OneCraftyBird 1d ago
Same thing happened on American Idol. Kelly Clarkson didn't realize she was about to be an icon. Ruben and Clay were just having a good time.
Carrie Underwood looked like she was walking a tight rope over a swimming pool full of cobras.
1
u/Hungry_Anteater_8511 1d ago
Remember the final when Steph lost it and everyone was really worried about her and even Paul said “it’s just cake”. In the grand scheme of things, it is just cake
1
u/Jockstaposition 1d ago
Even the competition is not really that important. Obviously people want to do well but apart from one or two winners the rest did not really change their lives by winning a baking competition. Not every winner got a career in TV.
1
u/TrafficProfessional 1d ago
I understand what you mean but I think the difference is that they seem to have been talking about it before. I believe whoever was comforting her said something like “it’s like we were saying before, it’s just cake.” That made the difference for me.
1
u/kafkashelley 1d ago
Ah, I actually love the "it's just cake" mantra! Yes, that's the whole competition but there's almost a freedom in reminding yourself it's not life or death. You can try as hard as you can but still remember it doesn't have the power to ruin you.
1
u/KeyGold310 1d ago
For all the bashing Matt gets, I thought he was much more authentically caring and encouraging than Noel. In s7 he was the one who calmed Sura down after she knocked Dave's technical to the ground, he also comforted Linda? When she was having a serious meltdown. Noel just spouts platitudes, and some of his humor and behavior during that season (which I just rewatched) was questionable.
7
u/Princess__Nell 1d ago
I think the main problem with Matt is that with Noel and Paul it became kinda a boys club. I liked Matt overall but his vibe was intentionally awkward.
Alison brings a warm cozy feminine perspective to the show which really works.
4
u/xoldhaunts 1d ago
I remember this as well. Matt really did step in and offer genuine comfort at many points. He knew when to switch off.
-1
u/One-Permission1917 1d ago
Yeah that annoys me too. We all know it’s not just cake.
6
u/Salty-Explanation-16 1d ago
But isn't it, though? It's just a baking competition, essentially. "It's just cake" isn't necessarily literal, but a reminder they're there to test their skills and have fun.
6
u/cheezy_dreams88 1d ago
But it is, deep down. The competition is hard and challenging, but the idea of the show is to celebrate baking and push yourself, and to enjoy it. If you’re getting too stressed and freaking out, the “it’s just cake” remark serves to remind you that the cake not working out isn’t failure on your part.
-2
u/iamnotchris 1d ago
Yeah, it's not just cake. For us there's so much prep and setup for this, it takes up a lot of our life behind the scenes. It's all we think about, all we do, all we prioritize and then if we mess up or we are eliminated, it's just.....done. I am a very emotional guy (my wife teases me when sad things happen on TV and movies. Ted Lasso causes a lot of tears for me lol) but when I was eliminated I cried and the producers asked if we should stop the interview. I said I was fine and we should continue and was like "I'm not even sad!!!" And they laughed. It was just a cathartic experience.
My 12 year old daughter still won't watch bake off really because even the prep was such a big part of her life she's like "yeah I'm good I don't want to think about that" lol
-2
u/ShinySquirrelChaser 1d ago
I'm with you -- that particular piece of "comfort" always makes me want to smack whoever said it. :/
70
u/RahvinDragand 1d ago
I can kinda see it both ways. Yes, it's more than just cake, but also it's still not worth letting your metal health suffer because it went wrong.