I just spent some quality time with a deposition. Paula Deen’s deposition to be exact. It seems the queen of southern (vernacular) cooking said some things that were pretty offensive like admitting to having used at some time in the past the ’N” word and wasn’t too upset that her brother Bubba might be viewing porn at work and sharing it with his subordinate employees.
It’s actually fascinating reading and shows a truly dysfunctional relationship in which Paula appears to be not just her brother’s keeper but also his enabler. Sad really.
Putting aside for the moment why her attorneys didn’t better prepare the Queen of Butter for her deposition, all I can say is that family loyalty must truly be deaf, dumb and blind. Here’s a woman who has obviously overcome some obstacles like agoraphobia to launch a successful food empire only to be taken advantage of by a less successful and talented brother. We read that Bubba’s restaurant was financed with “Deen money” and that Paula keeps both Bubba’s and Lady and Sons afloat with cash infusions earned in her other endeavors like her Food Network shows and endorsements.
The lawyer in me wants to analyze all the classic mistakes - forming corporations and not holding annual meetings, not professionally managing restaurants as they grew and added scores of employees and perhaps most importantly - believing that employees are family or friends and treating subordinates as if they were her children (that’s how she described her feelings for her personal assistant).
Predictably, Food Network dumped her.
The writer in me is fascinated by the dysfunction that allows a successful woman who has paid her dues let it all slip away because she can’t believe a family member will let an opportunity handed to him courtesy of her success slip away.
And I wonder what Flannery O’Connor would have made of the situation. Paula feels like Julian to me - blinded to his own bigotry even as he criticizes his mother for hers. How would Flannery end this story?
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