Ok, ok, I admit it. I watch them – but, usually only 3: ” Top Chef”, on Bravo, will return in a few weeks, “Project Runway” (new season, now on Life Time), has come back to NYC after a season in LA, and “House Hunters”, on HGTV, which I’ve admitted to in a previous post.
On the surface, it is all fun, fluff stuff – but sometimes I’m not so sure.
Awhile ago, the realities of food and fashion TV shows were discussed in a “New York Magazine” article called: “The Near Fame Experience”. It was *revealed* that these shows often manufacture the “reality”. Noooooooo!
The winners don’t always win and the losers don’t always lose, it’s just a matter of who can make the most of the 8 to 10 weeks of the TV high tension exposure. The participants got an opportunity to compete, display their skills and meet some people who make a good living doing what they themselves want to do – but, now what? What would I do/ who would I be/ what would I have at the end of it all? And, could all this stress be parlayed into a job – really? Fun, vicarious questions.
Whether on the small screen or in their living rooms, you get the feeling that these contestants behave/react with the same underlying motivations that they would on any challenging day. People always tell you who they are eventually, but these people do it while strapped to microphones. Not always pretty.
In either show, it is so interesting to see: Who will be the “sabotager” or the “sabatogee”? Who’s got the “poor me” story? Who’s got the “ya gotta be strong to be standing at the end” routine? Who self destructs? Who can ramp it up? Pres. Nixon’s Attorney General, and the husband of Martha Mitchell, said prior to the Watergate conflagration, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going”. That can be impressive to watch.
Yes, I enjoy “Top Chef” & “Project Runway”. Besides being fascinated and entertained with what contestants can do with some sprigs of rosemary and buffalo meat, or some pipe cleaners and a garbage bag – there can also be life lessons. In reality, *we* are truly amazing.
BTW – My favorite version of the “what were you thinking?” question: judge to aspiring “Top Chef”- “Did you taste this before you sent it out?”.
