"Have you thought about writing about bad behavior on TV?" said my mom. (Answer: Oh, yes ... Yes I have.) "There sure seem to be a lot of people shamelessly displaying their worst sportsmanship and petty snarkiness as well as cheating on their loved ones and being all-around bad family members," she continued. "Don't you think you would try to be on your best behavior if you were being filmed the whole time?"
Although it may appear to you that my mother has just stumbled across reality TV for the first time, she's actually a seasoned pro. The apple don't fall too far from the tree. But she makes a good point: Are people really this awful?
MasterChef always has some wonderful baddies — vainglorious assholes who will throw their friends under the industrial mixing blades for the win. That's what happened this season when the deceptively twee Courtney took the title. Prim, petty, snooty, and perpetually standing in a ballet "third position," this former stripper cum "aerial dancer" thought people will want to buy her cookbook. "I used to work in a gentleman's club," she ruefully let slip, head lowered but chin defiant. That slutty life was no more, she swore, because food was now her destiny.
Generally, we eat up stories like Courtney's — reality TV's Pretty Woman fables of tarnished angels who've found their wings. It's incredibly American. But Courtney made the cardinal sin of being a total bitch in her new incarnation. Once you rise from the licentious ashes of a den of iniquity you are supposed to be modest, sweet, and above all, thankful. Not a mean-spirited egomaniac.
But let's compare her to Korina from this season of Project Runway. Blogs and tongues are agog at this woman's unsportsmanlike behavior. My mother is appalled: "She should be ashamed of herself!" For the uninitiated, let's just say that she was the exemplary sore loser. She readily tore down other designers who beat her and bragged about her own sewing prowess. She pouted and bitched and snarled. Strangely, she sort of physically resembled Courtney from MC. Both look like Disney villains: alabaster skin; dark, dramatic eyebrows, blood red lips, sly grins that belie deception.
It didn't help Korina that her main rival on the show was the Cinderella of contestants, Charketa Glover. From a broken home and raised by her grandfather, Char was the embodiment of the Horatio Alger myth. Her ambition was admirable and palpable, yet humble. She was even from the embattled Detroit. When she invited Tim Gunn to her hometown, she wanted him to meet her family at the waterfront to show how Detroit is turning itself around, a pumpkin being changed into a gilded carriage. Gawd, the metaphor was beautiful.
Korina was beaten by Char and tossed off the show right before the final four. She didn't take it well. Then Korina was asked to come assist Char in the next challenge, which included tearing up Korina's losing look and remaking something with the fabric. It was a bit much, yes. But she threw a fit and stomped off. Who's the fairest of them all? Naughty, naughty.
Once the dust settled we were left with an uncomfortable truth: Korina was the better designer. The judges did in fact seem to favor Char even though her designs and execution were considerably weaker; Tim Gunn even used his "save" on her, bringing her back after being eliminated. Korina was the only person on the show to ever say, "What the fuck is going on here?," especially when earlier contestant Sandhya Garg's ridonkulous Rube Goldberg ensembles kept dazzling the judges.
Courtney also out-cooked Elizabeth in the Masterchef finale. There's less leeway for personality points on that show. It's what ends up on the plate that matters. Yet now we are left with someone no one respects as the winner. Project Runway wasn't going to let that happen. (The finale is this week. There is no way Charketa is going to win, but all the finalists are likable.)
Here's my uncomfortable truth: The only reason I watch these shows is for the awful people. But I don't like seeing the awful people win. I like to see the Charketas win. I like to see people like her live happily ever after while the Courtneys are stabbed in the heart with the sword of truth, like Maleficent.
Hans Christian Andersen was right: Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale of all.
Comments are closed.
