“Project Runway” — Sew Me What You Got
I’m new to Project Runway. For the past five or six years I’ve mostly avoided reality fare based on some high-falutin assumption that the entire genre is dreck and does little outside of taking up a timeslot that could have otherwise gone to scripted show that I would love (but which would ultimately be cancelled). I held out for as long as I could, but let’s be honest, reality isn’t going anywhere (and given the current WGA strike will only get more plentiful in the coming months). Plus, what makes me so damn high and mighty? Thanks to Top Chef I learned that reality can be more than idiots eating testicals for money — those testicals could be braised in a white wine sauce and served with shallots. Project Runway is as awesome as Top Chef but with the personality quotient amped up about 300%. I had only watched the series’ fourth season premiere for seven minutes before someone was crying. Sign me up! More after the jump…
I’ll save the scene-by-scene breakdown of the first episode for someone else. With all competition reality shows it’s hard to know what to look at in those first few weeks because there are so many contestants and so many personalities to discern. Because of this let’s hit the bullet points:
- First of all Elisa is the castmember to watch. First because she has more of an art background than a fashion background, and second because she got into fashion so that she could dress-up her life-size marionettes. Yes, she’s the male version of John Cusack’s character from “Being John Malkovich.”
- Kevin went to great lengths to tell us that he is a STRAIGHT fashion designer, so does it mean we’re bigots if we root for him? Q:Who do you want to win? A: Oh, the straight one. (yikes!)
- I like that there wasn’t a lot of funny-business this week in terms of the initial challenge. It’s nice, right off the bat, to really let people show us who they are before asking them to make a dress out of office supplies.
- Elisa had the only memorable creation this week because it was so illogically produced. It also triggered the following gold-standards when it comes to future episode quotes when she said, “I decided to create a cascade like water or magic,” and “It’s a haiku of a cut.” WHAT? She also seems to be a huge fan of describing visuals by making sound effects: lots of “whoosh” and “kerplah!”
- Elisa aside, I’m thoroughly impressed by the level of formal training and years of experience amongst the cast. Some of these people have been doing this stuff for decades. Very impressive for a “stupid reality show”
Can’t wait for next week.
Tags: Bravo, Project Runway
