Lessons to be learned from Blow Out

I'm a reality-show junkie. And I've been in it from the beginning, as Andrea and I watched with curious glee the goings on of "seven strangers picked to live in a loft," in 1992. Throughout the years, it's been interesting seeing all the new concepts and ideas that networks come up with for reality shows. Most of it is literally crap. Silly, stupid and downright naughty. These are the ones I find more fascinating, of course. Even with the worst ones, I've found that once you sift through all the bad editing (sound and otherwise) and forced storylines, there's bound to be some life lessons to be learned. Believe it or not.

Bravo's Blow Out is one particular show. The debut season was interesting to watch for the noted opening of famed (in his own head, of course) hair stylist, Jonathan's newest salon in Beverly Hills. Will he or won't he open on time? Can he subdue his workers? Can't everyone just get along? A good amount of it was fluff and vapid, but I did enjoy the characters. And that's one of the main reasons I get into shows like this: the characters. Sure, some (most) of them are completely concocted by the show's producers through editing and clip choices, but all-in-all I do enjoy watching these pre-fabricated reality nobodies unleash their pseudo-dramas before us. I guess it's sort of comforting to watch others make bad life choices, and perhaps I like to think that I'll never make these same choices, especially not in front of millions of viewers. You may call it a character flaw, I call it a guilty pleasure.

Anyway, as I watching an earlier episode of Blow Out, I did some sketches of some of the crazy characters on the show:


Jonathan: all drama, no substance.


Kimberly: squarest jaws in the business.


Odd-looking Daniel, a stylist.


I think his name is Jason, another stylist.


Scott: graphic designer with issues.

So, what are the lessons to be learned from this shallow freakfest of a show? Some of my thoughts on how Scott, the graphic designer of Zorbit, became the epitome of all selfish, rude, ego-centric designers out there. If you want to be a designer, then learn what you can by NOT doing what Scott did on the show. A couple of notes:

Made the mistake by talking down to Jonathan and being rude by calling his outfit a "dog and pony show" as well as the slip-up by calling Jonathan a hair-dresser, not a stylist. Oopsie! Do your homework. Learn who your client is, what they do, how they do it, know how they speak. That was very disrespectful.

Bad designer! Bad! Listen to your client. Even if they are a pompous, arrogant egomaniac (much like yourself, right, Scott?), you must bend over backwards for them. You are there to do their bidding. They are paying you, even if you think their ideas or personality are not what you are down with. Even though he may be the worst client EVER, if you can get through the job relatively unscathed, you will have that job as experience that you can learn from, and be able to handle any type of client afterwards. Plus, positive feedback from clients will almost ensure more work your way. Do not make enemies. Do not burn bridges. Connections and who you know are essential in this line of work.

When Jonathan and Scott started to make the other wait for excessive amounts of time before a scheduled meeting, it became the equivalent of a pissing match between the two. Basically each of them were putting up a front, a barrier, while at each other's turfs. Meet at a neutral place. Sit down. Talk to one another. Try to work on being on the same page.

There are more, but I'm afraid I'm coming across as being some big nerd for the show. I'm not, I just think it's interesting. Honest!

Oh, and some more irritating points: the constant plugs of his hard-looking sister's show-girl group the Baby Dolls (?) in Las Vegas. It was similar to last season's plugs of Lenscrafters and Revlon makeup products. Shameless. What's worse is that now we've got his 'Jonathan' product line that he's endlessly promoting on the show. Just one big infomercial. But it is sorta fun seeing him get all blubbery over the slightest mention of how he started his salon from scratch, blah, blah, blah. Aw, the sensitive type.