I was in a room while this fairly dumb TV show was on called Instant Beauty Pageant. It's a fairly corny show. The hosts go to a mall and pick out 5 sets of girls to be in a beauty pageant. One girl is the contestant, the other is the coach. They are given $400 and the goal to be ready for the pageant later in the day. The girls must purchase a swimsuit, evening dress and accessories. They get their hair done. And figure out something for a talent competition.
The episode I saw had 2 smart contestants, one dumb one, and two in the middle. One of the smart girls was very kind and pleasant to be around, grateful for the opportunity. The other one was quite arrogant. All through the show she demeaned the other contestants, played dirty tricks on the dumb girls, and bossed her best friend/coach around.
Well, her poor coach was put in charge of the money ... and she misplaced it. The smart, mean contestant then started haranguing her best friend! She called her names and berated her. The poor best friend does the best she can ... asking strangers for money first, then asking store owners if she can just borrow the clothes for the pageant. She purchased an evening gown without even trying it on.
The smart girl gets on stage, is clumsy in the mandatory dance they needed to learn, is demanding behind the scenes. Her 'talent,' since she is a math major, is to put the other contestants to a test on stage, asking simple math questions that she is sure they will not be able to answer. In the evening gown competition, her dress does not fit at all. She blames her coach.
All the while, she boasts that she is sure that as the smart girl with a plan, she is sure to beat these other girls in the competition.
Predictably, she has such a bad attitude (and not a great body), that she is the first contestant to be asked to pack her bags. As she left the stage, her best friend in tow, she continues blaming her friend for the loss and bad-mouthing the other girls.
She took no responsibility for her own failure. Ick.
My heart went out to the friend. It makes me wonder ... once the friend witnesses the interaction on film, will she re-evaluate the friendship? Will she stand up for herself? Will she set some boundaries? With the empirical evidence in front of her, will she opt out of accepting that kind of treatment?
After all, she can make her choices to live differently, too.
By the way, the dumb girl and her coach who were very kind to each other and the other contestants and who were there to have fun ended up being the winners. Deservedly so.
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