"I'm Not Here To Make Friends..."

These America's Next Top Model contestants? They didn't come here to make friends. Neither did the contestants of Top Chef, Survivor, The Ultimate Fighter, Project Runway, The Bachelor, or any of a dozen other reality TV shows. To prove what a truly tired perspective this is, Rich Juzwiak (otherwise known as the blogger fourfour) spliced together every instance he could find of a contestant broadcasting his/her not-friend-makingness:

That was exactly a year ago. As Juzwiak noted today, "So much has changed since then -- Obama became president, the sinking economy went belly up, Sarah Palin became queen of her own ass, then sank, then went belly up, etc. And yet... they've also stayed much the same." Exhibit A:


Within the chaotic Five-of-Wands-ness of the whole reality television universe, the one thing that never changes is that harmony and friendliness is practically never rewarded (one of the many signs that Rupaul's Drag Race was made of slightly different stuff was that the show bestowed a Miss Congeniality award in addition to the grand prize). You watch your own back, you betray people casually, and then you complain when you sense anyone else doing the same. I suspect the shows appeal to the paranoid part of us that's always bracing for friendly fire. It's so apt that the Tarot of the Saints gives us a high Five featuring stigmata -- every loser on TV is a martyr in his or her own eyes, regardless of how willing they are to pound a few nails when it comes right down to it.

Some people argue that there's no true malice in this card, that it just shows a bunch of bold intentions meeting at cross purposes. That may be true, but in my opinion that kind of embroilment is dangerous and should be avoided at all costs, lest it devolve into a five-way race to the bottom. If you catch yourself becoming similarly entangled, you might want to stop and consider whether this the best possible use of your energy. Is there any way to take the high road and quietly ascend straight to the Six while everyone else is still scrapping it out? Can you hold back and wait awhile until the storm has passed?

These may not be an options on shows like ANTM (though some initially meek contestants prove to be sleepers who flourish after the nastier girls have all picked each others' carcasses), but in real life this can save you lots of time and effort. And who knows, you may even make a friend out of the whole mess...[Via]

Previously On Arcanalogue: The Five of Wands