The Pick-Up Artist

[duskwolf]

VH1's answer to Frank T.J. Mackey is on the loose!

The whole thing just felt fake.

Sure, those guys were nerds, but it's kinda like "Hitch" meets "Hell's Kitchen". The women in the club, much like the patrons at HK, could easily know what's up.

Seems like these guys (Mystery and Co.) only know how to hit on women that they can sleep with and discard (i.e., insecure and drunk) anyway.

But, like a sucker, I'm sure I'll keep watching.

[coley]

Me too!

I swear, if a guy wearing eye liner and old-timey flying goggles on his head came up to me at a bar, I would laugh. It felt so staged with Mystery and the girls at the bar. And is that a real bar?

[tinyshoes]

I have yet to see it. But yeah, the so-called artist looks like a complete tool.

[whatever]

Yeah, who is this guy? He looks gay goth vampire. Not that there's anything wrong with being any of those things, but it's a bit much when you put them all together.

If he hit on me, I'd laugh and then cry.

[plainjane]

Eh, I'm not impressed with this show. I've heard about the "game" before, and I thought that it was manipulative and degrading from what I'd heard on the radio and had read. But seeing it in action, I thought it was just cheesy. The goggles and furry hat were ridiculous. Plus they only seemed to talk to drunk girls. Of course, if you're inebriated you're going to be more receptive to a stranger's conversation. From the reactions I've seen on TWoP and other places, some women are very threatened by this. I don't know where this whole "Lock up your daughter's!" attitude comes from. I get the sense that Mystery thrives on making people feel insecure and threatened. But you know what they say, No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

On the other hand, maybe they can teach these guys some self-confidence and help them have a more active social life. They all obviously need help.

[duskwolf]

Yeah, well, any time any of the nerdy guys appeared on-screen (excuse me, the nerdy ones that are supposed to be trained by the other nerdy ones), I did an Ogre-worthy "NEEEEEEEEERDS!"

[Deleted]

I agree that Mystery is a massive freak. If he ever hit on me I'd laugh and laugh and laugh.

Most of these guys just need a lesson in confidence and a lesson in not being super creepy.

I will admit that most of the stuff that the three experts were saying in the live critique made sense. Especially the stuff on the two-sets. I always hated it when I'd be out drinking with a girlfriend and a guy would come up to her and hit on her endlessly but not say a damn thing to me. Not cool, dudes. And the whole "say something interesting" seems to go without saying but I think a lot of guys need that lesson.

A few of these guys aren't bad looking. Spoon, the indian guy, the brunette guy who hit on the hairdresser and the blonde guy that people assume is gay. All pretty good looking. Just lacking in social skills.

[sardonictart]

I watched half of it and I'm glad that these guys are getting help. They desperately need something to build up their confidence. I don't view this show as the coming of the antichrist like some do. Good God - there's nothing wrong with trying to pick someone up. It's how people hook up for heaven's sake - although admittedly not necessarily in a bar. As for the "master pickup trio" in the bar...hmmm...they did appear to be picking up on the drunkest girls, so that helps them win women over.

Would I have paid any attention to them, if they tried to talk to me? I'm not sure. Honestly, I think that the "smooth" guy is ugly, and since I'm superficial, that would have gone nowhere. The English guy I would have definitely chatted with because I love talking to non-Americans, but once again, not so happening in what I consider physically attractive, so that wouldn't have gone anywhere either. Some of the so-called nerds that are there for training are better looking than those two.

And Mystery...well...I think that he wears more make-up than I do. Not to mention the fact that he's too tall, too pale, his voice is too high pitched and he looks WAY too much like Tommy Lee. He's not bad looking, he just looks I don't know...scummy? Ultimately, it was their conversations that I'd be turned off by. They were doing a lot of "telling" the girl what she's thinking, looks like, what she should be doing, etc. "You have the same look on your face. You're thinking this now. You should by me a drink." I don't even pay for my own drinks, ya douche (always make friends with your bartenders, ladies) and stop telling me who I am, jerk.

[duskwolf]

Well, here's where I'm coming from...

My husband (readily admits he) is one of those guys that needed help. He could have been on this show, no exaggeration. The thing is, these guys need help, sure, but I can't condone this type. (Now I'm not looking to start a fight, so please don't take this as such, and I'll readily apologize if necessary)

These guys, after having been rejected, dejected and lonely most of their lives (assuming, of course, they're not actors) are probably looking for a solid relationship that will last.

Mystery and Co. are guys that are experts in not looking for Ms. Right, but Ms. Right Now (if they weren't, they would have just picked a girl and stuck with her). Do these guys think they're going to find women that share their values in clubs, taught to do so by guys who wear designer clothes and eyeliner? Meh, probably not.

Do I think it might help them in the short term? Perhaps, but if they want a long-term relationship, these guys aren't the ones to ask. The nerds are being taught to put on a facade with potentially high-maintenance girls that they make a superficial connection with.

Guys like that, they don't need hipsters to teach them how to find girls who are attracted to hipsters if they're not hipsters themselves. So, when the facades of being this thing that the hipsters deem as 'cool' fall away, what are they left with? The inability to be happy with themselves if they, at their core, remain who they are.

So, in the final analysis, does it make me (or my husband) somewhat hypocritical to make fun of these guys (assuming once again, that they're not actors)? Probably.

But, did my husband try to be a hipster in order to land me? No, he didn't. He accentuated the parts of his personality that were good and positive. He didn't (and still doesn't) try to be cool.

Hell, how many movies have we seen in this pop-culture collective where someone tried to be something they're not to land the other romantic lead? And how many times have we rolled our eyes when the truth is revealed and the relationship comes together anyway?

So, in the end, this will probably be fun to watch for me, because I'll be the one shouting "You're wrong! You're all wrong! Bastards!"

[Deleted]

Ok, I'll turn in my Greecie card and say that if "Mystery" got rid of the idiot clothes, goggles, eyeliner, nail polish, ridiculous hats and the stupid name, I would totally hit that, after a few drinks. (Holy run-on sentence Batman!) I'll just let myself out now.