In New York mag, Jennifer Senior takes a long, long, hard look at "the competition reality genre"—basically, all shows where contestants actually have to have skills besides willing to publicly humiliate themselves—and finds it lacking, especially w/r/t the career of inaugural Project Runway winner Jay McCarroll. Jay has been homeless and living in his studio for two years, cultivating his collection and, apparently, honing his already impressive nasty whiny streak. Why is this? Jennifer asks, along with 40 or 50 other rhetorical questions. Including! "If [Jay] couldn't succeed in the aftermath, why were we watching? Of what use was the show?" Um. To entertain us? By being a T.V. show?

The Near-Fame Experience Of Being A Bravo Reality Star [NYM]