Meltdown of the Century

We wrote yesterday that we were really looking forward to last night's "Project Runway", because we thought a final catfight of epic proportions might be in the making between the evil Gretchen and the cry-baby Michael C. Or better yet between Gretchen and Heidi. But what we got was far more scary and let's face it, more disturbing, than what we even anticipated. Michael Costello was the final designer eliminated, which meant he wouldn't be showing his collection at New York's Fashion Week. At the moment he got the news, we could tell that something was terribly wrong. What transpired over the course of the next five minutes was possibly one of the most unnerving things we've ever seen on television. Michael just stood there, on the runway, elminated, and the look which came over his face was reminiscient of the look that a serial killer gets just before he pulls out the butcher knife and goes to town on the baby-sitter. Michael just stood there, not moving, his body tense, with this agonized expression that didn't change for what seemed like an eternity. The looks on the judges faces told us that they sensed something was terribly wrong. Even Heidi approached Michael slowly and cautiously, unsure how to jolt some life back into this rigid, immovable man who looked like his mind had just snapped. Michael finally trudged off the stage and joined the other, more lucky, contestants in a tiny room backstage, and within seconds, the other three designers had a horrific realization that the room looked as if it might not have an emergency escape route. Michael beat the wall with his fist and desolved into tears with this guttural moan building from his gut and from what we soon discovered, the very depths of his damaged psyche. Suddenly, the dam broke, and Michael began to wail that he didn't know how he was going to tell his family that he hadn't "made it", and that they weren't going to support him any longer, etc., etc. It was sad, it was scary, it was disturbing, and it was very uncomfortable to watch. After the episode finally came to an end, we were left with two thoughts: one, that reality show producers should screen their contestants a little better in the mental health department. But more importantly, it was one of those rare t.v. moments which every parent in America should have been forced to watch. Every set of parents who demeans the dreams of their child, or who pushes for their child to be something that they want as opposed to what the child wants should have watched Michael's story last night to see what happens when parents try to force a round child into a square hole. The result is sometimes not very pretty. On a lighter note, the clothes last night were pretty bad, too. We can safely predict that Mondo has this one in the bag.