The Pick-Up Artist: Episode 2

Chained to the wall and against my will better judgment, I watched the second episode of this show. Well, kind of. I was actually on the phone with the gf during most of it, and just kind of had it on in the background, which probably means something, but I'm not sure what for the moment.

So far, this show seems to focus on how to try and meet women in bars and clubs. Though I've never been to Austin, I don't care who you are, this is a tall order. I think meeting girls in the supermarket, dance classes, or at places of normal social interaction might be a little less intimidating. There is a self-selecting population that chooses bars and clubs, and they are not the most easily impressed. But I guess if you can be successful there, the rest will be easy. Or overkill.

Then, you're dealing with men who seem to have social skills issues generally. I have to say, some of the techniques this mystery fellow was talking about don't seem all that stupid. They seem like they would be applicable to any social situation in which you find yourself in a sea of strangers. I haven't actually seen any techniques that are totally objectifying towards women specifically. For example, having some intro story or gimmick ("gambit" I guess is mystery's term for it, which reveals his true inner dork. No insult intended, I have books on chess openings. OMG, is that a "neg"? What is happening to me?) when you first meet someone. I think we all would be lying if we didn't have a few well-tested stories in our quivers to help us break the ice or carry the conversation when it seems to have stalled.

And I'm not sure if I find it disheartening or refreshing that he has tossed the whole "just be yourself" thing out the window. There are times to be truly yourself, but being in a situation where you're trying to be interesting to strangers isn't necessarily one of them. I do find the encouragement toward unflattering fashion, hair highlights, and piercings to be a bit a questionable. The word "poser" comes to mind. There are people who can pull some of these things off, but they are few and far between. There is a fine line between making yourself different from those around you and just trying too hard.

My favorite part though is the system of color-coded medallions that demarcates each man's ascendancy into pick-up artist-dom. This sounds a lot like D&D to me, which would make total sense, given that Markovik used to play the game. Think about it: you cast magic spells on women, and then as you get elevated in rank each week, you are given a magic medallion.

These wooden goggles with the slits are essential when you are a Level 4 Warlock on the the Ethereal Plane of Eberron.