Two reality show competitors this past week were schooled in one particular lesson: Where do we draw the line to responsibility?
For Michelle “Mochi” Camaya of Step It Up and Dance, her sense of responsibility was deemed lacking. To impress a guest judge who was an expert in modern dance, she helped choreograph a dance in which she was a “creature” that the boys could use as a “little toy.” Perversity aside, she seriously injured her knee during rehearsal, and while being carried away for x-rays, she said, “This is not my job to get injured.”
Suffering from a contusion, Mochi was the picture of Asian American perseverance and went on with the show with some dance phrases cut out. But the guest judge was not impressed: “I was performing with a company years ago with broken ribs, broken toes, broken fingers and it was painful, but sometimes we have to perform even if it hurts.” Teammate Cody came to her defense about the cut phrases, saying she wanted to do them, even though the team disagreed and wanted her to avoid further injury. Tears streaming down her face, Mochi pointed to herself vehemently and mouthed, “I wanted to do it!”
When Cody tried to take responsibility for the dance’s failings, the judge had none of it: “I’m talking to Mochi — she’s the one performing. She’s responsible. Bam.”
While Mochi played it too safe, Dale Talde of Top Chef took on too many responsibilities and put himself at risk of elimination. Unlike Mochi’s quiet, almost self-effacing regard to her talent, Dale’s supersized ego had no problem denouncing weaker chefs. When Nikki expressed reservations about whipping up a mayo by hand, Dale commented, shaking his head with great disgust, “It’s so asinine for me to hear this come out of people’s mouths: ‘I haven’t done a mayonnaise by hand in years’ like they’re scared of it! Why are you still here?” After they lost, he threw a tantrum, punching a locker and cursing loudly.
Dale then pulled the typical Asian American overachiever all-nighter for the wedding banquet challenge, complaining all the while about picking up the slack from his teammates. Then during judging, when judge Gail Simmons asked who did the bruschetta, Dale couldn’t restrain from tooting his own horn — loudly. “I did that. I did that! That’s another thing that I did. Dude, I hustled. I straight up hustled. … Were they gonna get them done if I didn’t get them done? I banged it out today.”
Simmons replied that “If you’re taking on so much, that should be the reason to stop and say, ‘There’s too much on this list.’”
It’s just as easy to say that Mochi took on more responsibility by putting her health first and Dale took on less by producing second-rate dishes. Responsibility is a funny thing — a chimera of self-worth and ethical values, and a great manipulating tool for reality TV.