Artist or Vandal? Cristy C. from ‘For Love or Money’

NBC’s new twist on the standard Bachelor-type dating shows, For Love or Money, provided us with two villains in the very first episode. We had Kelly, who managed to stick around for a little while longer, and we had Cristy C., who didn’t. It’s possible that Kelly may show up around here later, depending on her behavior, but for right now, it’s time to concentrate on Cristy.

From the start, Cristy gave us an image of somebody who was shallow and more interested in designer labels on clothing than the person inside those clothes. When the luggage was dropped off, she and Kelly immediately started making fun of Paige’s paintings (though they didn’t at the time appear to know they belonged to Paige). OK, so far, not among the nicest of people, but not worthy of the Hall of Shame, either.

The two of them made themselves few friends the next day, but again, that’s nothing new on reality TV. After meeting eligible bachelor Rob, Kelly and Cristy met the ever-flowing champagne bottle. While the other women tried to sleep, the two of them continued the party. They didn’t seem to care about… well… anybody other than themselves. They knocked on doors, jumped on beds, woke people up, and generally made many enemies.

I’d like to say that this is bad enough on reality TV to warrant inclusion here. But it isn’t. Drunken stupid behavior sometimes seems to be a requirement for some shows! (See, for example, several episodes of Mr. Personality.)

So then why is Cristy here? Because of the sum of all of this up until now, and then the crowning moment – she defaced one of Paige’s paintings.

The painting in question said, “Looking for” and then had a big heart painted in the middle. Cristy decided to add to it and scrawled, “a big fat piece of meat” on it, changing the meaning just a bit.

Adding insult to injury, when Cristy was confronted about her vandalism, she got defensive, proclaiming that she’s an artist! “I felt compelled to do it!” Oh, please. Keep this woman away from the Art Institute of Chicago (that’s where she is listed as being from – my hometown), she might see a painting on the wall and feel “compelled” to add her own “thoughts” to it.

As if it would make things all better, Cristy offered to paint an exact replica and didn’t seem understand why that wasn’t an acceptable answer. Now let’s think about this for a moment. If she is really the “artist” that she claims to be, does she really believe that if she created something out of her heart and soul (presuming she has one), she wouldn’t mind if somebody destroyed it as long as they made a replacement? If she honestly thinks that way, I have to doubt whether she is truly an artist.

Even though Rob didn’t know about her actions, perhaps he saw something of her personality, because he gave her the boot. Alas, she won’t have the opportunity to add to her Hall of Shame legacy. (Unless there is a reunion show scheduled, of course.)

But she doesn’t really need to add to it. Any of the behaviors listed early in this article – snottiness, shallowness, drunken behavior – would have been bad. But the combination of defacing Paige’s painting and then being so completely unapologetic and clueless as to why it was a big deal – that put her right over the top.

More importantly, it put her right into the Reality TV Hall of Shame.

David Bloomberg is the Editor of the Reality TV Hall of Shame, and can be reached at rno@pobox.com.

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