AS4, S12: Helen Castillo

[yeswedo]

Union City, NJ, Season 12

 

 

[phlebas]

Judging by comments about Helen in other sections and the lack of comments about here here, I may be an army of one. I love this woman. 

 

Yes, her best designs are mediocre. She may be good at it, but she struggles with the limitations forced on her by PR. I don't care.  She seems like a nice person with a really pretty smile who is likely to collapse into a puddle at the slightest provocation.

 

I don't know what it says about me but I find the whole Helen Spectacle fascinating. Like turning the crank on a Jack-In-The-Box when the noisemaker is broken -- you know something disturbing is going to fly out with no warning and scare the shit out of the cat. Pointing a camera at Helen kicks off the Castillo Uncertainty Principle -- the act of observing disturbs the observed because the observed is such a mess. (Up yours, Heisenberg.)

 

Also, she's exactly the kind of person I was attracted to in school. I don't know what that says about me either.

 

I know she's on borrowed time on this show. But it's not like this show is set up to find brilliant designers anyway as much as it is Fashion Kabuki.

 

I guess I don't really have a point.  Just showing some love for my girl.  I'd much rather have her brand of theatrics on every other season than Kate Pankoke's passo-aggro approach. (Though I would push past both of them to make Elena the new mentor.)

[Julia]

Judging by comments about Helen in other sections and the lack of comments about here here, I may be an army of one. I love this woman. 

 

Just wondering - did you watch her original season?

[Julia]

I'm ambivalent about Helen as a designer. I think she does the one thing she does well - painstakingly tailored women's evening wear - extremely well. She's either not very good at doing anything else, JMO, or else she's constitutionally unsuited to working in this format.

 

I'm less conflicted about her as a person. Her behavior at the end of her season was contemptible, and the fact that she backed down in the wake of her one attempt to bring the drama -- after Jay slapped her down hard and it became clear that she had no cheering section behind her - doesn't suggest to me that she's a reformed character. It suggests that she, like most bullies, is a coward. None of which, obviously, speaks to her ability as a designer.

[phlebas]

I did watch her original season. I remember waiting for her to shatter into a billion pieces and wondering who would get caught in the shrapnel.

 

Actual Helen in person may be a tiresome jerk. But the Project Runway Helen constructed for reality TV is, from my POV, a hoot. I find her far more entertaining than someone like Jay or Fabio.

 

I remember hearing that she was caught up in some post-season drama.  Was that some sort of Twitter war or something?  Or was there something during her original season I'm forgetting? Nothing would surprise me. She does come off as six kinds of fragile.

 

I admit I'm blinded somewhat because, like I said, she does remind me of the kind of person I gravitated to when I was younger, although with a lot more black tank tops. (I hope those are multiple tank tops.)

[Julia]

No, I understand. I give the benefit of the doubt to people like Marcel on Top Chef who fight back against being marginalized by being maximally obnoxious, because that's who I grew up with, in the days before geeks ruled the world. Everyone's got a soft spot.

 

Helen escaped my soft spot by playing clique games. She apparently blamed Alexandria and not her own straitjacket dresses and hieratical loincloths for not making it to fashion week, and she went on a twitter rampage with Kate and, to a lesser extent, Dom over it, and then attacked Alexandria during the reunion. I'd've been a little more sympathetic (see above) if she hadn't made a point of pecking at people and then portraying herself as a pitiful victim repeatedly.

 

That said, the look on Michelle's face if Helen won would make that worth it to me. Almost.

[phlebas]

I think we basically agree. For whatever reason, I'm giving Helen a pass and justifying it by saying we're only getting to see edited aspects of her that fit someone else's narrative. It's not like we have perfect knowledge of her, Kate, Alexandra, and the others.

 

However, that's also true of people like Russel Effin' Hantz on Survivor, but I'm less driven to cut him any slack.

 

And yes, Helen walking away with a win would be hilarious just for the screen grabs.

[ThatsDarling]

I think we basically agree. For whatever reason, I'm giving Helen a pass and justifying it by saying we're only getting to see edited aspects of her that fit someone else's narrative. It's not like we have perfect knowledge of her, Kate, Alexandra, and the others.

 

However, that's also true of people like Russel Effin' Hantz on Survivor, but I'm less driven to cut him any slack.

 

And yes, Helen walking away with a win would be hilarious just for the screen grabs.

I respect your opinion, but I think Helen's worst moments came when she was off of the show and no one was editing her remarks. She wished death on Tom and Lorenzo and tweeted that one of her S12 competitors should be murdered (in addition to defacing pictures of said contestant on Instagram).

 

Frankly, I think it was irresponsible of Lifetime to cast her in the first place. She's got problems. 

[phlebas]

I respect your opinion, but I think Helen's worst moments came when she was off of the show and no one was editing her remarks. She wished death on Tom and Lorenzo and tweeted that one of her S12 competitors should be murdered (in addition to defacing pictures of said contestant on Instagram).

 

Frankly, I think it was irresponsible of Lifetime to cast her in the first place. She's got problems. 

I knew there was something with her and Twitter but didn't know the details. I didn't know about the T&L thing.  Those guys must have been quaking. But I guess that explains why I'm an army of one on this.

 

She may be a complete jerk in person.  Hell, if you're reporting this stuff accurately, she may be a sociopath in person. That's probably what got her brought back.

 

But I still enjoy her on the show. 

[Surrealist]

I don't care for Helen, but I liked that she gave her extra fabric to Justin when he was having a meltdown over his AV piece.

 

I realize the judges eliminated him, but that wasn't Helen's fault.

[NikSac]

I don't care for Helen, but I liked that she gave her extra fabric to Justin when he was having a meltdown over his AV piece.

 

I liked that too. I think it might be the only time I've liked Helen or anything she did. It showed a side to her I didn't even know was there.

[Surrealist]

I liked that too. I think it might be the only time I've liked Helen or anything she did. It showed a side to her I didn't even know was there.

 

Even those with the coldest hearts can show a tinge of goodness in the right moments. ;-)

[TudorQueen]

I, too, was touched by Helen's concern for Justin, which seemed very sincere to me. She offered the fabric without being asked, and praised his use of it. It probably goes to everyone's deep fondness for Justin, but I also think it's an indication that Helen has matured a bit over the last year. I also liked the way she volunteered to sketch in the shark tank - yes, it benefitted her, but no more than it benefitted her competition, and she seemed happy enough about that.

 

When her designs are on target, they can be terrific. When they aren't... they're pretty bad. And she can be repetitive, though not nearly as much as the one with the glasses who made pencil skirts for nearly every challenge a couple of seasons ago.

 

I don't love Helen, but I don't hate her, and her moments of authenticity are lovely to witness.

[Surrealist]

I, too, was touched by Helen's concern for Justin, which seemed very sincere to me.

 

Given her past reputation, that's the part that blew me away. The sincerity of her gesture.

 

Sometimes even the most unlikeable people reveal that side of themselves. Not that I think Helen's one of the most unlikeable people in existence, but I remember how she came across during her season and even in the reunion show. And yes, I recall the social media crap. Plenty of people show the worst part of themselves on social media. I've seen it happen among people I know.

 

I'd like to think she watched all of it and engaged in some self-reflection. Everyone deserves a second chance to evolve.

Edited January 22, 2015 by Surrealist