S14: Blake Patterson

[yeswedo]

24 from Los Angeles, CA

[mansonlamps]

I have been watching since season one and I literally (yes, literally) do not recall disliking a designer's personality as much as Blake's. And that's saying a LOT.

[fivestone]

Well, this tweet of his regarding this last episode (the one in which he told Swapnil that he doesn't speak "Indian") tells me everything I need to know about him: https://twitter.com/blakeMpatterson/status/632001621732364289

[walnutqueen]

Well, this tweet of his regarding this last episode (the one in which he told Swapnil that he doesn't speak "Indian") tells me everything I need to know about him: https://twitter.com/blakeMpatterson/status/632001621732364289

 

#asshole

[Julia]

The thing is, his whole schtick is othering himself, so he actually might not get that casually othering people who are not him is a problem. But yeah, casually othering someone who is in an already marginalized group puts the weight of the existing prejudice behind what he's saying, so even if his heart is completely pure, playing the "you're not from here" card was a bigot move.

[NewDigs]

That Blake handled that poorly is not in question. I wonder if his response might be the same no matter what the accent. "Oh, I'm not French" etc. Granted, his was an oblivious and poor reaction.

I have a terrible time understanding accents. Having someone repeat does not help as frequently all that happens is an over-enunciation of something I didn't understand in the first place!

What to do?

Edited August 14, 2015 by NewDigs

[Julia]

The thing is, though, it wasn't Blake who didn't understand what was being said. It was Swapnil who said Excuse me? to Blake's rude comment, and again when Blake repeated it. I really don't think that Swapnil didn't understand what Blake said. I think he was pissed off about it.

[NewDigs]

Ahhh. Missed that.

That makes better sense of reactions.

What a little shit!

ETA I rewatched the snippet of convo between Blake and Swapnil. While I still think Blake's "I don't speak Indian" to be supremely ignorant I'm not sure I'm ready to call it racist.

He should have just repeated himself. He did have a kind of garble-mouthed speech pattern then.

And no, Blake, you are not adorable.

Edited August 15, 2015 by NewDigs

[Jextella]

That Blake handled that poorly is not in question. I wonder if his response might be the same no matter what the accent. "Oh, I'm not French" etc. Granted, his was an oblivious and poor reaction.

I have a terrible time understanding accents. Having someone repeat does not help as frequently all that happens is an over-enunciation of something I didn't understand in the first place!

What to do?

I volunteer teach for adult ESL students.   Some of these people hardly have any education in their native languages.  They have no clue what I'm saying nor do I have a clue as to what they are saying.  I was talking to the supervisor the other day and it struck me.  Many are no different from Tarzan .... raised in a remote place without any language or reading at all.  Very difficult situation.

 

I'm pretty direct in class.  When we reach moments when they don't understand me, or I don't understand them, all that's left to do is say as much and move on.  We connect eventually.

 

IMO, many young male designers try to be unique and quirky along the lines of Christian Siriano.  All have failed.  Christian was authentic whereas imitators are just imitators.  Or maybe the correct word now-a-days is "poser".  I'm inclined to think Blake is one of these.   I'm going to give him a bit more time because I actually like the ideas behind his first two designs as well as pix I've seen of other runway shows he's done.  

 

The tweet is definately working against him.  "Designer" and "fool' are not mutually exclusive though.  So far, he appears to be both.

Edited August 15, 2015 by Jextella

[One Tough Cookie]

And obnoxious little brat who was obviously never taught any manners by whomever brought him up.  Oh, and darling, if you are reading this?  Lose the vocal fry.

[Kromm]

What a talentless little bag of puss.  And also clearly a show pet, since they gave him a totally incomprehensible win this week (on a dress so bad even HE thought it should have been a bottom look). 

[TudorQueen]

On the episode thread there are a lot of posters who think "the fix is in" for Blake and I devoutly pray that this is not the case. He seems to think that he's the next Christian Siriano, but he has all of Christian's annoying qualities without any of his very real pluses (talent, self-awareness and a definable point of view). I agree with Lindsay that whether he really can't tell time on an analog clock/watch or is just pretending not to be able to tell time, it's not cute, it's embarrassing.

There were a couple of elements in his design that I didn't hate, but there was so much that I did hate, and the construction was so bad (nearly as bad as Gabrielle's, though his concept was more complex and called for more execution) that I am as puzzled by his win as anyone. 

[wovenloaf]

I begrudgingly admit that I sort of liked his dress last week, from afar. I thought it did look good on the runway. But then, up close, those ratty hems covered by the necklace, ugh - I could not believe that Zac, of all people, let him off the hook on that one. That's the specific thing that might lead me to believe the fix was in. (I think Candace should have won that challenge.)

Regardless, I absolutely hate his personality.

Edited August 30, 2015 by wovenloaf

[Julia]

OK, I think this explains a lot. Apparently, Blake graduated design school a few months ago, probably just as filming was beginning, and the jellyfish clothes he showed were from a nine-person student show last year at around the time that Tim was filming Under the Gunn at FIDM, his school (which is also why he lives in LA. He's from Ohio). I'm going to guess that fabulous space he filmed his home visit in was somewhere on campus.

 

So he actually has less experience than the first guy who went home, and it shows in his clothes. No wonder he's putting on a freak show. 

[akr]

He comes off as rather shy and sweet in that video from FIDM, which is interesting. I suppose it is a shock to go from promising young student that everybody is a little excited about and rooting for, to some place where nobody is really all that interested in anything other than what he can do now, not what he might do someday down the road. 

 

I was reviewing the final looks pics for each week the other day (trying to remember what Gabrielle had made before week 4), and I was surprised to notice that Blake's week 3 and week 4 looks are very similar to one another - relatively clean sleek basic front piece, with voluminous back parts attach at about the same part of the body. It's just extra flowy palazzo pants in look 3, and the parachute in look 4, attached to a jumpsuit in look 3 and a sheath dress if I remember it right in look 4, but the basic cut is the same.

 

Not sure how many ideas he has right now!

[auntlada]

His week 1 look was also much more voluminous in back. It looked like he designed a dress with a bustle. The week 2 look wasn't really, but it was still high-low (like the week 1 look), so there was by necessity more fabric in the back than the front.

[PepperMonkey]

So wait: the clothes he showed at his audition were done by a GROUP of people? Or was that his portion of the collection?

 

Cause looking at this little clip, those clothes were really well made so I'm not understanding why he can't even sew a seam now that he's on the show. I mean, I understand they have very little time on the challenges, but seriously, NOTHING is finished or professional looking on his garments.

 

Also, I kind of think they are trying to re-capture Christian again, but this guy is not the one. He has virtually NO TALENT compared to Christian and he's a few years older than Christian was when he was on the show. I mean, he's young to me, but 24 is old enough to be somewhat self-aware. And to be able to tell time.

 

He's just appalling, in general, in almost every area.

[Mabinogia]

I can see the attempt at Christian 2.0 but I agree, this is not the guy. As annoying as Christian was, and I was no fan of his personality at all, I could see how talented he was. This kid, not so much. If you're going to be a little shit, you better have the skills to back it up. Blake is just a not so special little snowflake who was told his whole life that he's the most precious, special, bestest little snowflake in the whole damned blizzard. So basically, he was raised by a pack of liars.

[Julia]

I don't know. He may have been a weird kid in small town Ohio whose parents made him feel like he was a special snowflake to protect him from how not special everyone else made him feel. And I wonder if the difference between his affect in his student video and his affect on PR might not have to do with his having been coached to sparkle a little harder if he wanted to stay on TV longer than his talents justify. It wouldn't be the first time someone became a PR celebrity on the back of being a massive asshole on camera.

 

That said, he's not worth it, and it's a shame, because after this, I don't know who's gonna give the kid a chance. It kind of sucks for them to throw someone with wet yolk behind his ears under the bus, no matter how craven he was willing to be to get on TV.

Edited September 2, 2015 by Julia

[fivestone]

I will give credit where credit's due, and say I appreciate the way he stuck up for Ashley this past episode, as well as the way he gave his teammates credit for their ideas. He's got his redeeming moments, at least.

[StatisticalOutlier]

That Blake handled that poorly is not in question. I wonder if his response might be the same no matter what the accent. "Oh, I'm not French" etc. Granted, his was an oblivious and poor reaction.

I have a terrible time understanding accents. Having someone repeat does not help as frequently all that happens is an over-enunciation of something I didn't understand in the first place!

What to do?

 

I'm in the same boat, and accents from the sub-continent are particularly problematic for me.  What to do, indeed.  One tactic is to  stay off TV and Twitter, but mainly I benefit from my age and acquired wisdom and experience, none of which are available to Blake.  I know for sure that when I was 24, I couldn't have told you what language people speak in India, mainly because I'd never given it a single thought.  I don't think that level of ignorance equaled racism.

 

ETA:  I just got back from the movies, and among the previews was one for a movie set in Mumbai.  It was subtitled in English, but more importantly, in one of the scenes a character was presenting a case in court in English, and they had her subtitled in English. 

 

I doubt the filmmakers were being racist in doing so.

Edited September 15, 2015 by StatisticalOutlier

[Ms Blue Jay]

Blake saying "I don't speak Indian" to Swapnil is racist in my opinion.

 

It assumes:

1. All people with your skin colour speak "Indian".
2. "Indian" is the language of your people.  I'm too ignorant to bother to care what language(s) people may speak in the country of India, so I'll go ahead and assume.  Cute, right?
3. You speaking understandable English sounds so horrible to me that I'll dismiss what you're saying by telling you I don't speak your made up "language".  I won't even deign to respond to you.  I'll just dismiss you by reminding you that you are not from here.  Don't even bother trying to communicate with me because I won't even bother listening.

 

Random and unequal analogies like somebody saying "I don't speak French" do not discredit that experience in my opinion.  Also, in every analogy the person would be speaking English so it's really a stupid thing to say no matter how you slice it.  More than anything, Blake used Swapnil's skin colour to extricate himself from the conversation.

Edited September 15, 2015 by Ms Blue Jay

[Glade]

I I liked Blake, despite the sexist, homophobic, and ageist attacks he received from many people.  I was sad to see him go, and wished that Tim Gunn would use his save to bring him back.  What he said to Swapnill was wrong, but so is attacking his age, sexuality, and expression of gender.  I'm always glad when young men are featured on tv who refuse to conform to masculine gender stereotypes, despite the hate this inspires in some.

Edited September 17, 2015 by Glade

[Julia]

I I liked Blake, despite the sexist, homophobic, and ageist attacks he received from many people.  I was sad to see him go, and wished that Tim Gunn would use his save to bring him back.  What he said to Swapnill was wrong, but so is attacking his age, sexuality, and expression of gender.

 

I'm a little confused at the idea that Blake's attention-seeking affectations are intrinsic to his age, sexuality and expression of gender. His signature characteristic as shown was pretending to be more ignorant than it was possible for him to be. I don't see that as a trait linked to any of those things. As far as I can tell, the only person who directly linked Blake's capabilities to his sexuality was Blake, when he tried to claim that he couldn't be expected to know basic fitting information because he doesn't boink women.

 

I think he plays into ignorant stereotypes. To me, that suggests that I don't believe his posturing is intrinsic to any genuine expression of identity.

[Kromm]

I I liked Blake, despite the sexist, homophobic, and ageist attacks he received from many people.  I was sad to see him go, and wished that Tim Gunn would use his save to bring him back.  What he said to Swapnill was wrong, but so is attacking his age, sexuality, and expression of gender.  I'm always glad when young men are featured on tv who refuse to conform to masculine gender stereotypes, despite the hate this inspires in some.

"Attacking" someone who acts like an idiot on reality TV isn't homophobic, simply because they're gay. Neither is questioning the times when Blake acted infantile inherently ageist. He's not actually a child--he's just acting like one.

Perhaps some of the talk surrounding when he acted overly swishy or against gender norms might border on sexism, but in my opinion any blame for that becomes a drop in an ocean when examined against Blake's self-aware use of those qualities within himself to garner attention. Blake seemed to self-identify as and encourage being identified as a "princess", together with all of the diva type behaviors that would accompany that. If a woman played that "precious little princess" role, she'd often get trounced for it by people who saw it as manipulation/precocious posturing, so why not Blake?