Are you a "real person/entertainer" who likes reality TV? Would you like to actuallybe on one of those terrific programs like The Bachelor and/or Farmer Wants a Wife? Then you should head down to the New York Reality TV School, a prestigious institution run by an actor that teaches you all the skills of the dubious trade. Slate went and checked it out and reports back with whimsical tales of students with names like Queen Esther and people who have booze-related brain damage. So it's a horror show, to be sure, but also sort of refreshing!

I mean, in a strange, really cynical way. While people who want to be on a goddamned reality show badly enough to attend some bogus "school" in the hopes of realizing their dream are probably a sad, unlikable bunch, at least the institution is honest. I mean, everyone knows that people amp up (or invent entirely) the personality quirks that are featured on these types of shows. It's blatantly evident that story lines are manufactured and tailored this way and that to follow the ratings. And now this scabby little school is putting it all out there and saying, free of philosophical wink, that they can teach you how to better play the role of you. They may be aiding the collapse of culture, but at least they're up front about it!