"The Pick-Up Artist": The art of seduction

August 9, 2007 at 1:40pm

Erik von Markovik, who calls himself "Mystery," is a decent-looking 6'5" beanstalk who has a Canadian accent, dresses like a peacock (a furry top hat and goggles), and calls himself the world's best Pickup Artist (of women, that is).

He's also the star of a new reality show on vh1 called "The Pickup Artist." In it, Erik (I refuse to call him by his nom de guerre) will teach eight hapless guys how to attract beautiful women. On the surface the show looks like slightly more instructive riff on the nerdy guy/beautiful girl pairing used for humor in countless sitcoms and reality shows like "Average Joe," but in the process, it taps into a larger --- some say sleazy --- community of men who follow Erik's methods to, as the title of his book plainly put it, "Get Beautiful Women Into Bed." All of which makes for a complicated and addictive reality show.

More on the community, which I find fascinating, later; first the episode. The eight nerds are an endearing mix of anxiety and excitement, each of them looking forward to the prospect of meeting women but petrified about actually talking to them. VH1 has cast the show well: most of the guys are awkward but in a cute way; most can speak comfortably to the camera, if not to a female; and a few are actually good looking.

The opening scene when they get off the bus and see the house for the first time is much like it would be on any other show, except that the reactions are less, "OH DIP!" and "THIS IS THE SH*%" and more "OH MY," and "GEE WOW!" A lot of the show's beginning is taken up with everyone sharing their respective stories. Women think Joe, from Minnesota, is gay. Fred is a 45-year-old virgin who bails out of conversations early. Most of the rest have some similar defect, and all are uncomfortable talking to women.

They receive a surprise phone call from their new instructor. He's going to throw them into the lion's den that night; they all hop into a bus (the declared destination is "Manhood") and go to a club. Erik tells them to talk to women randomly; they do and basically fail miserably.

The most illuminating sections of the show were the parts filmed at some secret loft near the club where Erik asked each contestant of his hopes for the show. Spoon (short for Steve Poon), a flustered young man, declares he wants to live "like James Bond," and acted as if Mystery would be able to conjure this life up for him. Most of the guys were also painfully credulous; really, it's their rapt belief that Mystery will change their lives that makes the show so compelling. Some speak to the camera as if they'll give up girls forever if this doesn't work. In a sense, they're playing for much higher stakes than the average reality show contestant; they're not looking for money or fame but for an entirely different persona and basically a new life.

If that is the case, they might want to think twice before adopting whatever Markovik has in store for them. He and his wingmen, "Matador" and "J-dog," can pick up girls: after talking to the trainees, they walk into the club and, assuming the girls are not actors (which the show declares is the case), make them melt with alarming speed. They start talking to a group and after a few minutes girls grab them and beg them not to leave. They get women's phone numbers, and it looks as if they could take many home were they not tied up with the show.

The nerds want to be like them, or James Bond, or someone else, and it's actually not that hard to picture them achieving it, because Erik (and probably J-dog and Matador) went through a similar transformation. Erik has said he was once a hopeless Dungeons & Dragons player who had as little luck with women as the contestants. Now, depending on how you look at it, he is either supremely confident and self-assured or an asshole, and he charges thousands at seminars and gets paid by VH1 to teach men how to act like him.

He gets paid so handsomely because he is the leader, or most prominent figure, in what is known as the "Seduction Community." This is why the premise behind the VH1 show differs from, say, the movie "Hitch."Markovik is not a traditional "ladies man," or date coach who has a way with women and can dispense advice on them. He, and the rest of the Pickup Artists (PUAs) in the community, is a social interaction scientist, he experiments with then teaches tactics, based on empirical evidence, to get women to sleep with him.

The whole community is controversial for a few reasons. First, it is pretty open that the main goal of this seduction is not necessarily to build relationships but to get girls into bed. (As I said, Mystery's book is called "How to Get Beautiful Women into Bed"). Also, when Mystery first came into the public eye --- in 2005 when journalist Neil Strauss released an account of the time he spent in the seduction community --- his methods came under fire. The methods are very specific (usually used with previously unknown girls a person meets at nightclubs or other public places) and use a complicated series of terms and acronyms, and most refer to women as targets. One technique, called The Neg, essentially consists of insulting a woman, not harshly but not as a joke either, in order to demonstrate your value. It's one of the many interesting examples of pseudo-psychology the PUAs employ.

One could call it manipulative, and many people have. When Strauss went on a tour for his book, people accused the PUAs of tricking girls into bed with them. (Strauss was not a detached researcher; he claims to have had many a threesome because of the tactics.) He replied that if PUA's weren't bedding these girls, other guys would be, and that the people using these tactics were generally "nice" guys who hadn't had luck with women in the past. That doesn't change the fact that then, and now, these guys are basically treating women like video games they can cheat at: they want to beat the girls' defenses so they can have sex, and they do so using memorized or improvised scripts that use psychological principles to seduce.

(One more side note: The community doesn't advertise itself as misogynist; it claims girls want sex too, and that referring to them as "targets" is purely to get guys in a mindset. But on the message boards where PUAs share their experiences --- in what are known asField Reports --- they frequently refer to women as "sluts"; they call succeeding with a girl a "fuck close"; they talk about lying to women to get them into bed; and they say that no one girl can matter to a PUA at all.)

The whole thing is creepy and unnatural, and I hope the show, if it gets more men interested in the movement, also lets females know which guys are earnestly looking to get to know them and which PUAs are just looking for a "fuck close."

Comments for ""The Pick-Up Artist": The art of seduction" (16)

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Mandrake said on Aug. 22, 2007 at 7:16pm

Matt, you must be a very nice guy with a girlfriend, with a probably decent interaction with women who can get laid maybe once every two years if you were single...or an older man whose married with children and don't care about finding a new sexual partner until the next lifetime.

In either case, you really know absolutely nothing about the seduction community. You are not going to find it's meaning in a book or in a TV show. You can find it's meaning, however, if you place yourself in a particular circumstance. A circumstance which you were almost born into and of which you are a victim of. Where society has shunned you from the rest of humanity and then you realize you're lonely and you want to have sex, just like you (hopefully) and the rest of humanity. It may be the case that you realize you want to do something about your life when you're 45 and people make fun of you because no one taught you how to fall in love with someone. For some reason you're supposed to know how to fall in love with someone else and know how to make that person fall in love with you; society expects this from you. If you even ask how to do this you look weird in front of everyon

Michael said on Aug. 26, 2007 at 8:40pm

This article is total BS....mystery has scientific evidence and verifiable proof that supports his methods....this guy, who wrote this junk, is a judgemental fool who has probably never closed a deal...bottom line..the guy is a hater...and a loser....and mystery teaches great methods for men to deal with and uncover what makes a woman tick....bottom line..there is nothing sinister here, nothing weird...just an exploration for truth...

Kimberly said on Aug. 28, 2007 at 2:31pm

Wow boys, calm down! Just because someone questions the authenticity of a program designed to help the hapless fuck a girl doesn't mean you call him a virgin! Breathe deep! As intruiging as the whole thing is, I wouldn't go so far as to call Mystery's work scientific evidence or verifiable proof. And I wouldn't attack someone for questioning it. There's no pick-up lab monitoring Mystery and his cohorts, no secret room where a dozen statisticians crunch numbers and scientifically pinpoint the moment or probability of success. So get a grip. They guy tried a bunch of times to get laid. He eventually found something that works. Yippee. That being said, there's nothing sinister about what Mystery teaches. Women have been using, intentionally or not, a system to get dates, free drinks, attention and sex (not to mention diamond rings, houses, prenups, etc.) for a couple thousand years at this point. If some men need help, then they're welcome to seek it. What IS sinister is how some guys (who without Mystery's help would have failed to procreate and, thankfully, had their weakness die out with them) will do with their new manipulative abilities. Having a casual threes

Christy said on Sep. 03, 2007 at 10:57pm

I had the interesting experiences of meeting Matador and his crew at a club the other night and experienced first hand their "technique" with women. His initial line to my friends and I was a The Neg technique which I found to be a very ignorant and insulting thing to say to someone. I actually got into a discussion with their marketing guy who told me who they were and what their ��theories�� were all about. Basically he said that men feel less or inferior so they play on woman��s inferiorities and make them feel less so they can manipulate them.

It��s all based on ��sociology�� they said. There was also one of their ��students�� with them who had actually paid them money to learn this technique! He was 21 years old, not a bad looking guy, from a good family, and who looked intelligent. The only thing he that held him back that I observed was that he was shy and lacked good conversation abilities. At this point I was thinking to myself, ��what is world this coming to, that we actually have a television show training men how to make women feel less, and how to manipulate them��. Great contribution to the evolution of our society guys!!

First, I��d like to

Christy Cont. said on Sep. 04, 2007 at 6:27pm

First, I��d like to say that intentionally making someone feel less because you do is not right. I��m not saying it doesn��t happen in our world and I��m sure women do it as well. But it is wrong across the board. Secondly, men instinctively need a challenge, and if you are just playing this game and manipulating women and getting laid, maybe it will make you happy for awhile but it will never fill that hole inside you. It will never make you truly happy. If you are looking for a relationship or true happiness this is not the right way to do it. Lastly, I understand many men and women don��t have success with attracting the opposite sex and they do have esteem issues or are bad conversationalists, or whatever issue you feel you have. Don��t take the easy and much less fulfilling way out, by learning how to play games and manipulate. I challenge you to go out and better yourself. Hire a Life Coach, take a course on how to be a better conversationalist, go to therapy. You will never be able to get a good woman by using this technique or at least you��ll never be able to keep a good woman and make her happy.

Marc said on Sep. 14, 2007 at 9:17am

Guys, you can think want you want. Just your way. MYSTERY IS A MASTER PICK UP ARTIST. He doesn��t need your opinion. I don��t need your opinion. We all know it. Thanks.

Claisha said on Oct. 01, 2007 at 6:14pm

The show is just another way to attempt to make men think that women can actually be "conquered". I think it is sexist and demeaning. I was glad to see the nerds gaining more confidence by filling them up with BS jargon and cutesy phrases.

But seriously, we women are a little wiser than that, and not all women are as dumb and easy as the ones portrayed on the show!!!

Naz said on Oct. 02, 2007 at 7:16am

"This is not the right way to do it."
Why can't men build a relationship from meeting a woman? Some guys naturally do what Mystery teaches. Should these men be banned from meeting women? Being interesting? Getting her attention?
"Don��t take the easy and much less fulfilling way out, by learning how to play games and manipulate. I challenge you to go out and better yourself . . . You will never be able to get a good woman by using this technique or at least you��ll never be able to keep a good woman and make her happy."
You're commenting on something about which you obviously know little. Nice guys can keep a woman happy, they have trouble getting women interested in the first place. Good women, bad women, mediocre women respond to a guy with an attractive personality. This "technique" just allows them to show that personality. BTW, I can't understand why you'd say this was easy. Easy is staying in one's comfort zone, not talking to anyone, and settling with any woman because they can't do better.
I'm sorry he used a "neg" on you--most women are not supermodels who can handle a neg.

Lynzee said on Oct. 07, 2007 at 7:26pm

I wasn't the least bit attracted to Mystery or Matador. Wouldn't matter what they said to me or what stunt they pulled or lie they told. Who would go out with Eric? Not attractive at all! I found the whole show to be hilarious-the only reason I watched it ---made me laugh. Foolish childish tactics they are teaching you guys. Knock yourself out. Ho's for Ho's I suppose. Guess the are losers out there that would go out with you go treating women poorly----you all could care less about what makes us tick. Too funny.

Stalker said on Nov. 19, 2007 at 8:57am

a PUA is not a player... nobody understand that

bastian said on Dec. 13, 2007 at 8:01pm

Hi all, well I'm actually happy that you ignore the tactics/methods listed. None of you actually mentioned that the guys were also taught reading the signs that the woman gives when she is interested. All of the women's posts also make me laugh cause you see, guys are so often manipulated by women that it came to the point of being normal, so please let's not judge someone by their gender. Of course there will always be a guy that won't call you after a night spend together or after a couple of dates (same goes to women), there are jerks in the world and nothing will stop them. It's generally teaching shy or socially awkward people to interact with others. What's wrong with that? Did you see one of the guys treating a women really disrespectfully? No, cause a neg is nothing that bad, it's like push and pull. You put a neg, you say something to show that she attracts you. Girls ask yourself what guys did you get attracted to when you first met them? Oh and PUA techniques are not advices of how to keep a long term relationship healthy, cause these things are much more complicated. Also next time girls DON'T put make up and choose clothes that show all of your not so good features when going out, cause frankly all of this stuff deceives us. Oh and lastly, judging a method solely on an 8 episode reality show is really laughable.

baba said on Dec. 18, 2007 at 6:19pm

Everybody should switch their fucking TV off and turn the nearest beautiful girl on !

The Guru said on Apr. 27, 2008 at 10:26am

I love when women talk about the pickup community..it almost always just reinforces the reasons for being involved in it. For all the women that think this is sleazy how is this different from putting on makeup, from getting breast augmentation, wearing high heels, having fake lashes, wearing a tight dress. The community is designed for people to bring their best qualities out put them in a light that is attractive. (much the same as you wearing a tight fitting dress and makeup when you go out). Sure, there are lines, routines, ways to go about it. There will always be a few guys that try and use it immorally. (However, regardless of whether they learned "the game" the guys that use it in such a manner were that way to begin with). When attractive girls are asked what they want they always respond a nice guy, someone that is himself, someone with a sense of humor, and/or good looking. Yet, all the nice guys and guys that don't look like Brad Pitt can attest to the fact that when you go to the bar and you see a gorgeous girl with some guy that you know is a jerk, has no direction or ambition in his life, but is good looking and knows what to say...it hurts.

The Guru said on Apr. 27, 2008 at 10:32am

Oh and to demonstrate exactly what I am talking about. Definitely not saying all, or even a large % of girls are like this...but if some "nice" guy walked up, introduced himself asked about her and tried to get to know her she would of been bored out of her mind. Girls are not perfect angels and sometimes they want to act bad..if a pickup artist knows enough about social dynamics and is down for the same thing there is no reason that a jerk should beat out a nice guy. Watch this youtube.com/watch?v=_aNTNdRMNLM

Sinister said on May. 04, 2008 at 11:46am

Hey use the method if it works for you, hate it if you are jealous of people capable of doing so.

Deanna said on Nov. 05, 2008 at 9:34pm

i watched the entire show with a girlfriend and we really enjoyed it! As women we found it funny how much power women have over men...i'll admit we use some of the tactics said i.e the bitch shield and joke with each other about some of the things we did we thought men didn't notice. in the same situation i cold see alot of those things working. I don't think it was meant to make men into sexaul deviants but to increase their self esteem when approaching women. If you'd seen the men try and talk to women in the first episode you'd want those poor guys to get laid too. it's sad that men refer to women as sluts and targets but they do it anyway, with or without Mystery's artful guide to conquests. furthermore the "negs" work on women who believe they're better then everyone else. technically since these women think so highly of themselves the neg is just bringing their egos back to equilibrium.

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