I will admit that the only reason I watched America's Next Top Model last night was to see Isis, the transgender contestant. I stopped watching the show a few "cycles" back because I just got tired of the formula. After last nights episode, my opinion hasn't changed. Tyra and Co. are more bizarre than ever and the casting of potential models according to the reality show rule book is still in effect. For as much as I liked Isis and Sheena (pictured above) I won't be coming back for more. I wanted to jump through my TV and strangle the girl who referred to Isis as a drag queen. My heart just can't take the ignorance and exploitation.
9 comments:
I totally hear you on the transphobia in the first episode. I've been a loyal watcher of ANTM for years now but more from the "wow, this trainwreck gets funnier and funnier" perspective. But I don't know how much I will be able to stomach the bigoted comments about Isis.
I was glad to see, at least, she has some girls in the competition who accept her and could be allies for her. And it's kind of nice karma that two of the girls who slagged her the most got the boot.
I'm sure Isis is made of stronger stuff than me and will be just fine but I'm always a little shocked when younger people are so openly bigoted. I was like damn, don't you have ANY home training?
And oh yes, it was sweet when Miss "I'm Black but I'm Not Ghetto, I Live in the Suburbs!!!" got the boot so quickly. I was like, Honey, lots of black people have white friends and wear glasses, you are NOT a special snowflake.
This show should be put out to pasture already. The participants will never do more than capitalize on "reality" show notoriety. There's no accomplishment in that, and unless Tyra shows us that models actually get started when they're barely out of adolescence, ANTM will continue to be an exercise in bullshit. There's nothing progressive about including a transgendered model, when she obviously wouldn't cut it in the high fashion environment she's supposed to be getting groomed for. Im sure there's a token full-figured experiment too. And have you seen the last winner do ANYTHING professionally since her victory? I sure haven't. Jaslene is still making second rate appearances that the fashionistas couldn't care less about.
I think Yaya (the "loser" from several seasons back) has been the most successful of all of them. She's a more commerical model but I've seen her in ads for Garnier, Target, Oil of Olay, and Payless.
I wonder what her relationship is with Tyra. You would think that she'd be mentioned more on the show but maybe Yaya was smart enough to stay away from the cult after she appeared on the show.
ANTM is a weird, guilty pleasure for me. I've been watching it for a long time and as formulaic as it is, Tyra does try to expand America's (or rather, the viewership's) notion of who is beautiful. Tyra does punish women who are out right mean, though.
There was a chick last cycle that said something incredibly derogatory to Fatima, the young Somalian woman. At the end of the show the hater was kicked off. This is the same fate that met Sharun last night (the ring leader). Tyra in her warped mind is THE teacher; being prejudiced has consequences. Which I can certainly appreciate but these girls never, ever get the point.
Sharun was terribly uninteresting and IMHO not very attractive. I was also glad to see Kacey go as well. Why do these women think they are SO interesting?
Brigitte, yes! I think it's the total blatant quality of their bigotry that always shocks me. But then I wonder how much of it is goaded out of them to make for "good" TV. And it seems like the "losers" on ANTM always fare far better than the winners. Yaya, as you mentioned, gets tons of commercial work and Elyse Sewell (from cycle one) is a really successful high fashion model in Asia and works constantly.
But yeah, it's always so funny to watch these really young women think they're all so shockingly original. Especially in the context of reality television. But I remember being 18 and thinking I was SO DIFFERENT from everyone on the planet because of my personal angst and such. Heh.
I have never been a fan of this show because it seemed to be more about Tyra than grooming a successful model. How many of the past winners have maintained successful careers in the modelling industry? Another thing that gets me is that there seems to be a new series on every few months. Seriously, how many series does Ms Banks pack in every year?
Yea this show is getting very annoying, and Yaya has been the most successful model from it. I've always thought that in every cycle the girls have been bigots, but that's my personal opinion.
I'm going to hang with it because it a guilty pleasure of mine and I'm just addicted to unreality tv. I also want to see Isis triumph. I'm so glad that the girls who downed Isis got the boot. Like I said on my blog with that show It's Tyra's world and we're just living in it. Ugh. I did like the nod to Tocccara.
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