Fallen Angels in Uncomfortable Harnesses ~ ‘America’s Next Top Model’ Blog (ANTM) Cycle 15

I missed the first fifteen minutes of the show, but I did catch the good parts with the makeovers.  Apparently, a few of the girls (Ann, you are pleasantly surprising me) made up a list of what they thought the makeovers were going to entail.  BTW, why do they call them makeovers when they have nothing to do really with makeup and wardrobe, but a change in hairdos?  Wait, I take that back, one of them was sent to the optometrist and another to the dentist for something I’m going to get into later on in the article – suffice to say, shame, shame on ‘ANTM’.

 

                For the most part I think of this show as fun fluff, but even so, sometimes it drifts into that particular fault line where I think it is counterproductive at best and actually dangerous at best.  Although I don’t have the data to back it up, I would imagine a huge hunk of the audience is teens and young women – a particular age group that have tendencies to be people pleasers often at their own detriment.  They need to be taught that it is okay to say no more than anything else.  Therefore when the show does makeovers I get extra pissy when I hear the Jays act all put out when a few of the girls aren’t happy with their makeovers.  I know that for the most part the contestants are aware that this is what they signed up to do and that in the past they have been some doozy diva breakdowns, BUT princess fits are a whole different animal from young women expressing that they aren’t entirely taken with the new look the producers of the show have thrown their way.  Saying you don’t like something, but still willing to make it work, is different from pouting and fussing.  I think the overall lesson should be to teach the girls to be professional, but what ‘ANTM’ tends to demonstrate is that their choice to be a model equals that they don’t have any say in how they look, which I think is total pure and deep bullsh*t.  Being professional means being on time, having a good attitude, listen to what is demanded of them as models on a shoot or on a catwalk; what it doesn’t mean is that when you ask them a question that they should tell you something they think will make you happy, that they are required to do anything that makes them uncomfortable or they perceive as dangerous without question.  In other words, just because they are young and beautiful they don’t have to swallow everything the fashion industry is trying to poor down their gullet.  Honestly, the more I know about how models are treated in the fashion industry the more I’m happy that I was too short to model back in the day.  When there are photographers like Terry Richardson out there, the more a young woman can separate being professional versus doing something based on peer pressure and guilt then all society benefits from being less exploitative.

 

                Later in the show the models were dressed as various versions of low brow fallen angels.  They were paired up with male models and the photo session took place on a beach where they were harnessed into the air.  The assignment was that they each had to come up with a word to demonstrate what sort of angel they were supposed to be.  Miss Tyra proclaimed herself to be deeply disappointed with most of their results…you know, since ‘Italian Vogue’ is hanging over this cycle’s models like Anna Wintour seething over a lukewarm cup of a Starbuck’s specialty.  In the end, both Terra and Sara were allowed to fly back to which they came.

 

                To be honest, Terra was a tad old (24) for the competition so when her aged a$$ was sent home it made sense – after all, there is always a fear that she would end up breaking a hip.  She was tearing up during the makeovers, although in her defense it wasn’t a horrible ‘How could they do this to me?’ sort of scene.  I had to cut off because I was going to lose it to chemo a few years back and I still pine for the original length.  It is my understanding that the texture of black hair makes it appear to grow out slower so if someone is going to shave part of it or cut it to a nub there always has to be a question for the person as to if they feel committed to it.  In fairness to the ‘ANTM’ I understand why they have laid down the law for a few seasons about the makeovers after some of the girls were argumentative and downright rude, but eliminating a girl for simply not going through a metamorphosis with faux smiles and double rainbows takes away from the fact, as I pointed out earlier, that they might have an opinion about their looks – especially if their looks are potentially their moneymaker.  Of course Terra was let go after she had her hair cut which really bit the witch’s t*t because I don’t think she minded going as much as she had her cut for no other reason but to make a point.  Well, at least her sister is still in the game.

 

                Chelsey was a blonde with long hair who only got more blonde hair with longer hair.  I made mention in one of the last two blogs about how Danielle had a disagreement with Tyra about the separation between her two front teeth fixed.  Tyra told her that no one would hire her to model with a gap in her teeth…because it has decades since Lauren Hutton with her gap was the it model of the moment.  Now it seems as if Tyra has changed tack, which might have been explained before I tuned in, but she has Chelsey go to a dentist to make her separation all the more pronounced.  What bothered me wasn’t so much the pulling apart of the teeth, which in and of itself would be pretty severe, but she had her teeth actually twiddled down with one of those dental saws that make that zzzzz sound in order to make the gap more pronounced.  People spend thousands of dollars to correct gaps in their teeth and ‘ANTM’ just did something to a contestant that is a bit more than just cut her hair, which after all can always grow back.  Once you trim your teeth your teeth are trimmed for good!  One has to wonder what the producers will do if having four fingers on the left hand becomes the vogue…or the ‘Italian Vogue’ as the case might be.  Beyond all else, what sort of dental professional would do something like this?    

 

                Poor Lexie is sinking fast in this competition.  Even the photographer thought her body wasn’t really model worthy.  She did look awkward hanging as if she wasn’t just a fallen angel but a beaten, bagged, and disheveled one.  Let’s just say she wasn’t “preditorial,” a word that she apparently made up which went past the judges and the producers.   (I confess that I didn’t think anything of it until I read the Jezebel blog.)  In the end she was one of the bottom two along with Sara who was the one sacked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                Poor Liz got one of those horrible man cuts that Tyra and company think make girls look edgy.  She started with playing with her already short hair by putting in a Mohawk, but nooooo it had to be shorter and the excuse was given that she had the type of face to pull it off.  Now granted, she wasn’t a happy camper, but all of the Jays were in her business telling her that she was acting that she didn’t like it, which she didn’t (frankly, she looked much better the other way).  They asked her a question and she answered it honestly.  She wasn’t throwing a hissy fit because if she was I’m sure the cameras would have been too happy to capture it, but still in the end she got thrown under the bus as if she had been a huge bellyacher. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                Rhiana’s makeover consisted of a longer weave.  I think she was in the middle of the pack, but she may have been in the top four.  She’s one of my favorites so I’m glad she is still around.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                Jane and her “Big Square Head” were safe.  I think her face photographed well but her body just hung there.  It was revealed that she had an athletic scholarship to Princeton for Lacrosse, but she quit it to model.  Damn. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                Chris, had to deal with the loss of her big sis after the makeover challenge which meant she had to get it together fairly quickly.  She was a broken angel and I believe she finished in the top four.  Unlike her unluckier sister, she got a hair weave and was pleased with it.  I don’t think she has a chance in hell of winning, but she and her sister might convince some Hollywood producer to put them in a sitcom, she has that sort of pretty, not model pretty but girl next door sassy pretty. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                Kendal however might have a chance to win it although she looks a lot like the girl who won it last cycle.  She got a long weave.  I don’t remember if she did well or not in the angel picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                Kacey, amazingly enough, just got her first pair of contacts.  I thing she too got a weave, but didn’t look that much different.  I really liked her angel photo. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                Esther got probably one of the worst makeovers.  I think she looked great with her natural brown hair which in the ‘Top Model’ universe she must get it dyed black.  Now she has her caterpillar eyebrows, big boobs, and witch hair.  Her angel picture was horrible.  It was one of those photos that you agree with the judges that it is complete and utter dreck.  Thankfully she wasn’t in the bottom two.

 

 

 

 

                Kayla got red hair, and I mean Patricia Fields (who was one of the judges) red hair.  Remember a few seasons ago when they gave that chick who was originally from Russia but had been in the states for a few years who they gave clown hair to?  Kayla got that sort of hair but minus the curl.  Yet, you know what?  She rocked the photo shoot!  She was supposed to portray evil and she did a subtle gesture with the male model where she put her finger under his chin.  She is in silhouetted and she makes everything work.  Of course within the episode the audience is reminded that she Kayla is a lesbian and now she has to pose with a dude…yawn.  Kayla did mention that her girlfriend said she didn’t mind what happened in the makeover as long as she didn’t come home with red hair…oh-oh. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                Ann came in first for the second time in a row, which means she is on a row.  Her picture was great.  She demonstrated wit and I have to admit that despite what I said in my first blog entry, which was really horrible BTW, I take it all back.  Ann is turning out to be the butterfly and her makeover had her getting even longer hair.

 

                That’s all until next week.  If you want to know more I urge you to check out the official website.      

 

Westerfield © 2010