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RSS'Make Me a Supermodel' Many missteps
There are twelve hopefuls left on Make Me A Supermodel. Twelve of them and my amazing ire makes a baker's dozen.
The show starts with yet another reality cliche: Tyson waking the house by banging a pot and yelling at them like a drill sergeant. From there, they load up on a military truck and head out to the USS New Jersey battleship for a photoshoot about "illicit erotic encounters". I'm sure the military is thrilled. The models are told that sex sells and they have to be able to deliver while not going into a porn-vibe. Oh, and they will be grouped in threes. Because menage a trois is not at all porn-like.
The photoshoot to capture all this illicit eroticism is about the least sexy thing I have seen on TV in weeks. It's awkward, passionless and forced. In fact, it made me not want to have sex by proxy. How could it be any other way when you have people like Branden involved, who said he was determined to stick his tongue down someone's throat? Which is also not the least bit sexy.
Out of all the unsexiness, however, a winner must be chosen and Jonathan is that winner. I'm sure it has nothing to do with his great physique and their need to line up models for a go see with an underwear company. Jonathan picks Gabe to go with him, but Jonathan is so hot he makes the casting director's palms sweat, so he easily books the gig. Meanwhile, Gabe makes off with the underwear they ask him to model, leaving his dirty drawers behind. Also, not sexy.
And then the show takes a horrible left turn. Cory arrives to measure the models and tells Salome that with a 36" bustline, she's not hirable and they'll have to hire someone to "help her" with that. I want to send her a box of chocolate bars, but the damage is done as she says she needs to lose "a lot of weight". From where, sweetheart? Your self-esteem? Thanks for encouraging eating disorders, Bravo!
The catwalk challenge is all about cross dressing. Well, that's what they say, but the guys look more like they are in neo-kilts, with the suit and vest tops, while the girls look no more groundbreaking than classic Yves Saint Laurent. It's yawn inducing. But we get another horrible left turn at the judging table. Perou looks at the photo of Mountaha having her breast groped by Gabriel and her thigh bitten by Sandhurst and tells her because she wasn't strong enough to be in control, they got a shot reminiscent of Jodi Foster in The Accused. Wow. Just wow. Someone slap him for me, please.
The end game gives us Kerryn - who has shown impressive improvements - as our winner, while CJ and her crappy attitude get sent packing. It seems clear that they are only keeping Gabriel around due to his budding showmance with Amanda. It also seems clear that said showmance turns sour next week. Ah, young love.
Thanks to the glaring missteps in the show tonight, I would feel remiss as a human being if I didn't at least touch upon some aspects of what was going on. So, without getting too preachy, here's some statistics:
- It is estimated that 8 million Americans have an eating disorder -- seven million women and one million men.
- The mortality rate associated with anorexia nervosa is 12 times higher than the death rate of ALL causes of death for females 15 -- 24 years old.
- 20% of people suffering from anorexia will prematurely die from complications related to their eating disorder, including suicide and heart problems.
- 17.7 million American women have been victims of attempted or completed rape.
- Every 2 minutes, someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted.
- Only 2% of rapists are convicted and imprisoned.
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Oh, I am SO with you, Jessica! That measuring bit and the comments by the judges made me very angry.
It's a good thing I didn't have anything in my mouth when CJ said "I don't like being looked at;" I would have done a major spit-take! Why on Earth would she want to be a "Super Model?" Wait ... she isn't!
Wow, you (the writer) are taking a tv show about becoming a model WAY too seriously. SERIOUSLY -- statistics about rape?? SERIOUSLY?? And while eating disorders are sadly an unfortunate affliction for many, the fact is these contestants desire to become a supermodel. And guess what -- supermodels are skinny! Have been for decades! Obviously you never want someone to develop an eating disorder (and Cory stresses that everything be done in a healthy manner), but I actually appreciate this show being very honest and REAL about what will be expected of the models (you know, if they actually want to be models - which is what they're there for).
While I also enjoy watching Top Model, I consider Make Me a Supermodel to be much more legit for actually making and preparing models. I mean, honestly, all of Tyra's saccharin pep talks and inner beauty criteria is fine and dandy for a TV SHOW -- but never again will those models face a client who treats them the way Tyra does. They'll work with people that make Perou and Cory look like bunny rabbits. If you seriously wanted to become a model (or any profession), wouldn't you want the best real-case preparation? You could even think of it in terms of internships -- getting real world experience of your desired profession. In my opinion, if you want to be coddled, see Tyra. If you want to be a model, see the MMAS folks.
Oh, and since we're apparently throwing out unfair statistics, I'll add some as well:
During the past 20 years there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the US.
Research has shown that as weight increases to reach the levels referred to as "overweight" and "obesity,"* the risks for the following conditions also increases:1
Coronary heart disease
Type 2 diabetes
Cancers (endometrial, breast, colon)
Hypertension
Dyslipidemia
Stroke
Liver & Gallbladder disease
Sleep apnea & respiratory problems
Osteoarthritis
Gynecological problems (abnormal menses, infertility)
Obesity is a serious health concern for children and adolescents, too. Obese children and adolescents are at risk for health problems during their youth and as adults. For example, during their youth, obese children and adolescents are more likely to have risk factors ***ociated with cardiovascular disease (such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and Type 2 diabetes) than are other children and adolescents.
Adolescents that are obese are more likely to become obese as adults.
80% of children who were overweight at aged 10--15 years were obese adults at age 25 years.
- for children aged 2--5 years, prevalence increased from 5.0% to 12.4%
- for those aged 6--11 years, prevalence increased from 6.5% to 17.0%
- for those aged 12--19 years, prevalence increased from 5.0% to 17.6%.
Wow! I love you whoever posted the statistics about obesity. You made my day by sticking it to these idiots who spout out unwittingly about eating disorders. Thank you again.
I was bummed about the weight issue with Salome but I saw it coming. She has flab that isn't acceptable in the modeling world. I don't know why anyone would bring up obesity since she clearly is not obese.It's just unfortunate that we can't find healthy normal sized bodies sexy. That's why many women develop bad relationships with food and gain so much weight.
Oh, Salome. I think you're beautiful.
Karma Sux for Perou the photographer judge... http://www.perou.co.uk/diary/?date=2009-04-08