It’s good to be reminded of how much fakery we consume, even under something labeled ‘reality television.’
The three-episode Netflix documentary series, “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model” shows us the reality here is contestants are commodities, ratings are everything.
Much of the focus is on supermodel Tyra Banks. We can’t deny her accomplishments in the field. She was the first African American woman to land on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, and she was an original Victoria Secret model. She opened doors for a lot of other women. “America’s Next Top Model” which aired from 2003 to 2018 was her brainchild.
The show was a hit, it got so big, it became a franchise globally for a brief moment. We actually got two cycles of “Philippines’ Next Top Model.” But behind all that was just so much madness. It’s not surprising but the extent of it is. In the middle of Cycle 2, the models went to Milan and had a day out with some guys. The producers arranged for the guys to come over to girls’ apartment, there was wine and a hot tub? What could go wrong?
Shandi Sullivan was everyone’s darling. A sweet girl from Missouri, it looked like she was on the cusp of making it in the modeling industry. Except that night she had blacked out and in the presence of production, she was sexually assaulted. Production’s flimsy excuse? “We treated this as a documentary, so we didn’t stop it.”
The normally talkative and loud Tyra was suddenly quiet and could not answer questions about her properly.
Keenyah Hill was being touched and hit on by a male talent, when she said she was uncomfortable, she was dismissed. Tyra says a lot about speaking up, but when Keenyah did, she was silenced.
There are other contradictions — Tyra says she’s open to other body types and looks but in the end, ANTM insists on the models being stick thin. Exception being one plus size model who won Cycle 10.
One contestant, Dani, had a gap between her teeth. She did not want to have any dental work done but they told her — it was either the gap goes or she does. Another contestant, Joanie, had to get extensive dental surgery to fix her snaggletooth — and she could not call her mother or lawyer and endured a procedure that lasted “all night.” In a future cycle, another contestant was told to keep that gap in her teeth because it was reminiscent of Lauren Hutton.
They had some pretty odd photo shoots as well — one where they were made to dress up as homeless people, two (why?) where they did race swapping, and another where they had to pose as crime victims. Contestant Dionne was made to pose as dead from a gunshot, even while stating in her resume her mother was paralyzed after being shot.
It just goes to show, there are minds who are great at marketing but falter at being human. Saying “that’s just the way it is” in an industry or profession doesn’t make it OK.
As influencers and content abound, there’s truly a lack of authenticity. At a recent press screening the audience in the cinema was asked to cheer and plug the movie. It hadn’t even started! How was I to know if I would like it or not? So no, I didn’t cheer or join the chorus.
If anything, this show made me want to unplug, remove the high heeled shoes, get off the treadmill and go barefoot in the sand.
(P.S. There’s a modest Go Fund Me for Shandi and her cats. She dreams of having an animal sanctuary one day.)