Comments on: In Defense of Top Model http://mootpoint.wrenkin.net/2007/03/23/in-defense-of-top-model/ On pop culture and feelings Sat, 16 Oct 2010 02:16:33 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: brenda http://mootpoint.wrenkin.net/2007/03/23/in-defense-of-top-model/comment-page-1/#comment-6268 brenda Sat, 24 Mar 2007 03:22:55 +0000 http://mootpoint.wrenkin.net/2007/03/23/in-defense-of-top-model/#comment-6268 <p>Rach: That's a good way of looking at it. I can see if you didn't watch the show and just saw the link and read the judge's comments, it would be hella creepy and if an actual fashion house used images like that to sell clothes, I would totally join someone's letter-writing campaign. But like Alex says, that's not what the show does, and I more objected to the way the WIMN's voices writer in particular seemed to characterize ANTM as pure unmitigated fashion evil that is hypnotizing the world, when I think, because of its extreme campiness (ie. "For your challenge you had to pose through lasers") and its emphasis on the construction of these (I totally agree, destructive, negative images) that it's much more a mixed bag. My feeling with ANTM is, it's both.</p> Rach: That’s a good way of looking at it. I can see if you didn’t watch the show and just saw the link and read the judge’s comments, it would be hella creepy and if an actual fashion house used images like that to sell clothes, I would totally join someone’s letter-writing campaign. But like Alex says, that’s not what the show does, and I more objected to the way the WIMN’s voices writer in particular seemed to characterize ANTM as pure unmitigated fashion evil that is hypnotizing the world, when I think, because of its extreme campiness (ie. “For your challenge you had to pose through lasers”) and its emphasis on the construction of these (I totally agree, destructive, negative images) that it’s much more a mixed bag. My feeling with ANTM is, it’s both.

]]> By: Wrenkin http://mootpoint.wrenkin.net/2007/03/23/in-defense-of-top-model/comment-page-1/#comment-6265 Wrenkin Sat, 24 Mar 2007 02:53:36 +0000 http://mootpoint.wrenkin.net/2007/03/23/in-defense-of-top-model/#comment-6265 <p>But the point is that this show never lets the photos stand on their own. Tyra and the judges might claim otherwise, but it's impossible to examine the photos without remembering the half hour of bizarre and rambling TV that documented their production. It's deflationary.</p> But the point is that this show never lets the photos stand on their own. Tyra and the judges might claim otherwise, but it’s impossible to examine the photos without remembering the half hour of bizarre and rambling TV that documented their production. It’s deflationary.

]]> By: Rach http://mootpoint.wrenkin.net/2007/03/23/in-defense-of-top-model/comment-page-1/#comment-6243 Rach Fri, 23 Mar 2007 11:41:52 +0000 http://mootpoint.wrenkin.net/2007/03/23/in-defense-of-top-model/#comment-6243 <p>Sara and I were discussing this last night, and like the <i>Sopranos</i> shot, I can see both sides. After the show/discussion, I went back to Feministe, and read <a href="http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2007/03/22/just-when-you-think-fashion-couldnt-get-any-more-misogynist/#comment-94258" rel="nofollow">comment 34</a>, which sums it up for me:</p> <p><i>"Okay, I just looked at the photos via the link Jill provided, which I didn’t do initially since I had already seen this episode of the show. (Shame on me for not clicking the link.) On the show, they display the photos for about a second (literally) during the evaluations at the end of the show, interspersed with other stuff from the evaluations. But looking at the photos all in one series and being able to focus on the entire photograph for an extended amount of time (usually, they’ll show the whole photograph for a fraction of a second, then they’ll zoom in on their faces for another fraction of a second), I definitely had a different feeling than I did when watching the show. I’m not backtracking; the context made a difference in the impression I got. On the show, with the exclusion of Jael’s situation, as you’re watching them get made up and chatting or whatever behind the scenes, it had a kind of playful or humorous vibe to it. It was more like they were dressing up as zombies or something for Halloween. But just seeing the women contorted into those positions with vacant looks on their faces, the vibe was disturbing..." </i></p> <p>The photos, on their own, didn't reflect any kind of camp or mischief and the general Hallowe'eny playful vibe the girls were enjoying. ANTM didn't mean to be offensive, but on their own, with the backdrop of a culture that actually does violently kill its women, and a fashion culture that isn't in the habit of projecting positive images, the photos are a little disturbing: "C'mon, babe - make it look good when I fucking kill you."</p> <p>Again, on the fence. I'm a professional fence sitter.</p> Sara and I were discussing this last night, and like the Sopranos shot, I can see both sides. After the show/discussion, I went back to Feministe, and read comment 34, which sums it up for me:

“Okay, I just looked at the photos via the link Jill provided, which I didn’t do initially since I had already seen this episode of the show. (Shame on me for not clicking the link.) On the show, they display the photos for about a second (literally) during the evaluations at the end of the show, interspersed with other stuff from the evaluations. But looking at the photos all in one series and being able to focus on the entire photograph for an extended amount of time (usually, they’ll show the whole photograph for a fraction of a second, then they’ll zoom in on their faces for another fraction of a second), I definitely had a different feeling than I did when watching the show. I’m not backtracking; the context made a difference in the impression I got. On the show, with the exclusion of Jael’s situation, as you’re watching them get made up and chatting or whatever behind the scenes, it had a kind of playful or humorous vibe to it. It was more like they were dressing up as zombies or something for Halloween. But just seeing the women contorted into those positions with vacant looks on their faces, the vibe was disturbing…”

The photos, on their own, didn’t reflect any kind of camp or mischief and the general Hallowe’eny playful vibe the girls were enjoying. ANTM didn’t mean to be offensive, but on their own, with the backdrop of a culture that actually does violently kill its women, and a fashion culture that isn’t in the habit of projecting positive images, the photos are a little disturbing: “C’mon, babe – make it look good when I fucking kill you.”

Again, on the fence. I’m a professional fence sitter.

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