Progress? Fat Chance

As a reality television addict, I've fairly loyally followed all ten seasons cycles (it's the feminine way of measuring increments of television series) of America's Next Top Model. I didn't get into the show when it first premiered, finding the concept too insipid to support. However, a couple of cycles later, a friend insisted I give it a try since its insipidness is the precise reason it is enjoyable. I conceded; ey was right; I caught up on the cycles I missed. Like any reality program, the show is far more about embarrassing its contestants than pursuing the supposed premise of the show. Tyra Banks desperately wants to be America's Forever Top Model, and this show is eir way of maintaining the spotlight and some sort of cultural relevance (albeit entirely campy). The show will never find a model to rival Tyra's former success, nor is it trying to.

If you watch ANTM for the modeling, you're not in on the joke. The modeling is an excuse to indulge in superficiality and the humiliation of the dimwitted. Throughout college, various friends and I watched the show to laugh, criticize, and play the ANTM drinking game which involves sipping each time the word "fierce" is used. Evidently, being fierce -- whatever that means -- is far more important in the world of modeling than being attractive. One friend who used to watch, Raumene, gave up on the show after realizing it contradicted with eir values too much. I respected that, but couldn't bring myself to do the same, since it was so much fun.

Although I more or less enjoy the program, I do also wish it would go away. While I can trust myself to examine with a critical eye, there's a whole wealth of people, particularly teenagers, I reckon, developing body image issues and taking its superficial ideals to heart. Between the blatant hypocrisy, cruelty, and product placement, the modeling industry is certainly nothing to forego your education for.

On Wednesday evening, the cycle finale awarded its first "plus-size" winner. In the modeling world, plus-size does not mean "fat," mind you, but rather "not toothpick thin." In the past, the show has featured plus-size models, who though beautiful, never stood a legitimate chance. Understand, this wasn't Tyra's fault; instead, the fashion profession just wasn't "ready." Apparently, it wasn't ready until the tabloids called Tyra out on eir cellulite. Now, Tyra is pro-fat and about embracing all body types, even though there are early audio snippets that glaringly contradict this sentiment.

The winner, Whitney, is indeed pretty and all, but it felt extremely contrived. Though the program generally goes out of its way to edit its champion in a positive light, Whitney is consistently portrayed as a snotty, condescending bitch. Furthermore, eir modeling skills were questioned each and every episode, being placed on the brink of elimination four times, a record for an eventual winner. If the show wanted to convince the audience that it had finally discovered a model who could break the barriers (I swear that's not a fat joke), it could have done a much better job of it.

Momentarily, I was fooled. Even though the runner-up was exceedingly deserving, I bought into how progressive it was to select a curvy winner instead. Finally, ANTM had dropped its superficiality!

That high concluded quickly. It's still America's Next Top Model, the most shallow, ridiculous program on television.
(Note: she's not even fat. Sure she's not quite a twig, but most American women would kill to look like Whitney.) Validating the selection as forward-thinking would be giving the show credit it doesn't merit. It's hardly worthwhile to commend a media entity for pushing its self-imposed restricted limitations when everything else all about it is backwards.

Congratulations, ANTM, even when you're trying to be progressive, you're still as irrelevant as ever.