F06 :: Feminist Film Studies

Last night I watched an episode of America’s Next Top Model. (As a few people have also written about this show, I will forgo an explanation of the premise.) What I find different about this show compared to other Reality TV shows is that the girls are competing for a job, so the whole show is sort of like a weird prolonged job interview. In this way, I do not think that the show is quite as humiliating as others--Fear Factor for example, in which people do and eat outrageous things for money. In the article on RTV in our course packet by Ross & Moorti, they discuss how participation in RTV programs is a form of humiliation. While not to the extent of other shows, humiliation is still seen in America’s Next Top Model. The whole show is basically revolved around the bodies of women, and for some, this focus could be embarrassing, but for the girls who would apply for this show, they take pleasure in being looked at. The humiliation really comes in at the end of each episode when they stand before a panel of “experts� and are judged based on their bodies, faces, and photographs. At the mercy of these experts, the girls will take all the harsh comments that the panel dishes out and are expected to be grateful for the opinions of such esteemed individuals. It is sad to see women being so blatantly judged based on their bodies, and I hate to think of the message this show is sending young girls who watch it.
One thing that stuck out for me in watching this show was the fact that two of the contestants are just 18 years old. They are twins (one of which was kicked off), and it was just said in passing that they are only 18. (I am not sure of the ages of any other participants) But this seemed sad to me because these are really just young girls who are thrown into this demanding, critical situation. It is worrisome that their bodies are such a focus at this young of an age, because they might not always be so thin yet they put so much value on their appearance.
One other thing that I have thought about in regard to this assignment: Many people will say “Reality� TV, putting quotes around “reality� as if it is not actually real. While I have done this too and definitely understand how so many “reality� shows are far from the reality that most people live, I think there is something to be thought about in the fact that this truly is reality for the contestants of these shows. Even though the shows are made for entertainment and so much editing takes places that what the viewer sees is a manipulated product, the participants in these shows are in fact living these experiences and this is their own reality, this is their life…just something I have thought about.