Comments on: Shame on me.

By: Lindsay Beyerstein

Lindsay Beyerstein — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 02:57:50 +0000

ANTM is a horrible show. I get why so many women dream of becoming models. I can imagine lots of compelling reality show concepts based on aspiring models.

But I find Tyra and her show absolutely vile. ANTM is the most exploitative show on TV. It’s gross because the drama is based entirely on the sadistic pleasure of watching beautiful women get rejected. I hate watching Tyra congratulate herself for abusing these girls.

To top it all off, it’s less of a reality show and more of a rigged game show. We all know that reality TV isn’t real and that’s largely beside the point because we tune in for the improvised drama. But game shows aren’t fun to watch unless you think they’re basically fair.

But who wins and loses is way less about the quality of their photos and more about the demands of the script.

What’s doubly exploitative is that winning almost never translates into a modeling career. Tyra’s record of picking winners is dismal. In fact if a contestant gets too famous on ANTM, she may thereby doom her career as a model because casting agents don’t want a model that the public will recognize as a reality TV star.

By: clairedammit

clairedammit — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 00:53:24 +0000

Oh good, I’m glad I’m not the only one who doesn’t like True Blood. I read one of the books and liked it, watched a few episodes, and while I don’t have a philosophical problem with the show, I just have zero desire to watch it.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 18:38:32 +0000

Haha, shadowboxer, I caught the humor. Besides, even if it had had a nasty edge, I probably would have deserved it.

By: Shadow Boxer

Shadow Boxer — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 17:11:32 +0000

wow, that reads a lot nastier than it sounded in my head. It was a joke! Most people don’t understand the workload involved until they get here (and welcome to grad school), so it doesn’t bother me.

OK, NOW I’m getting back to that book.

By: Shadow Boxer

Shadow Boxer — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 17:08:44 +0000

eh…i’d be gleefully enjoying your karmic retribution, but i have to go back to reading on the US Civil War.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 13:22:01 +0000

As I mentioned in the article, if you read the whole thing, I was not seeking to analyse the books, which I have not read, only their incarnation on television.

By: baraqiel

baraqiel — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 13:16:10 +0000

:-/ While I see what you’re saying about True Blood, I feel obliged to defend it. I’ve been reading the books since middle school and loooove them. The fairies, in the books, are not presented as “goodness and light” — rather they’re supposed to be beautiful and mysterious, but dangerous and powerful. Sookie at one point is actually captured and tortured by a couple of sadistic fairies, and there’s a minor “war” that involves several of her friends also getting killed by fairies. I don’t know if they’re going to put that in the show (signs point to no?) but I can say that, although there are other points in the books where Charlaine Harris invokes “purity” imagery regarding Sookie, the fairies definitely aren’t one of them.