I happen to find America’s Next Top Model (with Tyra Banks) pretty interesting. It is always fun to watch personalities change as people become more comfortable with those they are living with and the environment they are forced to live in. Peoples true personality traits emerge, fights happen, and people cry, its all pretty humorous. The odd thing though is that I have never really seen as much of a personality change on any other reality show, and I am not sure why that is. Perhaps it is because it is all women and that creates some weird dynamic I am unaware of. No matter the reason, it makes for some damned good TV.There are, however, two things I absolutely hate about the show. The first is that there seems to be an unspoken attitude that to be beautiful you need to be rail thin. The heaviest winning model was a mere 138 lbs (I can bench press that, thank you) and that model was 5 ft 11. The lightest was a staggering 110 lbs at a height at 5 ft 8. Yes, there have been some “plus” size models, plus being a size 8 which is not even that large in my opinion.
The second annoyance is everything is that is about Tyra. From the shows name “Americas Next Top Model with Tyra Banks, to the ritual opening of the TYRA MAIL, to pictures of Tyra everywhere. When there is a voting, Tyra stands up on her platform, like some sort of god, while the contestants come before her to be judged. When a contestant is telling a story, it somehow always comes back to Tyra. Contestant “When I was 12 my father died in a car wreck!” Tyra “One time I walked into a car and stubbed my toe. I had a show the next day, and I reached down inside myself and found the strength to carry on.” Sometimes when I watch the show, all I hear in my head is “Tyra? Tyra Tyra Tyra, Tyra” “Tyra, Tyra Tyra. TYRA!”
Now, don’t get me wrong, Tyra is not unattractive, hell, she borders on pretty good looking. She is also a decent speaker, and it seems like she is a nice person; but I don’t watch the show to see her or to hear about her, I watch it for the contestants. Yes, I realize it’s her show, but in my opinion, they need to tone it down a little with the Tyra angle. Sure, you can keep the title, but why not make it something like T-Mail (e-mail spoof); it would have been a lot cooler. I understand through her telling of stories she is trying to inspire these girls, but it does not come off that way at all, it comes off sounding like she needs the attention.
