On Whitney and America's Next Top Model
Pardon me for being a week late on this topic, but since I was out of the country, I missed the ANTM finale. I finally got a chance to watch it (I knew who the winner was already, it being nearly unavoidable on the Internet), and if there were any doubt as to the artifice of the show, I think the finale proved it. I am not opposed to the idea of a plus-size* model winning; I have a feeling, however, that Whitney won only because Tyra wanted to make a point (which I agree with--models are too thin nowadays, and it's important to recognize that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes). I think Tyra kind of missed the boat though--Toccara, who is arguably one of the most famous and successful contestants in the history of the show, probably would've made a more exemplary choice back in the day, but, as they say, hindsight is 20/20. Whitney was consistently in the bottom two, whereas runner-up Anya was repeatedly called first and won a bunch of challenges. Yes, Anya's Cover Girl photo was odd (you can't tell me they didn't pick that photo on purpose), and her runway walk was severely limited by the, um, two skintight gowns she wore, and there's always something to be said for editing, but, seriously, you can't tell me that Whitney is a better model than Anya. Which, on second thought, kind of makes sense--rarely does the best girl actually win. So I'm taking comfort in the fact that Anya will most likely be signed by another agency and have a successful career (hopefully the same goes for Lauren and Katarzyna too). In the meantime, at least Whitney's "My Life as a Cover Girl" segments should be more exciting than Saleisha, who delivered her lines with the enthusiasm of a dead fish. Who knows, maybe Whitney will be successful. Thoughts?

*Yes, Whitney is not a true plus size; I'd put her at about a 12. And, contrary to the conspiracy theories you read about the fashion industry, true plus size models actually are about a size 14 or 16.

3 comments

Anonymous said...

I had actually been excited to watch the Finale because, living in NYC and seeing models often, I was happy to see that Tyra actually had girls in the final 3 who could be models.

Let's face it, none of her other winners have become "Top Models" but I thought Anya or Fatima actually had a shot. The minute Fatima was kicked off I turned the channel. It was no longer an interesting competition.

Plus size or not, her posing is not high fashion. - Thanks

Anonymous said...

There have been lots of rumors that Whitney was told to gain weight to be on the show.

Anonymous said...

If it were really fixed they could have fixed the judging earlier to not make it look like it were fixed! You know, Tyra decides who is in the bottom two every week, so why not just not put her in the bottom two?