Does death become America's Next Top Model?

Folks are still talking about last week's episode of America's Next Top Model and not because Felicia was sent home;the chatter is due to the photo shoot in which the theme was murder victims. The whole point of the shoot was to showcase the lesson on posing the gals recieved from Benny Ninja(hard to write that name down without giggling). A number of women's groups are up in arms,claiming that the show is "glamorizing violence against women" and comparing these pics to those ads for Captivity that were taken down from billboards recently.




I'll be honest here-when I have watched ANTM,it's been mainly for laughs. Some of these reality shows are too much with the diva drama,plus Tyra and Miss J are sure to do,say or wear something wacky enough that'll get them a key spot on E!'s The Soup. However,I must admit that alot of these photo shoot themes are pretty interesting(when they're not blatant ads for Cover Girl products)and dare I say it,border on the artistic. This cycle so far,the girls have posed as political statements,high school cliches and candy. Yep,candy and they were nude for those pictures(naughty bits covered up by CGI)-wonder where the feminist uproar was then?

"Hey,you just complained about those Capitivity ads,Lady T! Isn't this the same thing?" No,not at all. The death photos were not meant to advertise a movie,clothes or any item up for sale. They were intended as an exercise in posing. Don't believe me? See what the judges had to say:

Part I


Part II



See? Everyone involved considered this as just another day's work. If you watched the whole episode,you saw the girls getting into their makeup and deciding on how to pose(like Brittany did,which enhanced her picture). Also,the girls and the judges were joking around about which model did in which girl. It wasn't about promoting violence,despite the grisly subject matter. It was about being creative and challenging,which the Capitivity ads are not.




I can understand how this would upset some people and the theme's a bit more extreme than I expected from ANTM but lighten up there,ladies,please! Tyra may be alot of things but I don't think for one minute that she and her crew meant this as anything but a unique way to get these girls to really show what they can do as models.

I'm sure the producers don't mind the extra PR this controversy has been stirring up but frankly,I'd like to see groups like NOW do some real talking in the media about how there are places in the world where women and young girls are forced into arranged marriages and can be beaten and killed on a whim,without anyone in authority saying "boo" about it. How there are women punished for doing things that we take for granted in this country,like wearing nail polish or exposing their hair. Or even wondering why Anna Nicole Smith's death and the custody battle over her infant daughter seems to have been orchastrated by a very manipulative man. Oh,but wait,that would be something a real feminist would do. My bad.

Anyway,Tyra,I'm on your side here. Just tell those haters what you told the bozos ripping on your bathing suit: