I guess I'm thankful for all the folks who, when they hear I've got a thing for watching ANTM, they sound a bit shocked. I wouldn't think I'd be the kind of person to watch it, either. But for goodness' sake, as Dan commented to something I wrote earlier, if I'm home when there's a marathon series of re-runs on a weekend afternoon, I'll happily let it play while I'm doing whatever else, and take breaks to (re)watch it here and there.
But good lord, why? Thusly I have my morning write and see what happens as I put words down.
Firstly, I'll point out the parts I'll readily mute or walk away from: the great moments of truth that Tyra pronounces, and the idiotic junior high school level of drama among the girls. But hey, it's Tyra's show, and from what I've read she had to fight hard to get it off the ground and now it's become sweepingly popular all over the place, so if she wants to stand up and be all-knowing, then you go, girl. And for the drama, meh. Maybe I'll endure all these elements on the first view, but they certainly aren't worth repeating.
That means there's a good 50% - maybe as much as 70%? - of the show that I usually tune out. Works out really well, then, as something to have playing as I clean, because going elsewhere in the house for half an hour means I'm not missing anything.
So what's the hook, then?
I think part of it, is in learning about the technique involved in doing a fancy, modelley photo shoot. What's involved in translating an abstract concept into an attractive or interesting visual form? For all I usually see is the end result, and it's kinda cool to see what it takes to get there. That's in keeping with other things I like to watch, like "How It's Made," and "Dirty Jobs," "Project Runway" - I like getting seeing what happens behind finished products.
I >would< say, to agree with another woman who I know watches the show whose intelligence I respect, to learn more about what to keep in mind when in front of the camera to make a pretty picture. And she has very good reasons for finding that information useful. And I enjoy this aspect as well - about how the camera perceives big and small (such as, even if you don't have a big feet, if that's the closest thing to the lens, you're gonna wind up looking as though your feet are bigger than your head). About the use of light and angles. It's kinda cool.
But unlike the friend of whom I speak above, I'm not really much - I dunno, either able or inclined - to put that information to work for me. It's always a surprise when a picture of me gets taken, where I don't look like I'm being shocked. Maybe if I practiced and took a bazillion pictures of myself I'd finally realize THAT'S what I need to do in order to not give myself a double chin, or THIS is how to look at the camera so I'm not all bug-eyed. But I don't have the patience. So, I'm not watching it in order for me to learn how to get the camera to love me.
I think another big part of the interest in watching it, is that for sure I was never the pretty girl when I was these kids' age, and it's interesting to see a sort of day-in-the-life of what it is like to be that girl. I know the scenarios are to some extent scripted or directed. But it manages to capture my voyeuristic curiosity all the same.
I think another draw, is seeing for however pretty these young women are, that it's not straightforward to get a good picture. It was earlier in the series, I believe, that they'd show more of how things looked before and after touch-ups and photoshop (this probably goes to getting an insight to behind-the-scenes techniques mentioned before). But also, it is interesting to see that sometimes for the shoots, for the TV camera the ladies look plain freaky with the hair and makeup, but for the photo, it works. Which goes to suggest the (maybe?) interesting point, that for whatever it is that counts for pretty or beauty, it's not always something that is copied straight up from the World, to film or pixels, to the eye.
And finally, I guess perhaps because there is something to the show that is so polar opposite to me, I am like a magnet attracted. In the main, for this show, success revolves around what one wears, and one's hair, and spending countless hours in front of a mirror. But it's curious - there are a plethora of other shows similarly diametrically opposed to my outlook, such as "Real Housewives" and "Bad Girls' Club" to name a few. I've watched an episode or two of these, just to see what they're about. I'm positively repelled. Maybe its because, at least in my imagination, I conceive that the product that often is used for judging for ANTM, is some kind of attempt to reach the level of art, that puts it above them in my mind.
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