We are angry at this season of America’s Next Top Model for being predictable throughout the entire season. We almost always knew who was going home. And last night, we knew who was going to win as well. The show makes it easy by what it shows in the girls’ interview clips.
Chelsey’s clips: Showed her talking herself up, talking about her own confidence, and talking about how much she wanted to win and how she should win. At one point, her voiceover said that she couldn’t imagine NOT winning.
Ann’s clips: Showed her confident, not crying (for once), and speaking with humility and a few “aw shucks, it was nice just to get this far" comments.
We could just see, via these clips, that the show was trying to make us root for Ann so that we would be happy when she did win. They have done the same thing in years past. Never, ever say something nice about yourself or talk about why you should win on this show, because they will take that sound bit out of the context of what was probably a reasonable speech (unless you’re Jade or Melrose), and air it if you are going to lose. Why? Because Americans hate arrogance in others (oh, the irony), and can’t stand to see someone praise themselves. Most people prefer false humility (this blogger finds that to be disgusting).
This whole thing made the winner predictable. No way would they show unflattering clips of the winner. No way. So we knew it was going to be Ann.
But the show actually got us onboard with its decision. We lamented that unconfident, pathetic Ann was going to win when Chelsey had more experience and wanted it more. But the judges made a great point: Ann is unique and has the potential to be a star, whereas the perfectly reliable Chelsey would end up another face in the crowd. That doesn’t scream “Top Model,” it just screams “Bookable Model.” We thought Ann would win so that Tyra could celebrate the different people, the underdogs, and patronize Ann to give her self-esteem. But the judges gave a reason why Ann was the best bet to being successful and famous. We felt really bad for Chelsey though.
Oh well. Ann was a worthy winner, photos-wise. We just wish the season had been more memorable and surprising. The only shockers of this season were the prizes and how much an awkward, funny-looking girl who reminded us of a female Lurch can be improved by makeup.
Season grade: B-
Also, can someone tell us why this is our most popular post of all time??? Weird.
re: Dex and Lumen, finally watched it
ReplyDeleteI don't care for it BUT i really like what it means for Dexter's character development
i no expert, but I don't think victims of sexual abuse just hop back into sex like that...
-hatts
We thought that was weird too (that she was ready for sex so soon). The only explanation is that perhaps her first kill healed her enough to get into bed again, feeling powerful enough to do so.
ReplyDeleteI agree about the predictability of the season, the false humility, and the manufacturing of Ann as an American underdog hero, but I was still happy with the result. Awkward Annie picks up were Asberger's Heather left off! I also think Ann's got an offbeat and slightly sardonic sense of humor that we only saw in pieces, and I usually root for people that I think are secretly making fun of themselves.
ReplyDeleteAlso, for the last 5 or so episodes, I couldn't shake the desire to just punch Chelsey in the face. I still want to.
We just wish Ann had more confidence. The sense of humor might come out more if she did. But who knows? Maybe she will have it now.
ReplyDelete