The ‘America’s Next Top Model’ Documentary Proves the Series Was Always Doomed to Hurt Us

I have always suffered from poor eating habits. What am I obsessed with at the age of 13? america’s next top model Coupled with the rampant diet and tabloid culture of the 2000s, my body image was definitely on the rocks. With a frontal lobe as stiff as overnight oats, I, like many people my age, fell prey to the ideals presented in documentaries. My friends and I entered middle school and replaced juice boxes and multiplication tables with diet soda and calorie counting. At the time, we didn’t understand how the media we consumed, not our diet, was causing our suffering.

but, reality check, Banks, who has been interviewed numerous times about the negative impact of her show, is unflinching, laughing into the camera lens and saying all sorts of proverbs and clichés without saying, “I’m sorry for messing up young people, especially young women.” (For what it’s worth, Banks says: past interviews Although she “agreed” with the criticism of “wrong choices”, this was also premised on the “times were different” instigation. )

But the crimes against the contestants, and by extension, against society, extend beyond distorted conversations about beauty. Highlight reel of hellish moments america’s next top model The photo shoots included the now infamous race-swap photo shoot, a photo shoot in which models posed as unhoused people, and a chilling photo shoot in which models (one of whom was the daughter of a gun violence victim) posed as a murder victim. The models Banks boldly competed to empower became her dolls to transform and role-play with. It takes away the contestants’ bodily autonomy, and if they can’t protest against Bob, they won’t have a leg to stand on when the series takes an unexpectedly dark turn.

As many fans vividly remember, it filmed and aired second-cycle contestant Shandi Sullivan’s inebriated encounter with a man in Milan, which she described in the documentary as a sexual assault. Asked why the production didn’t intervene to protect Sullivan, who was clearly inebriated, Banks said, “It’s a little difficult to talk about production, because that’s not my area,” and blamed Mok and other members of the team. (Author’s note: Banks also held the title of executive producer on this show; the documentary doesn’t exactly ask why production wasn’t her “territory” in this case.)

In one instance, she apologized on camera rather than in person to four contestants, Keenya Hill, who faced unwanted sexual advances from a male model on the set of a photo shoot. These events happened in front of the cameras and in front of the entire production staff, but when Hill stopped filming to share her distress, she was fired and later told that she needed more control. In hindsight, Banks’ reaction is: “None of us knew…but she needed more.” [protection]”Boo-boo, I’m really disappointed,” Banks said of Hill’s experience.