Are you offended by this photo? What about this one? Or this one?
Those pictures, taken from Wednesday night’s edition of America’s Next Top Model (during which the contestants posed as murder victims), have at least one feminist group up in arms. "Violence against women is such a reality in our society that I certainly don’t need the entertainment industry making light of it and making entertainment out of it," Sonia Ossorio, president of the New York City chapter of the National Organization for Women, told the New York Daily News on Friday.
Now, I consider myself a feminist (having five sisters will have that effect on a boy), and while I get where Ossorio is coming from, I can’t say I share her outrage. For starters, the shoot was centered on model-on-model violence, which pretty much pushes the concept into absurd territory. Secondly, if this were America’s Next Top Actress, would we be offended if the hopefuls had to compete for the role of a slasher-movie victim (to say nothing of Frightened Inmate #2)? And, perhaps most important, anything that gets the contestants away from high-concept setups like Week 1’s "social issues" shoot is a good thing. Seriously, watching adult women struggle to grasp the meaning of terms like "anti-fur" and "pro-choice" — now that’s worth getting outraged about.
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I think the difference between the “top actress” idea and this is that they are trying to make the violence sexy and glamorous. It is almost festishizing it. I am pretty hard to offend, but these are pretty tasteless.
Lighten up America! It’s TV for eff’s sake! Now, if Tyra strangled them all with her heinous weaves (seriously, they have been budget this cycle) for not being fierce enough, we may have an issue on our hands.
those pictures are soooo The Eyes Of Laura Mars. Hot!
Really? Are you kidding? I can think of about 10,000 other things happening AT THIS VERY MOMENT that are more important.
I agree with Michael.
Had the shoot been about violence towards women at the hands of a man, then sure. I can see how some people would be offended. But I think, in a sense, this shoot was supposed to have a bit of dry humor behind it given the “model on model” theme. It’s like petty catfights to the extreme.
I am a huge Top Model fan and I do think they went too far with this one.
Maybe they went too far by creating such an idiotic show to begin with…
Yes, I find them offensive. The origin of the violence is less important to me – it’s “dead woman as beautiful” that makes me nauseous.
I personally thought they went too far–they were hard to even look at. My least favorite shoot of ANTM by far.
I get upset about violence toward women quite a bit, but that anger is usually directed at all the dramas with helpless women in peril. Was the shoot morbid? Yes. It wasn’t a good photo shoot in that the gore distracted from the clothes, and that’s what the models are supposed to be showing. However, this is not something to get offended over.
I have to agree that they were pretty tasteless. I consider myself a feminist but I am pretty hard to offend and I found these offensive. I don’t think that any of the photos taken so far this season or last season are “high fashion”. I have never seen any pictures like this in Vogue or Bazaar. And to RWC-if there are 10,000 more important things going on right now why are you posting on this board?
Maybe Dolce and Gabanna would like to use these photos for a future ad campaign?
Yeah, the shoot was pretty tasteless. But, look at the first picture Slezak links up to…the girl has no body! That’s pretty creepy.
What do you mean? I don’t find the theme “dead women as beautiful” very offensive at all.
Because, in some childish way, it’s so much fun to see you people get all riled up at my sophomoric comments…fatty fatty!
Fashionistas with a pedigree will know that these photos were a total rip-off of Helmut Newton. Watch The Eyes of Laura Mars and you’ll know what I mean. Murder photo shoots are old hat and I wouldn’t expect anything less from the tired, unoriginal mind of “Mr.” Jay.
Now Twiggy’s outfit and Tyra’s headband were pretty offensive!
Finally this outrage is getting attention. But then this weak commentary! Michael or (any of the idiots who have commented here), have you ever helped a friend who was beat up by her supposed boyfriend and then is hiding out in fear of her life? Well I have. Maybe the reason you take this so lightly is because you’ve never had that happen to anybody you know (I hope it’s not because you’re a man Michael). It’s not about who killed them – you don’t see that in these images. It’s the final result. Murder should never be made to look beautiful.
p.s. I’m not a “feminist”
Oh, I forgot to say that sadly I did see these kinds of photos in a high fashion magazine a couple of years ago (although I don’t think it was clear if the models were specifically murdered or just dead). I was disgusted by that too but figured not that many people would see them. Top Model sadly reaches a far wider audience.
For your information, betsy, I have had to help many women in this situation – from my Mother to many friends. And yet here I am making jokes…why?
Because you are talking about MODELS. This is the group of people the least inclined to do any good for anyone in humanity like…EVER!!!
The jokes here are not about women getting abused or murdered. The jokes here – subtle and not-so-subtle – are intended to make fun of such a phoney industry taking themselves so seriously.
Lighten up, betsy. Get over yourself, jack*ss!
Why are people so down on the term Feminism? It just means that you believe that the sexes should be treated equally. It’s ironic that you can ask someone whether they believe that women should be treated as equals and they’ll say yes, but if you ask them if they’re Feminists they’ll vehemently deny it.
Who is “for Betsy”? I have no problem making fun of models when they deserve it. I just think it is deplorable for anyone to defend this “death is beautiful” trend in fashion, because it endorses how women are routinely treated as objects rather than human beings in our world and more importantly that death is “no big thing.” Look at how many women & children are getting killed in Iraq for God’s sake! Not to mention all the US women soldiers getting raped.
Lighten up? I think we all need to get a little deeper sometimes and see the connections.
I am responsible for probably 95 percent of the junior high-esque comments on this post, betsy. Including the ever-tasteless OJ Simpson comment.
I agree with your stance on violence against women. I just really think there is no deeper meaning in fashion.
I’m guessing that the majority of people that have snatched little girls off of the street, hit their wives, or date raped some poor girl at the frat party weren’t thumbing through the fashion ads prior to committing those heinous acts.
to “to betsy” — No but the perpetrators might have been watching the hardcore porn that the fashion magazines and fashion shows are apparently now trying to emulate as glamorous similar to the “heroin-sheik” movement in fashion a few years back. You don’t think that has an affect on young women? As the victims themselves (who ARE likely to be thumbing through those magazines) downplay the violence against them as wrong and so are less likely to leave before it gets deadly.
And I believe it just makes all of us outrage a little less the more we see this stuff passed off as entertainment and don’t say anything.
Women aren’t the only ones treated as objects in todays world. Many women objectify men just as much, if not more, as men objectify women. It is the nature of humanity.
Slezak–I think you’re missing the point. Slasher pics typically feature hot young babes (both male and female) running around for the audience to enjoy looking at while the characters are still ALIVE. However, the audience isn’t expected to look at the tortured, murdered corpses of these hot young babes and think, “Wow, she looks even sexier now that she’s bruised, cut up, raped, and covered in her own blood. I wonder where I can get that dress?” Dead bodies on CSI and L&O aren’t intended to turn on the audience; these photos on ANTM are. They are intended to be sexy, cutting edge, and fashionable. They are intended to make young male viewers think nasty thoughts about these young female models. These photos are sick, and can leave a dangerous impression on young viewers, who make up most of CW’s audience and are being taught to believe that beautiful young women in their underwear look even sexier when they are brutally murdered.
No, no. These are all fair points.
The hardcore porn comment you made is spot on. It does seem like alot of pop culture is changing/adjusting based on mainstream acceptance of hardcore porn. 20 years ago, Traci Lords was a complete pariah, now you have idiots naming their children Jenna. Don’t they realize how that’s going to turn out?
I’ve been kinda down on the fashion industry my whole life in general – and heroin chic in particular back in the grunge era.
I guess I’ve always been one of those people that feel like parents need to take greater accountability for their children, what they pick up on, and how they process it.
I mean, some people are just wired wrong – it’s going to happen once in awhile. But how many girls are strippers as a direct result of crappy parenting?
And, hey, I saw “The Shining” at age 10. It didn’t make me want to hack anyone up – just made me not want to meet Jack Nicholson.
Can’t say I was disturbed with the shoot. ANTM’s done worse.
It’s not that I don’t agree with Ms. Ossario, but she should choose better examples than an ANTM shoot…like I don’t know…half the current serialized dramas on TV, especially Criminal Minds and Law and Order: SVU. Hell, let’s move away from media in general.
More importantly, what about the Amish shooting in Colorado in 2006? Few sources actually emphasize the mysogynistic actions of the killers – they separated the victims by sex and murdered/tortured/molested the girlsings – and focused more on the fact that it was in an Amish based community.
Now please tell me why that gets less attention than some cheeseball ANTM shoot.
Amen to t3hdow’s comments re: the Amish school killings. Priorities, anyone?
Reminds me of these photos, which are actually pretty cool.
http://www.themorningnews.org/archives/galleries/drop_dead_gorgeous/01ddg.php
To t3hdow:
I think the point that some of us are trying to make is that passing off disgusting photo shoots as sexy entertainment is what LEADS to disgusting incidents like the Amish shootings.