Recently I had the misfortune to watch a show called 'What Not To Wear'. It was a combination of bad timing and my friend's poor taste.
If you are not familiar with the concept of this show two women, Trinny and Suzzane, accept applications for a beautifying makeover. It starts with five (?) candidates that have been nominated by friends and family and are interviewed and paraded before the two judges. Only two can go through. We are treated to an early episode cliff-hanger!
The judges will decide by orchestrating a police style line up where they ask each candidate to demostrate their ugliness by announcing: 'candidate #5 please step forward'. They then discuss quietly how irrevocable the damage is while they shelter behind a one-way mirror. Several harrowing minutes later they ensure the beyond-ugly ones that there is little hope by sending them home.
The next passage of drama has the two judges spending time in the ugly womens shoes...at home, at their work, and interviewing their partner/work/drinking mates on what they think the ugly woman should do to improve herself. This apparently is to get a good feel for what the ugly woman needs to wear. A judge will sit at the ugly woman's workdesk and like some fraudulant medium announces that the ugly woman will be feeling this and that and can project power and still be comfortable in beige moleskin slacks and a pink mohair sweater (or something)
The next punishment comes in the form of a mirrored room (thats 360deg girls) where the ugly woman is 'revealed' to the nation. The world. Tout le monde. Crying started about here for each of the ugly women. They get lectured, embellished with a credit card (fools!!!), and a camera man. Their inevitably flawed attempt at buying the 'right clothes' results in cellpone calls, reprimands, and more crying. The blubbering ugly women are told at this stage that they are being 'broken down like this to build you up again'. Excuse me
Long story short, they are schooled on anti-ugliness, jazzed up and reformed to point where they can feel happy about themselves. They are fired back into their habitat where the boys approve, and the girls overjoyed that their previously ugly friend has been saved and resurrected from ugly-dom. All this is narrated by the evil ones hidden in a remote location claiming that the victims are more attractive now than their peers/sisters/pet, and they are purportedly happy.
Im not happy. I find this to be the most distasteful programming on state TV (at least on primetime). Im not happy that my very good friend puts stock in this show/concept. She has taken upon herself to 'make-over' another one of her friends and that makes me worried. say all you want about men projecting their ideals of what a woman should look like etc, but this show is downright irresponsible. Dont get me started on 'Extreme Makeover', 'The Swan', or '10 Years Younger' either.
I tell ya Im this > < far away from planting 12 kegs full of gunpowder underneath TVNZ headquarters like some Guy I know. Who is with me?!?!?!
disclaimer: I dont consider the women ugly. It is said in jest. I also have no plans to bomb TVNZ...they pay my greater family's wages...sort of. Teacher, mother, secret lover.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by skelstar
.
Bookmarks