America’s Most Smartest Model
As I was searching through the channel guide looking for a reality T.V. show to comment on, “America’s Most Smartest Model” caught my eye. Most smartest? I’m sure we all see the irony in this catchy title. Now if you were fortunate enough to miss the eleven clock showing, sadly a repeat of an earlier airing let me fill you in.
The show opens with a mixture of successful models both men and women getting acquainted. Two of the house members are having a political yet unintelligent debate consisting of slamming on the table and many curse words — mainly a brilliant and dramatic opener for a reality T.V show. This results in a fight between the two members involved, Andre and Daniel. Not to take credibility away from these brilliant models, but they are clearly putting on a show. Their expressions, words, and mannerisms are all clearly over dramatic in honor of the camera before them. Now I must admit if I weren’t fulfilling an assignment I imagine I’d be watching something else at the moment. Nonetheless I honestly found myself transfixed on the sheer comedic value in the show.
Ding ding ding! Let the battle of the bulge commence! The idea of this ingenious competition analogousness to that of Jeopardy is that contestants must answer the questions correct or face the catastrophic consequence of eating foods with high calorie content. The host ironically is Ben Stein, a brilliant man that reads off the nutritional values in each food to make the process that much more painful. On the flip side, when the contestants get the question right, they have the privilege of dining a piece of celery. One of the models admirably refuses to eat the cake and ultimately loses the competition. Another contestant puts his hands over his face as though he is in agony. All of these reactions, along with many others are clearly not genuine. It is just another reminder that when people are going to be watched by millions of people, they are going to act differently and truly put on a performance.