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Top Model: The Girl Who Impresses Pedro
By Edie Rowland
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Have you ever seen Napoleon Dynamite? I just saw it for the first time a couple of months ago. I had heard mixed reviews about it, but I expected it to be funny. It wasn’t. I thought it was kind of dumb. But I did like John Heder in The Benchwarmers. Now that’s a funny movie!
Anyway, Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite was on this episode giving the girls pointers on character acting. Tips on acting? Really? Well, if Jennifer Lopez can coach the Idol kids on singing, I guess anything’s possible. Anybody want to learn to snow-ski? I went once and spent most of the time on my butt, but I guess I’m qualified to teach it.
It seems as if Renee’s epiphany last week has brought about some changes. Jaslene says things are different and Jael tells her that she’s smiling more and it makes others smile. I think Renee got rid of a huge load last week and it’s made a big difference. I’m happy to see that. And most of the girls seem willing to give her a chance - except Dionne, but she’ll change her mind later.
During the acting routines with Pedro, most of the girls did pretty well. Natasha got a little tickled and started laughing and Dionne mysteriously started speaking with a Jamaican accent. It reminded me of the episode of Friends where Joey was supposed to speak with a Southern accent and it came out Jamaican. (“The South will rise again, mon!”) Honestly, probably the only reason why I thought of that is because I just saw that episode of Friends a couple of days ago. But I digress…
Whitney and Renee probably did the best on the acting challenge and Renee won. I was kind of disappointed, because I think Whitney needed the challenge more than Renee. She’s been in the bottom two for two weeks in a row already. Renee got to pick a friend and she picked Dionne - mainly because she knew Dionne was the one girl in the house who didn’t trust her just yet. I’ve got to give Renee some props - that was a great move. The two girls won t-shirts. T-shirts? Wow, isn’t that just cheesarific! But not to fear, the real prize was that their family members were flown in to see them - Renee’s husband and son and Dionne’s mom and daughter. It was cool to see Renee with her family. She seems to be a good mom, but I don’t know if I could leave my infant child to be on a competition. But I guess she’s trying to make a good life for him.
I felt bad for Natasha because she had to watch Renee and Dionne with their children and couldn’t see her daughter. Ironically, her daughter’s name is Angelina. Didn’t I mention a few weeks ago that Natasha looks a lot like Angelina Jolie? I wonder if that’s why she gave her daughter that name.
The photo shoot was really interesting. When I found out what it was (reinacting infamous moments from past Top Model cycles) and that they were bringing back past models, I thought it would be such a fun shoot. It was just alright, I guess. Brittany rocked in her shoot with the twins, Amanda and Michelle, from cycle 7, but nobody else blew me away. I was glad they brought back Joanie from Cycle 6 - she should have won!!
When panel came, I was really worried about Whitney, but I really thought Jael would go home. I like her and she takes great pictures, but she is not a model. Unfortunately, Whitney was the one eliminated. I’m tired of all these super skinny girls winning this thing! Nothing against them, but I think most American women want to see normal sized women in magazines. That’s why I love the ads for Dove beauty products. They show women of all ages, races and sizes. It’s refreshing. One of these days, maybe I’ll share some thoughts with you from a college paper I wrote about media and its effect on weight perception. Riveting stuff. Did you know that in the 1950’s the typical Miss America was 5’2” and weighed 140 lbs.? It’s true!
Well, next week, the girls learn how to do interviews and make their trek to another country. I’ve heard it’s Australia. Until then, gday!
COMMENTS
well i agree with you regarding a “normal sized” (aka “plus sized”) model should win the competition. women today face the fear of being fat when in actuality they are normal sized. however, a 5’2” woman at 140 pounds is a bit chunky even by my standards. according to my doctor, a 5’ woman is at a healthy weight at 100-110 ish lbs. 2 extra inches shouldn’t warrant 30-40 pounds and seems a bit plump. i am (of course) not trying to dispute you, however, i would like to know where the information came from, as i could use it in the future.
thanks for all the top model updates and keep them coming!!!
jes
Thanks for the commments, jes! You know, I may have to dig back into my old college papers to find the source of that information. I’ll check the web, too, and see if I can dig it up.
You’re right - it does sound a bit overweight, but honestly, I’ve been about that same size before in my life and even though I wanted to lose some weight at that time, I didn’t really consider myself all that big or unhealthy. I guess a lot of it has to do with the way one carries their weight as well.
I’ll try to get that information for you, jes. Thanks again!
Back again! Jes, I could not find that old college paper with the information in it. So I’m going to just put a disclaimer on that Miss America statement and say that it is information that I THINK I remember including in that paper, but it’s been several years ago, so I could be a little (or even way) off. That’s what I get for making a statement without sourcing. Somebody called me on it! :o)
I think we will all agree that the standard of beauty has changed a lot over the course of the years since the 1950s and before. Marilyn Monroe had curves!
thanks for looking though :) and the standard has DEFINITELY changed, not for the better…but eventually it’ll come around full circle and you’ll hear more and more people yelling, “eat a veggie burger for pete’s sake!!!”