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That all seems well and fine if you watch an episode here and there, but if you follow the show closely some disturbing trends start to emerge. What is upsetting about the show is the way it portrays race, class and sexuality. Most of the negative portrayals come from the casting of the series. As with all reality shows there is a definite tendency to cast people who will either cry or irrationally lash out, and that’s to be expected. The main problem arises from the show’s goal, or more specifically the goal of Tyra Banks, host and creator of the show, of making the series into a Cinderella story, except with fashion instead of Prince Charming.

There’s nothing wrong with a rags to riches story, but there is something wrong with forcing people into clichéd roles and stereotyping in order to do it. If you look back on the casting of all the seasons, some of the archetype “characters” emerge. The white girls tend to be cast from small towns in rural areas and are generally less affluent. A disproportionate amount of the African American girls are from low income urban areas; one season somehow had two girls from Compton. The result of this casting is not the story of a down-on-her-luck girl who gets her break and becomes a model. Instead the result fills up the show’s message board with nothing but debates about which girls are “too ghetto” or “too white trash” to make it as a model.

In many cases, it’s fairly easy to see their point. Two seasons ago a girl almost made it on the show, but got kicked out of the audition process for slapping a girl who poured beer in her weave. The producers called her back the next season and she got more screen time than anybody else before getting kicked off. What type of message does this send to the viewers? I appreciate the drive to give women of color a chance to get ahead in the modeling industry, but not if the show is only going to portray them negatively.
Not every woman from a low income background is undereducated and has anger management problems. On this show they have contestants who need to be told what cappuccino is. How does one watch TV enough to apply for a reality show but not know what cappuccino is?

The problems do not only apply to race and class. There have been three girls on the show who were open lesbians. Most recently was Kim, a dead ringer for Charlize Theron who truly should have won the competition. However, she was told repeatedly that she wasn’t feminine enough. In one of the more memorable moments, she was standing before the judges and said, “Figuring out my sexuality and gender identity is hard” and in response she was simply told to act more girly. Even more upsetting is the fact that they never actually told her what to do differently. While it’s hard to get somebody to act more or less feminine, you can show her how to position her body in a photo to give that effect.

The winner was Nicole, who is wholesome and sweet and very much not down on her luck. While one of the Cinderellas made it to the final three, she never had a chance of being chosen. That’s because in the past few years, “Top Model” has landed some big contracts, and it’s fairly obvious that those corporations have a say in which girls get picked. They would never say it outright, but every year whoever takes the best picture in the CoverGirl photo shoot wins, since that photo actually runs in magazines. CoverGirl gives the biggest prize and is the biggest sponsor for the series. While watching it here and there is OK, over time the show starts to leave a bad taste in your mouth. I think it has too much guilt to be a guilty pleasure.