A few days ago, I started binge-watching America’s Next Top Model and oh my the feels it brought back. The show aired on UPN in 2003 and consisted of about 10-15 aspiring models competing to win America’s Next Top Model, along with other prizes: contracts with modeling agencies, or beauty brands, magazine shoots, and more. The show had 24 cycles (not seasons) and ended in January 2018.
I vividly remember watching America’s Next Top Model starting at cycle 3, which was the cycle Toccara won. I remember that season gaining the most traction because, at the time, Toccara was considered a plus-size model. What made it so shocking was the simple fact that, in the everyday world, Toccara would not have been considered plus-size, just busty or top-heavy. I can say that each cycle consisted of a few girls who didn’t quite fit the typical model standard. Some were plus-size or socially awkward, and others were the opposite of the blonde-haired, blue-eyed standard. Although the show was to discover America’s next top model, Tyra also broke barriers as to what the typical model should look like. That’s what I loved the most about the show.
Watching the first few episodes of the cycle made my inner child smile. America’s Next Top Model was one of my favorite shows growing up. I LOVED seeing “regular” girls hand-picked from small towns by Tyra and her training them to become models. I always saw Tyra as a mother figure to the young women. She always embodied a nurturing spirit when engaging with the girls, especially in the earlier seasons.
What made America’s Next Top Model so monumental to me was the simple fact that it was THE Tyra Banks, scouting out girls from all over the world to train them to become well-established models. Some of the girls were familiar with modeling, but for the most part, a lot of the girls were unfamiliar with modeling. You had a lot of students, fresh out of high school and fresh into college. You had some dancers, some heavily devoted Christians, literally your everyday girls. It was refreshing to see young girls who looked like your everyday girl transform into high-end models during their shoots. I thought the whole concept of the show was brilliant.
As with every cycle, you always had a few girls who took the opportunity for granted, whether they didn’t want to undergo the hair transformation, refused to do certain shoots, went toe-to-toe with the judges, or were just stuck in their ways, it was always something controversial. I had no idea all of this started the very FIRST cycle.
Watching the earlier seasons made me understand Tyra a little more. I started to sympathize with her and the way she interacted with the girls during the later season. Tyra came off as welcoming and more personable during the first season, and I think girls took that for granted. I was shocked at how the girls were responding to criticism from her, or how they responded to certain things she said. So, I get why in the later seasons she was stricter with the girls. I completely understood.
I’m only on the second cycle, and I promise it gets better every episode. Maybe I’ll make this a thing: me reacting to the America’s Next Top Model seasons… maybe.
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