Rewatching #antm #americasnexttopmodel from the beginning and OH BOY is this a shit show

I grew up watching the show, starting with Cycle 10. I would go back and watch the previous cycles when they re-aired on Oxygen marathons, but I've NEVER seen some of the earlier ones, including Cycle 1 and 2 which I'm obviously starting with.

I'd heard that the production was horrible on Cycle 1, but holy hell, this is a new level of horrible. Elyse, who made it to Top 3, blogged about it on her LiveJournal, which is still up in ALL OF ITS GLORY. She shits on the show as much as to be expected--but goes an extra step

I do love how she breaks down in her journal entries the many many facets of production that were a mess. Tyra would mess up her lines and they would dub in her voiceover. The producers' manipulation of storylines was very obvious to contestants and to viewers.

Some of those storylines include Christians vs. Atheists and non-Christians (but also -- they only EVER showed the Christian girls reading the bible. like....EVERY NIGHT. every waking MOMENT of the day, these girls were reading the Bible. They took this storyline VERY FAR)

And the other storyline was Elyse having an eating disorder, which was really problematic. The girls' eating habits get brought up a LOT, but it's also unfair of the show to hype on them about this when they are also simultaneously telling multiple girls to lose weight

Speaking of, no one, I repeat, NO ONE reigned in Janice Dickinson. She was truly OUT OF CONTROL. I don't even mean being politically correct. I mean that she was being outright abusive to some contestants. She represents everything that is wrong with the fashion industry.

Kimora Lee Simmons was a gem in the first season as a judge. She had the experience and knowledge, and she also saw the ability for the industry to be more flexible than Janice thought it could, while not being as in-the-clouds about it as Tyra.

Literally, Janice does not believe that short or plus size girls can EVER make it in fashion, so every week, she says to vote those girls off based on that alone. How can you have a judge who can't see past someone's height or weight provide a realistic critique?

Cycle 1 was weight with Robin being "plus size," and by plus size, I mean maybe a size 3-8? I honest to god had no idea she was a "plus size model" until they said so. Cycle 2 is Jenascia being 5'7. I repeat: 5'7. They also bully Heather off for having big boobs.

Why cast short(er), "plus size," or curvy girls if you don't have all your judges on board with their participation? These contestants are truly set up for failure.

I really started writing this thread, though, cause I got to the Cycle Two Ep 4 when they make Xiomara, a Latina, transform into Grace Jones by DOING BLACKFACE ON HER. Tyra even comforts Xiomara about her discomfort by saying it'll be cool for her to portray such an icon.

Xiomara literally says, "Grace Jones is 20,000 shades darker than me. I don't know how this is going to work." This is....wow.