The current rage of reality TV has amused me--especially the talent shows where thousands of people show up that think they have a talent, but do not.
Then, when a judge tells them to try another line of work, the wannabes get very offended. It seems silly, doesn't it? Yet, here we are with a web site full of wannabes who do not have a snowball's chance in hell of ever getting a day's work in the modelling business. Of course we have some professionals who pop in now and then, but for the most part we seem to have a bunch of whiny little boys and girls who have wandered in from MySpace or FaceBook, post a few self-taken wide-angle shots and expect the world to fall at their feet.
Trouble is, some of you actually do fawn all over these little darlings. It really has driven me over the edge when I see some of the adults here telling underage girls, who have posted terrible photos (that still manage to demonstrate how unphotogenic they are), that they have potential and their shots are sooo good. It is no longer amusing to me to see how many of you want to be "friends" in the flirt zone with girls who are obviously underage.
God knows, I'm no prude. And I understand that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But I also believe that there are standards of beauty and they haven't changed much in the last several thousand years. Yes, weight is a variable. What turned on Great Grandpa in the 1890s leaves my grandson cold. Reubens saw beauty much fuller than the Greek sculptors did.
With rare exception, noses have to be in proportion to a face, as do chins and cheeks. The same for the whole body. Youth is attractive, because when we are young our skin is supple and most things fall in the range of normal. Many artists have depicted the beauty of children and teenagers--Mary Cassat and Edgar Degas in the impressionist style of painting--David Hamilton in his studies of teenage girls--Sally mann's photos of her own children and their friends.
We are dealing here with the commercial aspects of a certain profession. We have to be aware of the standards that governments set in exploiting youth and of the needs of the client to sell a product. It isn't a requirement that models be smart, but it is better for them if they are because they are in a business with real sharks circling. They need to be educated enough to understand contracts, they need to be able to communicate with the people who will give them jobs.
Yet, many of the wannabe models here can't write a grammatically correct sentence, can't understand simple concepts and don't have the patience or ability to read and follow the rules of the web site. I guess what I want to say is, that I have reached a point where I'm not going to be nice anymore. If I find someone starting a topic asking "what do you think of my pictures" or "do you think I can be a model" and the thread is full of encouragement even though the shots are bad and the model is clearly unsuitable. I'm going to speak up, even if the little darling can't understand what I'm saying or why.
