TELEVISION

The Dual Nature of Model Isis: Both Role Model And Pawn

By Benjamin Bradshaw B. G

LAAD president Neil Giuliano praises America's Next Top Model for the inclusion of a transgendered contestant for the upcoming 11th season. This is a first for the show that has only previously exploited natural women for television ratings.

The CW announced that Tyra Banks's model search (read: girls that are remotely pretty and some who are kind of ugly that haven't been on another reality competition yet) will include Isis as a twist. Previous twists have been less controversial, including a blind girl, one with Asperger's syndrome, and a few "plus sizers."

I welcome Isis after 10 seasons of a tired formula that only changes when the judging panel is downgraded. The drama plays out:

~ The impressionable models have petty fights in a house that is literally filled to the brim with misty photos of Tyra Banks.

~ One girl refuses to get naked or covered with zoo animals, or both, for which she is eliminated.

~ Tyra has bad hair at the elimination ceremony.

~ After such a rewarding experience the models cry, Tyra cries, and they fade into oblivion (which includes occasional appearances on The Tyra Banks Show).

The inclusion of Isis has earned the show praise from Giuliano who told US Weekly that he "applaud[s] Tyra Banks and The CW for making this historic visibility of transgender people possible," but I'm not so easily pleased. Giuliano's theory holds true in the right surroundings, but it isn't for any competition that had Janice Dickinson making judgment calls. A reality TV show won't offer the transgendered community historical visibility, but it will offer a lump sum of money at the expense of dignity.

Alexis Arquette, David Arquette's sister, was among the first transgendered contestants to appear on Reality TV (with shenanigans to shame Chris Crocker). Her screaming, umbrella-heaving stint on the Surreal Life didn't enrich America with "visibility" of the transgendered population, but it did shamelessly bump her career.

The wacky camera-hogging was at the expense of the whole LGTB community and as with most poignant shows like the Surreal Life, she embarrassed herself into temporary "novelty stardom." In Isis's case, a modeling career could be respectfully obtained with less scripted drama outside of the ridiculous ANTM house with an actual modeling agency (and she won't have to get naked and covered with zoo animals).

As with most of reality TV, the variable isn't the prize, but the instant fame and negative attention. It just so happens Isis is lucky enough to be the newest -- and freshest -- press-seeking pawn for the ANTM franchise.

Benjamin Bradshaw B. is a fashion merchandising student who blogs at CrabbyGoLightly.com on culture, ads, and corporate monsters. You can reach him at Myspace.com/taterzz.com.