Britain’s Missing Top Model

I enjoy watching the cable television channel BBC America and have seen the commercials advertising a show called "Britain's Missing Top Model" but had never taken the time to watch it until last night. I have to admit, I thought the show was pretty good.

The BBC America website describes the show as:
"Eight beautiful disabled models, seven tough assignments, and one incredible prize; is the modeling world ready for them? Eight young women compete to break down barriers and overcome prejudices in the exclusive modeling industry. One will win her dream of a photo shoot in Marie Claire magazine. The women will participate in challenges that range from modeling for popular British retailers to mastering the catwalk. Britain’s Missing Top Model sets out to challenge the fashion industry's boundaries and redefine society's concept of the ideal woman."

I have had the opportunity to walk on both sides of the fence as far as experiencing life without and now with a disability. I spent the first 19 years of my life as an "able-bodied person", I doubt that term is deemed "politically correct" today so if you feel the need, write a comment and complain :-), I promise to post it. For the past 31 years of my life I have used a wheelchair, so I feel like I have some experience either way.

I plan on continuing to watch the show until the season ends and I will post my views after each episode. Please check it out and send in your comments. Let me know what you think of the show and how it relates to the perception of people with disabilities.

This evening's show had the women interacting with male models who did not have a disability. They had to do an "intimacy" exercise at the start of the episode, that split them into couples, then the couple had to look at each other and gradually end up touching and embracing.

The next task for the women was to do an audition for a short TV commercial, again, with a male model without a disability. The woman had to "act" as if the man was her "lover" and portray that the ice cream she was eating was so good that she wouldn't even share it with someone she loves. It was very interesting to watch the woman who is deaf try to convince the casting person that they should allow her to use signing in the commercial. It ended up that they allowed her to do two different auditions, one with signing and the other with her talking. Her ability to show emotion and expression was incredible when she used signing!

The final task was an intimate photo shoot with a male model. The woman who is a paraplegic ended up with the best scores from the judges, and she was beautiful, BUT, I was disappointed that they had her on a sofa and not in her chair.

Unfortunately, the woman who is deaf ended up being eliminated from the show this week. I am looking forward to next weeks episode.

The show comes on Tuesday evenings. To see the air times in your area, visit BBC America's website.

I look forward to your comments on this subject.

Thanks for reading!

Sharon