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January 30, 2006
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lyse Sewell appeared on America's Next Top Model in 2003 and instantly sparked controversy by being smart and outspoken. A pre-med student whose self-description on the show's website read "Motivated, pretentious and intelligent (a nerdy scholar)," she inspired a love-hate relationship with viewers that played out on message boards and blogs. When sent to Paris, she negotiated the city in fluent French while the other models stuttered in broken English. She chided several of the other girls for being dumb, and was seen by many as the bitch of the show. In the elimination round, when Tyra Banks asked her if she still thought modeling was purely about physical beauty, Sewell calmly elucidated the effects of internal chemicals and hormones on facial structure. She was swiftly whisked away. Today, Sewell lives in Hong Kong and continues to work as a model. She also has a genius Livejournal blog where she posts photographs of Chinese Christmas ornaments and airplane bathrooms. — Will Doig
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Do you think you were selected by the network to be the anti-model?
My audition tape was recorded by a local Albuquerque crew in a clothing store. A Top Model production assistant later told me my entire audition interview was rendered inaudible by two old ladies chatting as they browsed through racks of clothes near the microphone. So it was looks alone that got me through the first stage of casting; perhaps the producers saw my short haircut and brought me to the semifinals as a potential token lesbian.
Do you believe modeling as an occupation requires intelligence?
I'm sure you've heard people say, "It's only the smart girls who become really successful in this industry." This is true, but only because they understand the interpersonal machinations necessary to get jobs in a competitive industry. But even the smartest and most charming blonde won't get her foot in the door of a casting where the client is looking for a brunette; overall, I'd say neither intelligence nor beauty is an automatic prerequisite for success.
In your experience, are many models surprisingly intelligent?
I can objectively say that the average model is uneducated. How can she not be when she left Lithuania at the age of thirteen to start modeling in Asia and has been traveling, doing jobs and supporting her parents and sister ever since? On the other hand, she's now eighteen years old and has lived in eleven countries, is fluent in English and Portuguese, and can berate a taxi driver in Arabic, apply for a Japanese consular visa and wire Hong Kong dollars to a bank account in Vilnius with one hand while she stirs a bowl of bibimbap with the other.
Why do we equate beauty with a lack of intelligence? Is that a societal thing? Is it different in Hong Kong?
Around the world, the majority of movies in theaters and video stores were made in Hollywood. A great number of programs on TV are dubbed or subtitled American imports as well. I think this has a larger impact on world culture than it's given credit for; as Americans tend to emulate the pretty people, so do Hong Kongers and Senegalese and Chileans. I think the "bimbo" is a Western creation and an unfortunate export that is propagated by the American media. Another example is the 50 Cent-style "baller."
What's Hong Kong like?
Hong Kong was a British colony until 1997; the fashion scene here is heavily influenced by the West. I work pretty frequently in the Chinese mainland, where new fashion designers, photographers and clothing lines are appearing all the time as the country's economy moves toward a free market. Western music and fashion rags are increasingly available in China and are a strong influence.
Are women treated differently there?
In China, I once shot an ad campaign for a line of ultraconservative office clothes, clearly intended for middle-aged women. The client had a copy of British Vogue and had bookmarked a crotchy Versace ad, which she instructed me to emulate. I was wearing wide-leg elastic-waist pants, holding the unbuttoned lapels of a matching flower-embroidered blazer down over my bare breasts, thrusting my pelvis at the photographer and creating the unsettling overall effect of a pole-dancing grandmother while the client stood by shrieking, "Yes! Beautiful!"
Do you think the network edited America's Next Top Model to make you seem bitchier?
The difference between ANTM and my daily life is that on ANTM, there was a producer sitting down with me every four days to give me a detailed and lengthy interview about my personal opinions. Top Model contestants were also required to soliloquize in the "confessional booth" for a minimum of five minutes each day. I had no problem with providing my opinions, which were often incredibly bitchy and negative, but in a non-reality-show environment, I never encounter the same kind of prodding to voice my private thoughts.
So the short answer is no, when I watched ANTM, I didn't feel that my on-screen persona had been manipulated into appearing to say something that I didn't feel was true. I guess I am bitchy. But fortunately for the people who know me personally, I rarely volunteer that side of myself. Incidentally, I'm not proud of my totally awesome "honesty" on the show; I'm embarrassed by it. Nowadays I think that a positive attitude is a moral responsibility and I strive for it. n°
©2006 Will Doig and Nerve.com.
Commentarium (11 Comments)
The whole premise of this article is wrong. Elyse was never "whisked" away, she just didn't WIN. She got darned close though, she was one of the last two. Elyse, the anti-model??? She had the most model-esque figure of anyone there! Anti-model??? If you watched the show, Elyse *was* a bitch. I still loved her and thought she was beautiful, but a bitch? Absolutely. She knew it and was kind of revelling in it. Honestly it's part of what made the show so much fun to watch. But anyone who'd say that Adrienne with her frequent, flippant use of the word CUNT, was chosen because she is a "good girl," of the modelling industry... well, you definitely didn't watch the show! I watched ANTM expecting to hate it, hate the industry, hate the show, and hate the women. I wound up loving it. Elyse's beautiful, intelligent, bitchiness is only part of the reason why. Had she been *whisked* away, she'd have left in the first episode, not the last.
what's the url of the blog???
Her blog is here: http://elysesewell.livejournal.com/
I'm annoyed that the article says she posts photographs of "christmas ornaments and airplane bathrooms." Her photographs are really awesome -- a total Cindy Sherman-esque attitude toward herself as a subject and modelling in general. I can't wait till someone figures out how to package that and put a book together (stateside).
Nice article-I love that girl and think her pictures are stunning. Her own photography and repartee on her blog is entertaining as well. Wouldn't it be nice if she could come to the USA and make a living?
An interesting interview with Elyse - a.k.a. "model citizen". Still, I can't help but think that poor ol' Elyse is working awfully hard to compensate for the career she's chosen to pursue. (Can you say, "methinks she doth protest too much?") If she's so gosh darned brilliant and better than every poor 14-year-old Estonian model working in modelling - perhaps she's in the wrong line of work? Until she starts doing a job that actually contributes something meaningful to the world, maybe she should ease up on the smug self-righteousness.
Speaking of smug self-righteousness....
Yes, sure, I like it, Interesting and educational. Please continue to write more interesting post in your website.
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