Tuesday, January 6, 2009

TV REVIEW - TRUE BEAUTY


Tyra Banks' and Ashton Kutcher's new show, True Beauty, is the perfect synthesis of their 2 styles - model meets prankster. The contestants believe they are in a beauty contest, but they are really being tested on both inner and outer beauty. I found it interesting that in order to be a contestant, you had to be a stereotypical beauty with no consideration of the person's spirit, but it is TV.

The intros of each contestant were painful to watch. It was scary to watch people so horribly self absorbed focus 100% of their attention on their own physical beauty. It is sad that people could be so superficial and shallow and then be so vocal & cocky about it. These people obviously have a lot to learn.

There is one person who seems to be the clear front runner so far. CJ, an African American coffee barista, had a moment where he shared his past battles with weight and how those battles have shaped his self image. He says his new found beauty is just a costume covering the fat kid that he really is. I did not expect to hear this on this show so early on in the season.

I hope the show continues to have these moments of self realization, honesty and depth. The show was actually very entertaining and had some truly hilarious moments. After a while though, watching people cover their insecurities with bravado, ugliness and ignorance will not be enough - we already have enough of that on Charm School, The Bad Girls Club, any show with Paris Hilton, etc. I hope the message of inner beauty resonates with the audience and the participants. It sounds so cliche', but being ugly on the inside can make the most physically beautiful person look like an ogre on the outside. There is not enough MAC or Prada in the world that can beautify an ugly heart.

My hat always goes off to Ms. Banks who is unabashedly doing her thing, changing the world one TV show at a time. GET IT GIRL!!!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Like most reality shows, this show seemed really fake/phony to me.