Girl Model
After viewing the film “Girl Model” my perspective of
child modeling has been shifted. When most of us think of child models we
picture adorable little kids, in cute clothing, and a bright smile. However
“Girl Model” appears to be the complete opposite, and shows us how children,
specifically little girls are exploited. I was very disturbed and uncomfortable
with the movie for several different reasons. For starters, I think that it is a
horrible movie with a contradicting plot, no real conclusion, and leaves you
wanting more in a bad way. Ashley, who was the model recruiter in the movie is
an ex child model in Japan and she described her experience as traumatic,
depressing, and miserable; however, she continues to recruit innocent kids to
endure that same experience instead of speaking against it. Not only does this
movie show the ambiguities in the modeling industry, but it also entails who is
allowed to become a child model.
During the casting call in Russia the line-up consisted
of tall, thin, and white models. There were no people of color and the
recruiters specified what they were looking for. The woman recruiter from Japan
stated that, “Japan only wants white women.” Japanese are people of color, the
fact that they don’t want people who resemble them in their ads shows how the
world’s perception of beauty is one dimensional. The unfortunate recipient of
bestowing this beauty was a young girl by the name of Natalie, she was sent to
Japan from Siberia to pursue a career in modeling, and her experience was a
terrible one. Her contract guaranteed promises she did not receive, she was treated
poorly, and was immobile. There were no white male models in the film, and I
thought that was interesting because I am sure Japan uses male models, however
being that white men are in the hierarchy are they not being exploited. The
film did not go into depth of the world of child modeling, and barely touched
the surface because it seemed as if it was more of a censored reality than
reality itself.
The children in this film were objectified to the third
degree, and the treatment they received from modeling agencies was inhumane.
With every scene I became more disgusted than intrigued; I was baffled that
something as horrific as modeling in Japan even existed. This movie portrayal
of child modeling was very condescending because they’re pretending to be against
the industry, but being advocates for it at the same time, that’s like going to
a PETA meeting in a fur coat. Not only was the movie’s plot horrible, but the
filming was also very amateur. Overall the only successful thing I can say that
this movie did was stray us away from child modeling, after watching the film I
realize how pathetic and corrupt the modeling industry is, and my problem also lies
in who to blame the agencies for this problem or the world for creating the
problem.
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