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I held off from writing about last week's episode of Asia's Next Top Model because I knew it would have some kind of link to this week's ep.
The Vietnamese contestant was chastised by multi tasking judge Daniel Boey for not asking questions to the photographer when she did not understand what was being required from her.
Apparently it was a surprise to the judging panel when it was revealed that she had been struggling to understand the challenges since day one of the competition. It took guest judge Jeannie Mai, Vietnamese American Fashion Expert from the Style Network to help figure this out on air.
She got axed from the show.
Here is the thing.
English is not the main language in Vietnam. Having done business there, I can testify to that. And while English may be spoken widely in many Asian countries, it is still not considered to be mother tongue in this part of the world.
Asia's Next Top Model was pulling contestants from everywhere in Asia. It is my opinion that it is unrealistic to expect every model to be fluent and confident in the language. In fact, the show's producers should have prepared for this eventuality.
Perhaps casting Pan Asians that spoke with an American, Aussie, or British accent saved them to some degree. But do these Pan Asians really represent the beauties you may find on the streets of the cities in Asia? The majority of Asian women here do not have Ang Mo parents.
The Vietnamese contestant, together with a few others like the one from Malaysia and Nepal are representative of their heritage and ethnicity, something I would like to see more of in the modeling industry. It is not that I am opposed to Pan Asian beauty, I just think that there must be greater and wider representation of Asian beauty.
So if this means working with people who may have the goods but not the tongue, then so be it.
The producers of the show may argue that the Vietnamese contestant did not have the goods. But (and here is the possible link between eps) if you were to look at the latest episode, perhaps her departure was a means to an end. The Tresemme challenge had the girls filming a TVC. In English.
Ta da.
It would be reasonable to wonder if the Vietnamese contestant would have suffered royally with the challenge. Mercy killing much?
The producers of the show had an excellent opportunity to showcase different definitions of Asian beauty based on their homeland. But to do that, they had to be prepared to handle the cultural and language differences too. I don't think they did a great job in this regard.
The producers of the show had an excellent opportunity to showcase different definitions of Asian beauty based on their homeland. But to do that, they had to be prepared to handle the cultural and language differences too. I don't think they did a great job in this regard.
On the upside, Boey is proving to be watchable. Even if you don't agree with his methods or his opinions, the fact is he does provide ironic humor, and a bite to the show that the girls and the other judges have failed to bring to the table. I am not pretending to be his cheerleader, but I do believe that you cannot fake passion. Boey is clearly passionate about the work. And quite honestly, some of his comments are just so to the point and clearly based on industry experience that you have to accept them to be true. His potential to be a Simon Cowell-esque type character is pretty good so far.
One just hopes, that in the absence of translators, the girls who aren't great at English, like the Thai girl, can truly understand his comments to benefit from them! Let's hope she isn't next to get axed!
