‘I’m Not, Like, Racist’
September 18, 2008
On the new show MTV’s Top Pop Group — a carbon copy of America’s Best Dance Crew where groups of attractive young people dance and sing — Korean American sister group Jazmin was sent to the bottom by the judges but avoided elimination. Despite the hair-centric choreography, they seem about as worthy as any group already out there.
Others to watch: Thai crooner Samoeun in Ju-Taun, vest-sans-shirt- wearing Filipina Chelsea in 3 Daze, and Mosaic’s Troy Dolendo. Spill it, MTV: Is Mario Lopez somehow linked to your high percentage of Asian performance contestants?
Wisit and Shazia are both still safe on Top Design (with Wisit still doing well and Shazia doing…less well), but there was a notable moment involving Natalie, a 24-year-old who is not representing young people, blondes or Southerners particularly well.
The challenge was to spruce up a drab bomb shelter, and Natalie mused that their shelter would be needed for “something stupid, like the Chinese have built the Transformers to bomb us back because they were pissed about the Hiroshima bomb.” It’s bad enough that her geography and history are woefully wrong and she finds such a situation “stupid,” but her design was called “Zen Den.” Crimson silk plus things in the shape of ginko leaves equals zen.
Interior designers aren’t the only ones showing a lack of self-awareness: on America’s Next Top Model, even the undeniably hoochie Sheena couldn’t divert attention from the statements and actions of 19-year-old Hannah May from Fairbanks, Alaska.
Hannah certainly established how small, rural and Alaskan her hometown is in the premiere, but when she was confronted about her (possibly hostile, possibly misinterpreted) pushing of transgendered contestant Isis, Hannah turned the topic to race. “I’m, like, the stereotypical white person,” she defended herself to Sheena and African American contestant Brittany.
But why would being Caucasian, and “stereotypically” so, make a difference in whether her intent really was one of aggression?
The girls organized a meeting to speak with Hannah, whose response was a hurried, “I am sorry you feel that I’m racist and prejudiced but now it’s time for me to go to sleep. But thank you for critiquing me. That’s cool.” Again, not completely fair to get ganged up on, but her refusal to engage in any kind of dialogue and, in fact, literally running away speaks volumes about her discomfort with race.
Interestingly, Tyra did not mention this altercation at judging; instead we saw a manufactured moment of honesty when Sheena admitted that—gasp!—her breasts are not real. Perhaps Tyra, like Hannah, is avoiding an uncomfortable discussion illuminating complexities of intolerance and assumption. Or maybe she’s letting emotions stew until the house explodes in a shower of anger, injustice and bitch slaps.
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(MTV’s TPG) One member of 3 Daze has scary man arms and then this little Chelsea or whatever has some wild fake ones tucked in that little vest. They didn’t really deliver on singing and ‘tude, but was I not entertained???
Meanwhile, Jazmin is sisters. SISTERS! improvement on Hanson, methinks yes. So freakin’ cute!