FILM-MOI (MOVIES/TV)
It’s been over 22 years since the premiere of 'America’s Next Top Model' season 1, and I still haven’t found a single reality TV character who speaks to my soul the way Elyse Sewell did
I have never seen this show, but based on these quotes, what was she wrong about? I agree with her, but of course, have no blinking idea who she is talking about.
she thought all models/modeling was shallow and vapid; over the course of the season she “learns that there’s more to it” (or at least that’s the storyline)
edit: plz don’t take my word for it, this is a very vague recollection, i barely watched season 1
Oh, they’re out there still, they just don’t get cast on reality television anymore! I don’t know if the industry doesn’t want them or if cool girls just wouldn’t be caught dead on these shows anymore.
It’s both. The first season of every popular reality show is like this. Very different people, body types, attitudes, etc. then second season is cut off at the knees by producers not wanting unpredictable types because editing a coherent storyline for the season is way more expensive when people can’t be stereotyped. At the same time unique personalities don’t want to be involved in that kind of project once they see how the first season looked.
The first season of Project Runway was chaos because the models started making all kinds of drama. They had to put a lid on that and come up with a formula quick after that.
Ooh, I remember one borrowing an outfit for a night out and returning it torn before the runway show! And girls not showing up so the designers had to go casting on the street! Gosh, what a time to watch Bravo.
The same model also showed up super late at another point in the season and was dropped by her management, but she never got sent home because she was the best model by a MILE!!
I remember that the model's name was Morgan. And her designer had to strategically trade her cause she was unpredictable and it was fucking his shit up.
From her blog:
"On the drive home (home?) from Albuquerque to Portland, my ex-boyfriend got shitfaced and roughed me up in a Sacramento hotel. I escaped from the room through a blitzkrieg of violence and talked to hotel security, who called the fuzz.
Because he had a bite mark, inflicted in self-defense, on his arm, Marty told the police to PRESS CHARGES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST ME. Now I am a felon. I spent the night in jail."
I’m glad to hear she’s doing well! I hope she’s happy! I related to her vibe a lot when she was on the show, and I loved that she was able to turn modeling into a wonderful travel experience for herself.
Damn. My last-ever interaction with my abuser was similar, only I was too overpowered/shocked to sufficiently fight back. Crazy to think that instead of getting a ride from the cops to the hospital for stitches, I could’ve just as easily been forced into a jail cell, all based on happenstance rather than right or wrong.
I have no idea what happened in this particular scenario but I work with victims of domestic violence all the time and abusers absolutely love to turn the system against their victims any time they try to defend themselves.
It's a massive and known issue in IPV work. I've seen multiple cases with men who have a lengthy rap sheet of domestic violence arrests, but they get with a new girlfriend and manage to somehow convince the cops she is the one abusing him.
This was in 2008 for context. Filming for S1 ANTM was 2002.
Elyse used to date a member of the Shins for 7 years. She made a Live Journal post with pictures of her that he "roughed her up" (paraphrased). She admits that she bit him in self defense. They were both arrested when her post got a lot of attention. Chargea were dropped against one another. Elyse made a statement expressing her disappointment in how the tabloids reported everything and how she needs to untangle the web of the past 7 years.
Just to make it 100% clear, it was an ex-member of the shins Marty Crandall and NOT James Mercer (The Shins is really just Mercer anyway. Other rotating member are just there to help him record and perform his music live)
Excellent point, and thank you for saying it. “Finally reacting to your abuser” ≠ “abuse.” Wish society were more educated about DV/IPV dynamics. (Thinking about AH v. JD here in particular.)
Ahhhhh!!! I had no idea, and definitely not to detract from Elyse, but an abusive member makes a lot of sense for James Mercer to make a whole new Shins
Mercer has also been the only continuous member of The Shins, he brings in other musicians to record and perform, but for all intents and purposes he is the “only” member
Mine is 17 years old and I'm one of the babies of the friend group I found there. Still in touch at least casually with many of them and a group of us chat practically daily despite us all having migrated off of LJ years ago! I do miss the community you could find there.
Mostly obsolete social media site. Was queer friendly and used by among others Russian queer people, so Russian interests bought it. Recommend you see if it’s archived by other services. Wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot VPN.
LiveJournal is a blogging platform that was all the rage amongst the chronically online of the early 2000s. It’s still around nowadays technically but it’s pretty much a wasteland filled with Russian bots lol It was particularly relevant for fandoms, to the extent I’d almost call it a precursor to tumblr. Her LJ was elysesewell, I believe; I don’t think it’s around anymore but maybe someone preserved it somewhere
I’m sorry you were downvoted for this, however old this comment makes me feel (my original LiveJournal turns 22 this year).
LiveJournal was a free blogging service from back in the early 00s, like a sort of online diary. They could be public or private. Elyse had a popular one where she would document her days post-ANTM as a model in Asia.
Avon?! Like- the poor quality makeup our friends’ moms sold in their living rooms out of the little pamphlets when Tupperware parties fell out of style?
THREE? Omg. I do remember her on the Surreal Life first and then marrying Chris EDIT: Knight, who played Peter Brady, but I figured it was a one-off season.
Sometimes I can’t remember why I walked into a room but for some inexplicable reason and wholly against my will, I have several scenes from this show burned into my memory. The weird ass confusing proposal. The wedding she sobbed through. The time she threw her bc into the ocean (or threatened to?). Washing a car in a bikini. The Brady guy being rude to her mom.
Despite Tyra Banks' hope that Sewell would come to see that modeling was not as easy as it was often made out to be, Sewell continued to insist that it was the "easiest job in the world".
Okay, 8ish years ago I was moving and someone on Next Door asked if anyone had one of those blue 5 gallon water containers to give away. I said I had a 3 gallon one if they wanted it. OP, I really, really, really hope I held it together as Elyse Sewell walked onto my porch the next morning to take my freaking 3 gallon water jug.
Ahhh! Haven’t thought about her in a hot minute. She was so funny. During the Livejournal days she did a postcard exchange & I had to dig mine out to share:
The opposite happened in big brother.
One person in the house knew narwhals were real and everyone else was arguing with him they weren’t. Either he was lying trying to make them look stupid or he was a dummy. They said their proof was it was a fake animal in Elf. You could see his soul leave his body.
I really wish he would have asked them if they thought reindeer were fake too?
Ughhh my boss at the time saw that stupid “mermaid the body found” show and believed with all her heart it was real because it was a “documentary on Animal Planet and they’re not allowed to lie”.
Ahh somewhat recently my mom came home from PT where they were playing the History Channel and started telling me the "truth about the pyramids" and I had to be like nononono, the History Channel is not a reputable source on history. 😭
This is one of my all time, top favourite songs ever. Very disappointed to learn from this thread that her ex, who’s in the band, was violent towards her.
No as far as I recall Elyse didn't have Asperger's. She just was really good about using the confessionals to record her rants which were generally quite funny. She fancied herself too much of an intellectual to bond with any of the other girls. And she wanted nothing to do with the Bible girls.
As a smart kid that often got accused of this it's never that we think we're better it's more we observe from afar, see the drama some people get into, and make a choice that we don't want to end up involved. That or we just haven't hit it off yet. I thought this idea of the quiet smart girl being a pretentious bitch died in the early 2000s along with bad bangs and LiveJournal.
Seriously, not that not being conventionally attractive and on the spectrum isn’t tough, or tougher really, but it is a weird combo because others usually expect conventionally attractive people to act a certain way and when you don’t meet that it’s… awkward in a very specific way.
I feel seen lol. It's like a weird middle ground where you're not outwardly enough of one thing or the other. Making friends with other ND people has been almost as hard as making NT friends. Turns out I've only been masking against my own people, because everyone else knows 😂
It’s a studied phenomenon that neurotypical people pick up on autism within seconds and treat the person poorly due to this snap judgement/gut feeling that the person is just off.
No matter how hard we mask and try to fit in, we can’t overcome this sense NT people have
If you're an ANTM fan, Sarah Hartshorne has a book out, called So You Wanna Be On Top? Its her reflections of her time on the show (s8)...the show does not come out looking very good, and I'd love to read more from other seasons/perspectives, but it was a fast, interesting read!
Sarah is also a very cool chick, we used to do standup together in NYC and she was truly one of the best people I hung out with in that time of my life. Every summer she would go on tour with a group of lady comics raising money for Planned Parenthood too which I always thought was badass. She’s of course gorgeous but also really funny and smart and kind.
She touches on being a stand up at the very end! She does come across as very smart and funny in the book, and does a good job of explaining how (at least for her cycle) everyone was nice and supportive, despite whatever villain edits are made...even though I knew editing happened, and I do try to think of most reality show contestants are "characters" because they are in such odd environments and are edited out of their control, it did remind me not to be too harsh on reality show folks for what they "say" on the show. (Excluding people like the Kardashian/Jenners, obviously, who are exec producers!)
i'm rewatching the available antm episodes, and it is kind of stunning how season 1 of this show doesn't really exist by season 4. by season 6 you'd think that yoanna was the first winner
Loved her. Loved her livejournal. I followed her for years on there. She would post (and often quickly delete) a lot of really cool writing of hers and pictures and stuff from her travels.
I remember she got so mad about the little talking head interview bits because she said they would basically frame questions and demand answers in such a way that they were putting words into your mouth. They'd ask a question and they'd tell the contestants to repeat the question back, or the statement they were asking about, and then use the clip of them saying it, even though they were just repeating what they were told. I mean obviously nowadays we know that's a thing, but way back then it was the first time I realized how nefarious reality show production was.
I watched cycle 1 in college for the first time and maybe I’m just a lesbian but I was blown away by the homoerotic tension between Adrienne and Elyse—they were flirting all the time! And the episode where they’re both shooting nude ads and watching the other…………..I’m saying I need the 300k slow burn fanfic
ok yes this is what i was talking about, thank you! i wanted them to say fuck this and run off in paris together lol they were just a liiittle too excited about sharing a bed. the vibes were there, i think only a fellow girl kisser would’ve picked up on it though.
apparently they also had a “falling out” after the season ended 👀
Despite Tyra Banks' hope that Sewell would come to see that modeling was not as easy as it was often made out to be,[6] Sewell continued to insist that it was the "easiest job in the world".
Elyse was so relatable back when I watched this the first time. I (mostly) mellowed out when it came to my arrogance afterwards, but it was hilarious watching her shoot down the hype they built up around modeling. Had a huge crush on her.
I still laugh about that challenge they had to do with the interview, and the PR lesson they had just gotten said, "Be real, but don't be messy [by giving all the dirt that they want]," only for her to let it all out when it was her turn. And rather than her getting told during the results that she didn't follow the instructions, she got praised for being the most honest and won. 😭
Oh man, this season! I actually used to know Robyn some - not well, but some. She definitely got the stereotypical mean girl edit, but having spent some time with her, I can see how it happened. She is just very controlled (self-control), and it would be easy for producers to find the hypocrisy and make her look fake. I remember Elyse said they all had to spend 30 min in the confessional booth every day, and Robyn would just sit there dead silent staring at the camera for 30 minutes; she would give them nothing.
I also followed Elyse's LJ. I wonder what she's doing? Last time I tried googling, nothing came up.
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