“I was rooting for you, we were all rooting for you!!! How dare you?!” If you grew up in the 2000s, or if you have internet access and watch memes, you surely have this picture in mind: Tyra Banks going at Tiffany with no mercy for not being ‘sad enough’ or showing enough disappointment (in herself). It was cruel and careless, but it’s also one of the most memorable scenes in reality TV shows of the last two decades. But America’s Next Top Model was more than that: it was a cultural phenomenon, and people couldn’t take their eyes off of their screens. Now, Netflix has announced a new documentary aiming to show people the dark truths behind the show, available on February 16: Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model.
“I knew I went too far,” Tyra Banks states in the trailer that the streaming platform has just released. “It was very, very intense. But you guys demanded it, so we kept pushing,” she concludes. No words… But, in part, she may be right: for those of us who remember the type of content going on in TV at the time, the shows that peaked (audience-wise) were the ones showing other people’s misery and dramas — whether they were fabricated or not. It was the time when paparazzi chased celebrities everywhere, even causing accidents, and reality TV was everywhere (from Big Brother to all of MTV's roster). But America’s Next Top Model went beyond any imaginable limits, and this new documentary is here to show that.
For years though, several people have taken to social media to discuss how cruel Tyra Banks and the show staff were: they had no empathy, no compassion, no kindness. They did everything they could to destroy the contestants’ egos to offer ugly crying, drama, and screams. Also, the challenges they had to endure were brutal — and now, taking a closer look with more perspective, it feels surreal, almost shameful, that we were all accepting that ‘that was life.’ What’s good about Netflix’s upcoming documentary is that everyone, from Tyra herself and other judges to a number of former contestants are speaking up and giving their own perspectives. Will it be a moment of redemption for the TV presenter? Or will this sink her reputation even more?