Wednesday, March 14, 2007

 

At ‘The Agency,’ It Isn’t Pretty

AT Wilhelmina Models, Becky Southwick was sizing up Chloe, the latest girl to make her way into the agency’s Flatiron district offices. To the layman, Chloe, an attractive and statuesque strawberry blonde, has the fat-free torso and foal-like limbs of someone barely past puberty. Still, Ms. Southwick, an agent with a keen eye and a wicked tongue, is moved to pull out her ever present tape measure. Chloe’s hips have grown to a 36 ½ from a 35. Not good.
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VH1

MEASURING UP Lola Milligan, left, and an aspiring model in a reality show that can be unflattering.

“You’re like the Pillsbury doughboy,” Ms. Southwick says, grabbing at the aspiring model’s soft midsection. “You’ve gotten fatter and yes, I said the f-word.”

Scenes like this come out rapid-fire on VH1’s new modeling industry reality series “The Agency,” where waistlines are measured, feelings are hurt and dreams are made. The show offers an unflinching look at the lives of modeling agents, who scout, mold and sell the young beauties that populate billboards, commercials and the pages of magazines.

The office, buzzing with a cacophony of ringing phones and frenzied, clipped conversations, feels at times like a college dorm. Hopeful young women often lack a certain get-up-and-go, seeming more inclined to pout than take advice. The bookers curse at every turn; Ms. Southwick whines about, well, everything; an assistant booker, Lola Milligan, is shown in one episode sleeping off a hangover at her desk.

Unlike other reality TV series about the modeling business, which tend to be coated in copious amounts of sugar, there are no soft coos of reassurance from Tyra Banks or tempered criticisms from Heidi Klum. “The Agency” serves it up raw.

But does the series really portray the vagaries of the business accurately? Reactions from the industry were mixed, with some insiders saying that agents often develop very close relationships with girls they’ve nurtured. But the insiders say agencies often employ a mixture of kid gloves and brutal critiques to get the best from their models. Two executives at rival modeling firms, however, said the show’s bitchiness was exaggerated, though they would not speak for attribution.

One veteran agent called the show, “overdramatized” and said it perpetuated negative stereotypes about the fashion industry. “No one is ever that harsh,” he said. “Yes, when we’re dealing with models, we’re to the point, but it’s not about humiliating or laughing at people. We are professionals.”

Another modeling manager at a top-tier firm described the show as a public relations gaffe. “Hey moms, entrust your daughter in my care, so I can constantly tell her how fat she is, how her nose is big, how her skin is bad,” he said. “I guess it makes for good television, but it doesn’t make good business sense to me.”

Sean Patterson, the president of Wilhelmina, had a quick response: “Anyone who believes that this isn’t real” is out of touch. He was in his office with several of the cast members discussing the show’s veracity.

Greg Chan, another booker, said he is often asked if the show is scripted. “We don’t have time to learn lines,” he said. “Trust me, we’re not actors.”

One former model also attested to a harsher reality. Amanda Kerlin, an author of the novel “Secrets of the Model Dorm,” has not watched the show, but said that while she worked in the industry, weekly measurements were not uncommon, especially during the time leading up to Fashion Week.

“After a while it messes with your psyche,” she said. “Some girls chose to starve themselves or took drugs to keep the weight off. A lot of girls develop bad eating habits. Some girls will have one Big Mac a day, smoke Marlboros and just drink a lot of coffee because it boosts your metabolism.”

On the show, the person who does most of the critiquing is Ms. Southwick, the delightfully acerbic hitwoman who has become the character to watch.

Brian Graden, president for entertainment at the MTV Networks Music Groups, which includes VH1, said that at parties, his version of a pop culture litmus test, people have mentioned her repeatedly. “They remember Becky, which is usually a good sign,” he said.

That’s no surprise to Ms. Southwick. “I’m the best one on the show to be quite honest,” she said. “If I wasn’t on the show, it wouldn’t be as good.”

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