Model.Live Episode 3: The Trials, Tribulations, and Triumphs
Unlike ANTM, technically you can’t really “root for a model on Vogue.TV’s Model Live (they’ve all pretty much broken into the industry), but if I could, I would be cheering on Madeline! Her plucky demeanor won me over…and umm, she lives in Sydney, Australia! Having spent most of my formative years in Sydney, oodles of nostalgia coursed through me as I jealously spied Madeline and Jimmy (her boyfriend) atop a lookout over the Harbor Bridge and the city skyline at dusk. Is that a view or what!
Envy aside, episode three takes us on the whirlwind life of a model, namely Madeline, but her experience is one that is relevant to the reality of modeling by and large. After being scouted in the obscurest of places, Arizona, Madeline is whisked away to Athens, Paris, Milan, and now Sydney where she is managed by Chadwick. Yet amid all these cosmopolitan jaunts, Madeline remains humble, awfully down-to-earth, and very much able to be love-struck.
However, what stood out in this episode was the shroud of romanticism that is so often tied in with the life of a model was turned on its head. Not every model is a “name girl like Agyness Deyn so “working really hard, “getting into debt and shuttling to and fro “fifteen castings a day is a life even though your passport pages are riddled with stamps the world over.
Similar to last week’s episode, an extension of the Madeline’s character is presented by means of her relationship with her boyfriend, Jimmy Nelson. It’s really refreshing to see that all the models’ boyfriends, thus far, are sympathetic to their girlfriends’ calling as a model. Jimmy’s considerate tone is priceless as he shares with us the pilgrimage that nascent models like Madeline are subjected through in order to prove themselves in the industry.
Author: Ikechukwu Onyewuenyi
a son of Nigeria who spent much of his early years living in Sydney, Australia before making the hop across the pond to the U.S. to finish his studies. He shuttles between two alter egos: one as an ardent scientist and the other as an aficionado of the arts. He flirts on a regular basis with artistic pursuits such as photography, fashion, and freelance journalism with hopes of eventually settling into a cushy career of photojournalism when his midlife crisis rolls around!
