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Tired of Tyra Banks

April 25, 2007

“I ” and “me” are reoccurring words in Tyra Bank’s lexicon. In her new talk show, the aptly named “The Tyra Bank’s Show” – the former model successfully steers all of her interviews back to herself. This tactic is acceptable when she hosts former model friends like Cindy Crawford, Molly Sims, or Nikki Taylor whom she has something in common with, but when she talks about herself in reference to other guests -- like gay athletes, rappers, and sex addicts -- her self love becomes more obvious and cloying.

“Dear Tyra Banks: You cannot be the voice of your generation if all you do is talk about yourself, ” wrote New York magazine in their February 12 issue (they also listed her in the approval matrix as both “despicable” and “lowbrow.”) And that’s really the problem with her – she tries to be like Oprah, but falls flat.

It’s not that we don’t love “America’s Top Model.” In fact, watching ladies cry at the drop of a hat is the hallmark of good reality television. Let’s be clear about the problem, though. Good competition reality needs a mentor, and that mentor shouldn’t be in competition with the contestants.

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