1.PSA the TW for self harm at 47:00 is wrong! skip to 47:18 to avoid discussion of self-harm! (sorry for the typo) 2.question for you all: how do you find the audio here? I couldn't tell if I was fixating on it or if it was a little iffy. let me know! 3.before I get a million comments on my accent I've decided to pin here -it's also in the description of all the vids but- *faq* what's your accent? i lived in america til i was 7 and ireland since then so my accent is a mix between the two! eyeshadow: kaja bento box trio jumper: kina and tam wall art: laura duffy
I have to point out the protagonist Tookie is named after a convicted felon, Stanley Tookie Williams, who was sentenced to death for killing four people. He also established the Crips, one of the most dangerous gangs in America which is a major yikes.
Although the other names were weird, Tookie was the most egregious one because while she isn't a criminal per se, writers need to be careful about who they name their characters after.
Given how obsessed she is with looks and bodies, yeah for sure. It's like she's spent so much time judging people's bodies that she instinctively knows what she hates in a body and then takes it to an extreme for horror
@@SuperNuclearUnicornjudging other people but also being judged. Let's not forget she was a model herself for a decade before being a reality tv star. The body horror of modelland was the most interesting parts of it tbh because it showed how estranged a supermodel really is from her body.
Honestly, the book gives some honest glimmers of potential in Tyra if she was just more willing to explore those and maybe take a real creative writing course. She could genuinely make an amazing career for herself in writing, just looking at the horrors of what being policed on your body and looks for a decade does to you.
Yes i want their side of the story sooo badly. Was it a million times worse before they got to it? Were they unable to work anything in at all? I want answers.
I think she wrote it herself. It’s so batshit insane. It’s like if they Took Margret Attwood and forced her to watch everythingTyra Banks has done under penalty of death
I'm one of the four people who has also read Modelland and it makes perfect sense when you see it as a series of themed modeling challenges. Tyra spent, what, two decades coming up with increasingly unhinged themes for shoots? She doesn't draw from other novels, she draws from her notebook of ideas for shoots. She was probably attracted to the idea of a novel because it frees you from real world limitations. This is how her imagination works, this is how she structures her creative impulses, a core image with themed fluff around it, then on to the next thing. The ghostwriter's job was probably writing a structured treatment and linking all those disparate images together. Every scene in this novel makes sense when you image them playing out as a ANTM setpiece. It's a series of vignettes loosely linked by the need for a novel to have a through line. So you can't read this as a novel with a classical three act structure and character arcs. It's a series of themed images she had in her head for models to act out blended with her own emotional response to those images. It's like a 90s music video, all weird flash and odd horror meant to elicit emotions without through line or internal logic.
This description is gorgeous, I feel excitement and dread. Had to pause 5 minutes in because I choose to believe Tyra recorded her ideas as audio notes in between bouts of Tyra Antics and sent them off to the ghostwriter. It would be so perfect.
Nit the first time someone's been described as having an oily voice - not ally it'll be conveyed as having "an unctuous voice/way of speaking" which seems almost onomatopoeiaic. Bleugh 😂
Tookie's favorite food being whipped cream is such a telling detail. Reminds me of that line from The Devil Wears Prada--"I'm on this diet. I don't eat anything. And then when i feel like I'm about to faint, I eat [a small dollop of whipped cream]."
Tooky Delacreme is such a drag name! Also, I have to give it to her, in a regular high school romantic comedy setting, pretending to do a lay down protest cause you just froze on your crush after tripping and hitting your head is actually a pretty funny plot device. Imagine things escalating to a Forest Gump running level with that idea
I feel like an Uglies/Pretties style story written by an actual model who has basically lived in that reality would be really interesting, but that ghost writer needed to be....MUCH more in charge. Though I will give Tyra credit, it takes work to come up with genuinely alien sounding names that truly feel like they're from a totally foreign culture. These names are so surreal and so cartoonish, it truly feels like some kind of pink-plastic nightmare. "Creamy de la Creme" is what losing your mind sounds like.
If I remember correctly, Tyra has what she considers a large forehead and large feet, so it surprises me not at all that her very special main character would have those physical details.
thank you for talking abt tyra's misuse of DID, even briefly! i have DID and its so tiring and uncomfortable how often shit like that goes without issue / without mention. people think it's just a small thing, but it adds up for us systems bc a lot of the time, we have trauma from being misunderstood and belittled. jokes & minimization like using it as a 'descriptor' aren't okay and make a lot of us with DID uncomfortable/upset. never watched you before but it made my heart warm when you talked about it. thank you
@@kelsey2333 Just because something is rare doesnt mean its not misunderstood/mocked, and in fact, often just means people not knowing anything about it, thus leading to people assuming that the stereotypes are all there is to it.
@@guggelguggel7491i think they’re just pointing out how unlikely it is for someone to have the disorder in the first place, much less one of the fewer than a quarter of a million to have watched this video [when you take into account that only around 1% of the entire WORLD has DID [some estimates place it higher at around 1.5% but conservative estimates are closer to 0.01% prevalence]] not that it means this commenter doesn’t have it, it’s just incredibly rare
Is Tyra okay? The more I learn about her (thanks to you), the more it seems she's just been horribly damaged by the industry. And like many victims before her, she perpetuated her trauma.
Oh no doubt about it, I mean c'mon she was one of the few first black supermodels of the 90s where looking like a starved drug addict was the beauty ideal. The fashion model world is NOT kind to models, and they end up leaving in pieces. I mean she's not the only model who had her mind broken.
After watching this, I must credit Modelland for giving me the confidence to keep my silly joke names in blurbs I write for myself. "Tookie De La Creme," an MC name from a fully published novel, will always be worse than what I came up with for one off characters.
So, not done watching the video but I kept laughing at the "multiple personality disorder" hair phrase. When you started talking about DID because of how Tyra had portrayed mental illnesses with Lizzie as a bridge to go back to the topic of how Tyra was using mocking terms for the main character's hair was not something I expected but was pleasantly surprised to hear how educated you were with DID! Thanks for informing people and curbing the stigma about how living with the disorder is.
I truly have never physically reacted to something so cringe as the description of that kiss. My entire body shriveled into itself as if I was a snail being buried alive in salt
So I never watched ANTM when it was at its peak. But as a young black woman who grew up with (and still has) self image issues, I developed a love for Tyra Banks in my teens mostly due to watching epidodes of her talk show on UA-cam and then later into the 2010s seeing her continue to brand herself as this champion for body image diversity in modelling. Now that I am 25😬, seeing all of these retrospective reflections on Tyra's career with both of her shows, its easy to see that her "efforts" to promote diversity in modelling was mostly talk and not a lot of action. From the resurfaced clips from ANTM, it was very of its time and Tyra was given many opportunities to challenge norms and still ended up using it as more of a vehicle to promote herself and ultimately uphold the status quo. And with her talk show, re watching them as an adult you see how her attempts to explore deep societal topics were handled in such a missguided and surface level way. I still have some love for Tyra as a public personality, but as an adult I think she's lowkey crazy. Alongside her alleged pyramid scheme makeup line, her badly written book and her Modelland themed "amusement park", which sounds like a money drain or a money laundering front🤷🏾♀️🤷🏾♀️🤷🏾♀️. She still cute tho Tyra.
The editing and inserted jokes in this is exceptional. I normally watch everything tabbed over to something else (ADHDers unite) but I had to watch this with all my attention.
ah the 90s... when supermodels could shapeshift, teleport, and see into the future. when they trained up their modelling powers with the aid of mutant gurus in magical classes
god, the whipped cream thing i remember from one of the episodes of tyras talkshow. Its her actual favorite snack. she filled her mouth with it, TOOK IT OUT AS A SOLID PIECE and sat on stage and ate it
I watched the entire 3 hour video from KrimsonRogue, and I was losing my mind in this video anyway because this book is so packed, I already forgot the plot again, and you mentioned so many more weird ass things. I love how you glossed over the cat girl mutants. Imagine what kind of book a book must be that you don't have the time to unpack *cat girl mutants*
I love Modelland! I have watched and listened to multiple people reading and discussing it and I am still unsure what the plot is. Absolutely incredible! Nothing else like it.
"My fan casting for Tookie is Quasimodo" was said and moved on from so quickly and it straight killed me dead, I burst out laughing so hard and for so long that I had to pause the video cuz I couldn't hear a word being said, then I backed up because I'd missed the opening lines and got to hear "my fan casting for Tookie is Quasimodo" AGAIN and I burst out laughing AGAIN and had to pause and back up all over again, eventually I just had to giggle through that section. It was just so unexpected and I laughed so hard! Also I don't know how to describe the noise I was making through the reading out of the different countries in this world. Wailing? I think that was wailing. It was certainly distraught
Man, part of me really wants to rewrite this story and attempt to make it a semi-coherent tale of Found Family, brutal deconstruction of the beauty and fashion industry and how beholden it is to capitalism, and the protagonist taking an axe to the entire system and moving her classmates into tearing it down and starting to rebuild it into something more sustainable and compassionate, where Zarpessa and Tookie begin to bond and grow together as characters. And also making it HELLA gay where at least half the girls embrace their inner lesbian fashion disasters and a Bestosterbro comes out as a trans woman and absolutely kills it. ...Maybe one day.
I haven't read Modelland in a while b/c I read it once years ago and I think rereading might cause real psychic damage, but what I remember the most is how, more than anything, it reminded me of the fantasy stories I wrote when I was 8, 9, 10 years old. No editing, no themes, no real narrative structure, just whatever weird idea comes to you at any moment, and for that reason I had a great time. But also, Tyra was in her late 30s when Modelland came out.
People with eating disorders often get Amenorrhoea, which is the absence of a period due to malnutrition or hormonal distress. Seems like something models would have to deal with...
I'm so glad you mentioned this! In combination with that food challenge, it definitely seems like Tyra is unintentionally making some commentary about the modeling world and the physical and psychological trauma models often face. I can't help but think that with some writing classes, critiques, and a strong editor, this could have been a really cool book.
i have a brain injury that causes severe headaches almost every day and im now going to start explaining it as "bequeathing my crown with an anatomical ache" you are SO funny
TOOKIE APPARENTLY ALSO HAS A BRAIN INJURY BECAUSE HITTING YOUR HEAD AND BLACKING OUT IS NOT SOMETHING YOU DO WITHOUT DAMAGE. HONESTLY THAT WOULD EXPLAIN THIS BOOK. IT'S JUST WHAT THE WORLD FEELS LIKE WHEN YOU HAVE A BRAIN INJURY.
Having one brown eye and one green eye is BAD and not, in fact, the coolest shit ever? Jail. Jail for tyra for 1000 years. LOVE this video, you did an amazing job making this mess entertaining!
this sounds like a storyline that would develop when my best friend and i were playing barbies at 11 years old when we were annoyed at each other or something. the unconnected plotlines and random violence/killing off of characters brings back childhood memories LMAO
I knew about it but never bothered to read it. Don't get me wrong, a story about the modeling world can be interesting as one of my story ideas is about a Japanese American girl in the late 60s attempting a modeling career in Japan after the American fashion industry refuse to take her seriously. It's obvious that Tyra is a narcissistic woman as she allowed the toxicity she wanted to fight against in her show.
I feel like the only explanation for this is that Tyra chewed up and spat out like a dozen editors such that none of them got through more than a random selection of pages? Thanks for the wild journey! Big thanks for unequivocally slamming that DID hair bullshit too.
One of my core memories was watching that ANTM episode and because it is so utterly batshit when they did the photo shoot and tyra says “Tookie loves whipped cream” my mom and I kept waiting for a male model to come out and represent the character Whipped Cream. And it took far too long for it to dawn on me she meant the food.
An "oily voice" usually means unctuous, obsequious, servile, excessively flattering, etc, but I'm not sure if that's what Tyra meant 😂 just wanted to defend that particular descriptor, as I have in fact seen it before.
this is the only piece of media that exists in the same genre as my immortal, except it‘s as if tara was really into barbie and modeling instead of hot topic
I'm studying both editing and creative writing right now and we keep having to produce passages from real-life works to improve upon for assignments. I think I have found a goldmine.
Had the horrific realization that Miracle might be a reference to miracle whip... Then I realized the entire family is named "Cream". Did Tyra seriously use whipped cream as a major inspiration?
I read this when I was a teen, like 6 years ago, and I remember it only as a fever dream. I still have visuals that haunt me, and reliving this book is very cathartic and hilarious cause I didn't understand how bad it was 💀💀💀💀
I sorta of liked it as a kid. It had a sort of maximallist surrealist atmosphere. As a teen, most of the music, books, and clothes I liked were an assault on the senses. I think I knew the book wasn't perfect, but there were some parts I enjoyed 😂😂❤ I loved to sew and make clothes, so my aunt had gifted me the book for a plane trip lol
@kamilareeder1493 Wow! My story is very simular actually, I also love to make clothes and was gifted this book for that reason. How many young seamstresses were subjected to this book 💀💀💀
I participated in a series of streams Allison Pregler did of Modelland. It was a wonderful, extremely confusing, very uncomfortable ride. Truly a once in a lifetime experience.
YES! A bit obvious from my name, but good, these are so good. Not just the critique of beauty standards and plastic surgery, but also the intensely messy, real feeling, slightly homoerotic friendship between the main character and her female best friend, the technology, the thoughts about if humanity will always just destroy itself, the villain... Be careful with the second and third book though, eating disorder and self harm are massive plot points, and while IMO the author does not glorify it, the characters absolutely do. Ah, also a movie of it comes out soon. Finally!
I read this book in middle school and I ATE IT UPPP. Like i genuinely needed the next two parts of the trilogy. Didn't remember anything about it other than the body horror tbh before this video. This was so nostalgic and i love dunking on how bad my taste was
I don’t know if anyone’s already said this, but when you mentioned the inexplicable lesson on albinism sensitivity I remembered there was an episode of the Tyra Show that was about people with albinism. The one thing I remember distinctly from the show was that a (white) woman with albinism expressed how much she hated the term ‘albino’ and even compared it to the n-word. So if you were wondering why she mentions this specifically in her book, that’s probably why 😅
I think calling them a triple 7 is because they hit the jackpot or are supper lucky to have all 8 abilities but I’m sure there wasn’t that much thought put into it
That's real commitment to the cause! Thanks for going through all of that insanity of a story and sharing! Side note, the fact I immediately remembered one of the ANTM seasons referenced this marvelous work of literature has me worried about the nonsensical use of storage space in my brain.
I’d love to hear more of your thoughts on various books, this is the first video of yours I’ve watched and I’m subscribing immediately, I have ADHD and your engaging way of explaining/discussing along with the added jokes etc just works perfectly for me. I’m sorry if my many comments are annoying, this video just really captivated me. I hope you and whoever else is reading this comment is having a great day!
when i watched this vid last night i thought “i bet she came up with this in a dream and that’s what all the unnecessary details are about” and last night i had a dream about modelland
I'm going to actually watch this tomorrow but first I need you to know that I have read modelland and it is my favorite insane thing to tell people about. also once my car got broken into and all they took was a copy of modelland
I read this book a few years ago when a roommate and I were having a weeks-long ANTM binge-fest. I made it through on sheer determination. It haunts me to this day.
Any section describing what happened between the main character and the love interest (I had the video playing in the background so not gonna look up the spellings of their names) had me going "Alert! Alert! Alert!" on repeat
Omg I’ve been recently binging all your videos since watching the Tyra one I’m so excited for an update I love all your analysis for things related to pop culture!
Hi! DID-Haver here. I just wanted to take a minute to say thanks for what you said! I'm not super sensitive to the topic personally because I'm so used to it being misunderstood etc., it's become one of those things I just don't share or talk about in general unless I am close to the person. But, going out of the way to specifically make those points was a huge burst of happy feelings for me, so, thank you!!
the names of the chapters remind me of when we had a program about dr*gs at school and my group had to rewrite the little red riding hood as an educational story about weed and let me tell you, it was something....so honestly, slay edit: so okay, the whole book has that essence
So I just finished listening to a fave podcaster of mine read this book in her patreon, which is the only way I would have interacted with this book. I’m so glad you posted this because I’ve been at a loss for how to talk about this book with people who haven’t read/listened to it 😅 I gotta give Tyra props for creativity at the very least. That said, I don’t know how many times I said “WHAT” or “oh my god” out loud as I listened to this trip of a book (especially regarding the SH content super suddenly). I’m only halfway through your video but I’m so impressed you kept this to the length you did; I would not have been able to make one under ten hours and it still would be incoherent 😂
I don't know why my brain insists on having actual thoughts about this, but here it is. Two points that struck me, 1. The reason that things wouldn't work correctly for Tookie despite her technically being on the list, is that she was put on it for revenge. Whatever magic that exists in this place, knows that she's not really supposed to be there. 2. Based on the reaction of the populous when Modelland is shut down would make me think that to many it's allure and control is something akin to a drug. Remove that and you get the mass hysteria that results from the withdrawls
This is so epic, I've been waiting for someone to analyze this book for years. I haven't even started the video yet but thank you for your bravery and your service. 🙏🏼Knowing your content, this is going to be awesome and I can't wait.
@@erinhaury5773 I'm definitely going to have to check that out! There's something almost magical about experiencing and sharing the abject horror of this book lol.
This is my third time coming back to this video, for as disturbing as tyra’s descriptions may be, I love falling asleep to you reading through it loll thank you filmfatales!
I remember when I was single digit aged and had just finished watching Winx club and immediately went on to start writing my very own, very original, never seen before, incredibly creative and diverse „bunch of girl besties at a school for magical creatures“ story and istg it was better than this!
Holy shit you actually read it! Not sure if my comment about Modelland back on your original video made a difference or not, but regardless: can't wait to watch your breakdown of this unhinged piece of media. If I WAS in any way responsible for this, I'm so sorry
This book seems completely unhinged, I kind of feel sorry for Tyra Banks for the trauma she’s endured as a model, but of course it doesn’t excuse the awful things she’s done. I think this could be an interesting premise if it was written better and really focused on the whole sci-fi horror aspects. The idea of a class of people whose only purpose is to be beautiful and forced to perform some kind of exaggerated rituals and performances at all times isn’t bad. The physical description of Tookie reminds me a little of a character in a Terry Pratchett book, who’s described as having all the traits of the ideal woman, however she’s got the beauty ideals of all different eras all at once, so the combination makes her look kind of weird.
I honestly remember reading this is middle school and loving it so watching this whole thing that makes sense. I was very much under her spell and groom by ANTM
I remember this book my mom brought it for me when I was 10/11 years old and I barely remember it. I don’t think it kept my interest mind you I use to read books heavily like I would stay up just to finish a book. I would read it and got bored and would try to restart it. So hearing you talking about it it’s definitely a throwback from my childhood.
good lord the description of tookie. really makes me understand what it would be like to stand in front of Tyra and have her describe you. you'd never recover
Many celebs who wrote books at this time used Ghost Writers (Like Kendel and Kylie) --- HOWEVER --- After these read clips, I 100% believe Tyra really wrote this. As an author and professional editor....I really really really believe Tyra wrote this.
1.PSA the TW for self harm at 47:00 is wrong! skip to 47:18 to avoid discussion of self-harm! (sorry for the typo)
2.question for you all: how do you find the audio here? I couldn't tell if I was fixating on it or if it was a little iffy. let me know!
3.before I get a million comments on my accent I've decided to pin here -it's also in the description of all the vids but-
*faq*
what's your accent? i lived in america til i was 7 and ireland since then so my accent is a mix between the two!
eyeshadow: kaja bento box trio
jumper: kina and tam
wall art: laura duffy
I have to point out the protagonist Tookie is named after a convicted felon, Stanley Tookie Williams, who was sentenced to death for killing four people. He also established the Crips, one of the most dangerous gangs in America which is a major yikes.
@@kamsismith wait whaaaaat? I more associated it with cookies and cream i.e. cookie de la creme
Although the other names were weird, Tookie was the most egregious one because while she isn't a criminal per se, writers need to be careful about who they name their characters after.
😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢)
The audio is perfectly normal 👍🏽
Tyra's propensity for body horror makes so much intuitive sense
it fits
Given how obsessed she is with looks and bodies, yeah for sure. It's like she's spent so much time judging people's bodies that she instinctively knows what she hates in a body and then takes it to an extreme for horror
@@SuperNuclearUnicornjudging other people but also being judged. Let's not forget she was a model herself for a decade before being a reality tv star.
The body horror of modelland was the most interesting parts of it tbh because it showed how estranged a supermodel really is from her body.
Honestly, the book gives some honest glimmers of potential in Tyra if she was just more willing to explore those and maybe take a real creative writing course. She could genuinely make an amazing career for herself in writing, just looking at the horrors of what being policed on your body and looks for a decade does to you.
@@agwarddd let's not get ahead of ourselves here. The book's a mess, just has a few accidentally revealing body horror passages.
I would pay money to interview the ghost writer about what happened in the development for this book.
Yes i want their side of the story sooo badly. Was it a million times worse before they got to it? Were they unable to work anything in at all? I want answers.
get him on the phone now!!
My head cannon is: Tyra just shares a bunch of notes she called “Genius book ideas so I don’t forget” with the ghostwriter and says “make it work” 😏
I think she wrote it herself. It’s so batshit insane. It’s like if they Took Margret Attwood and forced her to watch everythingTyra Banks has done under penalty of death
Tyra Banks is always trying to redefine beauty standards but like, by not doing that and just keeping them the way they are.
lmaooooooooo
😂😂😂😂😂😂
*so brave* 😌
truly!!
tyra has such a talent for inadvertent horror. i honestly feel like the neon demon is a spiritual adaptation of modelland
wait you're so right how did I not make that connection
I stared at this comment, doing my best to type up a response, but I was left speechless.
Holy crap, it fits too well...
right to the eye horror!!!!!
I want Junji Ito to take a crack at adapting this mess. He'll really make the horror amazing
@@ana_d_73not by him but check out Hellter Skelter, its a japanese horror movie that could fit this comment, also the visuals are amazing
I'm one of the four people who has also read Modelland and it makes perfect sense when you see it as a series of themed modeling challenges. Tyra spent, what, two decades coming up with increasingly unhinged themes for shoots? She doesn't draw from other novels, she draws from her notebook of ideas for shoots. She was probably attracted to the idea of a novel because it frees you from real world limitations. This is how her imagination works, this is how she structures her creative impulses, a core image with themed fluff around it, then on to the next thing. The ghostwriter's job was probably writing a structured treatment and linking all those disparate images together. Every scene in this novel makes sense when you image them playing out as a ANTM setpiece. It's a series of vignettes loosely linked by the need for a novel to have a through line.
So you can't read this as a novel with a classical three act structure and character arcs. It's a series of themed images she had in her head for models to act out blended with her own emotional response to those images. It's like a 90s music video, all weird flash and odd horror meant to elicit emotions without through line or internal logic.
This description is gorgeous, I feel excitement and dread.
Had to pause 5 minutes in because I choose to believe Tyra recorded her ideas as audio notes in between bouts of Tyra Antics and sent them off to the ghostwriter. It would be so perfect.
I am so glad to see someone else thought about this too.
@@andialice3458 I'm always thinking at least a little bit about Modelland and I cannot, will not stop
@@clementinedanger if I had also read it, i don't think i'd ever stop thinking about it either
This book is still floating around some where in my house 🫣 all I remember is blood oranges😅
I wasn’t expecting Tyra to show off all her kinks so blatantly in a ya book but here we are.
What else are YA media for? Best place to put them without the intended audience noticing.
Omg right? It’s way too telling.
Right?? Like, the thumb sucking scene is definitely something I’ve scene before, but like. In erotica. Not a YA novel pls send help
@@tigipawsYA young adult? Is that what you were asking
New insult unlocked: oily voice
Tyra Banks watched Hunger Games and was like, "Yes, but make it fashion!"
lmaooo
"But is it fashion?" -Bob the Drag Queen
Which is crazy it didn’t work 😂
Nit the first time someone's been described as having an oily voice - not ally it'll be conveyed as having "an unctuous voice/way of speaking" which seems almost onomatopoeiaic. Bleugh 😂
The hunger games was more fashion than Model land could ever be 😂
Tookie's favorite food being whipped cream is such a telling detail. Reminds me of that line from The Devil Wears Prada--"I'm on this diet. I don't eat anything. And then when i feel like I'm about to faint, I eat [a small dollop of whipped cream]."
forreal, my first thought was that whipped cream isn't a food... it's an accessory to food
Tookie's eating habits feel like thinly veiled ED trauma.
it was a cube of cheese wasn’t it?
it was cheese 🤦♀️
@@iloveazaeliabanks 15:59 It was whipped cream
Tooky Delacreme is such a drag name!
Also, I have to give it to her, in a regular high school romantic comedy setting, pretending to do a lay down protest cause you just froze on your crush after tripping and hitting your head is actually a pretty funny plot device. Imagine things escalating to a Forest Gump running level with that idea
Ah yes, my favorite kind of literature. Two self-inserts of the same person pumping each others' ego up until it explodes.
Obsessed that all of the Gurus are like mythological, explicitly supernatural beings and then just one Non-Binary person chilling with them
Nb people are too powerful 😤👌🏻
I feel like an Uglies/Pretties style story written by an actual model who has basically lived in that reality would be really interesting, but that ghost writer needed to be....MUCH more in charge.
Though I will give Tyra credit, it takes work to come up with genuinely alien sounding names that truly feel like they're from a totally foreign culture. These names are so surreal and so cartoonish, it truly feels like some kind of pink-plastic nightmare. "Creamy de la Creme" is what losing your mind sounds like.
I loved the uglies books
If I remember correctly, Tyra has what she considers a large forehead and large feet, so it surprises me not at all that her very special main character would have those physical details.
thank you for talking abt tyra's misuse of DID, even briefly! i have DID and its so tiring and uncomfortable how often shit like that goes without issue / without mention. people think it's just a small thing, but it adds up for us systems bc a lot of the time, we have trauma from being misunderstood and belittled. jokes & minimization like using it as a 'descriptor' aren't okay and make a lot of us with DID uncomfortable/upset. never watched you before but it made my heart warm when you talked about it. thank you
thank you!! I’m so glad you found it respectful ! it means a lot hearing you were happy with that part 💖
That's a crazy rare disorder....
@@kelsey2333 Just because something is rare doesnt mean its not misunderstood/mocked, and in fact, often just means people not knowing anything about it, thus leading to people assuming that the stereotypes are all there is to it.
@@guggelguggel7491i think they’re just pointing out how unlikely it is for someone to have the disorder in the first place, much less one of the fewer than a quarter of a million to have watched this video [when you take into account that only around 1% of the entire WORLD has DID [some estimates place it higher at around 1.5% but conservative estimates are closer to 0.01% prevalence]]
not that it means this commenter doesn’t have it, it’s just incredibly rare
Is Tyra okay? The more I learn about her (thanks to you), the more it seems she's just been horribly damaged by the industry. And like many victims before her, she perpetuated her trauma.
She's not a victim. She's an abuser.
u can be both surely
@@Maya-sw3qz she's still not a victim
Oh no doubt about it, I mean c'mon she was one of the few first black supermodels of the 90s where looking like a starved drug addict was the beauty ideal. The fashion model world is NOT kind to models, and they end up leaving in pieces. I mean she's not the only model who had her mind broken.
After watching this, I must credit Modelland for giving me the confidence to keep my silly joke names in blurbs I write for myself. "Tookie De La Creme," an MC name from a fully published novel, will always be worse than what I came up with for one off characters.
So, not done watching the video but I kept laughing at the "multiple personality disorder" hair phrase. When you started talking about DID because of how Tyra had portrayed mental illnesses with Lizzie as a bridge to go back to the topic of how Tyra was using mocking terms for the main character's hair was not something I expected but was pleasantly surprised to hear how educated you were with DID! Thanks for informing people and curbing the stigma about how living with the disorder is.
using absurd problematic literature is always the best way to break down stigma
I truly have never physically reacted to something so cringe as the description of that kiss. My entire body shriveled into itself as if I was a snail being buried alive in salt
I've read some bad smut in my days and written some myself, but I think this takes the... defacake.
So I never watched ANTM when it was at its peak. But as a young black woman who grew up with (and still has) self image issues, I developed a love for Tyra Banks in my teens mostly due to watching epidodes of her talk show on UA-cam and then later into the 2010s seeing her continue to brand herself as this champion for body image diversity in modelling.
Now that I am 25😬, seeing all of these retrospective reflections on Tyra's career with both of her shows, its easy to see that her "efforts" to promote diversity in modelling was mostly talk and not a lot of action. From the resurfaced clips from ANTM, it was very of its time and Tyra was given many opportunities to challenge norms and still ended up using it as more of a vehicle to promote herself and ultimately uphold the status quo. And with her talk show, re watching them as an adult you see how her attempts to explore deep societal topics were handled in such a missguided and surface level way.
I still have some love for Tyra as a public personality, but as an adult I think she's lowkey crazy. Alongside her alleged pyramid scheme makeup line, her badly written book and her Modelland themed "amusement park", which sounds like a money drain or a money laundering front🤷🏾♀️🤷🏾♀️🤷🏾♀️. She still cute tho Tyra.
she definitely made her mark on the culture
as someone who enjoyed writing parody fanfiction with friends back in the day, i can say this reads exactly like one
I just remembered this one parody fanfic I wrote for me and my bff to laugh at, good times 😄
It really does My Immortal vibes 😂
This was bizarrely the best thing I’ve ever seen! I feel like you were Virgil leading us through Hell 😂
Bruh that was certainly the vibe in some parts of the book. 😂❤
The editing and inserted jokes in this is exceptional. I normally watch everything tabbed over to something else (ADHDers unite) but I had to watch this with all my attention.
as a fellow ADHD queen this is genuinely the highest paid compliment ever and I’m so glad
I really need a fan art of this characters I've been looking all over the internet for one lol
that's why I had to fancast... they're too absurdly proportioned and described to draw!! i tried to photoshop something but didn't have the willpower
Just take Megamind, do a hue shift from blue to whatever we think Tookie's skin color is, and add 3 different wigs 😂
I’m glad I’m not the only one who wished there was some…I looked! 😅
@@emilyrln I feel like Tookie is Tyra's self-insert based on the forehead thing alone.
im def reading this. clearly she is describing her time as a model in the 90's
ah the 90s... when supermodels could shapeshift, teleport, and see into the future. when they trained up their modelling powers with the aid of mutant gurus in magical classes
@@elleliteracy gotta make it into a fantasy novel to avoid lawsuits 😜
god, the whipped cream thing i remember from one of the episodes of tyras talkshow. Its her actual favorite snack. she filled her mouth with it, TOOK IT OUT AS A SOLID PIECE and sat on stage and ate it
I watched the entire 3 hour video from KrimsonRogue, and I was losing my mind in this video anyway because this book is so packed, I already forgot the plot again, and you mentioned so many more weird ass things.
I love how you glossed over the cat girl mutants. Imagine what kind of book a book must be that you don't have the time to unpack *cat girl mutants*
I've watched Krimson's video too and here I am not remembering most of the plot😂
I love Modelland! I have watched and listened to multiple people reading and discussing it and I am still unsure what the plot is. Absolutely incredible! Nothing else like it.
"My fan casting for Tookie is Quasimodo" was said and moved on from so quickly and it straight killed me dead, I burst out laughing so hard and for so long that I had to pause the video cuz I couldn't hear a word being said, then I backed up because I'd missed the opening lines and got to hear "my fan casting for Tookie is Quasimodo" AGAIN and I burst out laughing AGAIN and had to pause and back up all over again, eventually I just had to giggle through that section. It was just so unexpected and I laughed so hard!
Also I don't know how to describe the noise I was making through the reading out of the different countries in this world. Wailing? I think that was wailing. It was certainly distraught
Man, part of me really wants to rewrite this story and attempt to make it a semi-coherent tale of Found Family, brutal deconstruction of the beauty and fashion industry and how beholden it is to capitalism, and the protagonist taking an axe to the entire system and moving her classmates into tearing it down and starting to rebuild it into something more sustainable and compassionate, where Zarpessa and Tookie begin to bond and grow together as characters. And also making it HELLA gay where at least half the girls embrace their inner lesbian fashion disasters and a Bestosterbro comes out as a trans woman and absolutely kills it.
...Maybe one day.
I haven't read Modelland in a while b/c I read it once years ago and I think rereading might cause real psychic damage, but what I remember the most is how, more than anything, it reminded me of the fantasy stories I wrote when I was 8, 9, 10 years old. No editing, no themes, no real narrative structure, just whatever weird idea comes to you at any moment, and for that reason I had a great time. But also, Tyra was in her late 30s when Modelland came out.
People with eating disorders often get Amenorrhoea, which is the absence of a period due to malnutrition or hormonal distress. Seems like something models would have to deal with...
I'm so glad you mentioned this! In combination with that food challenge, it definitely seems like Tyra is unintentionally making some commentary about the modeling world and the physical and psychological trauma models often face. I can't help but think that with some writing classes, critiques, and a strong editor, this could have been a really cool book.
i have a brain injury that causes severe headaches almost every day and im now going to start explaining it as "bequeathing my crown with an anatomical ache" you are SO funny
TOOKIE APPARENTLY ALSO HAS A BRAIN INJURY BECAUSE HITTING YOUR HEAD AND BLACKING OUT IS NOT SOMETHING YOU DO WITHOUT DAMAGE. HONESTLY THAT WOULD EXPLAIN THIS BOOK. IT'S JUST WHAT THE WORLD FEELS LIKE WHEN YOU HAVE A BRAIN INJURY.
Having one brown eye and one green eye is BAD and not, in fact, the coolest shit ever? Jail. Jail for tyra for 1000 years. LOVE this video, you did an amazing job making this mess entertaining!
this sounds like a storyline that would develop when my best friend and i were playing barbies at 11 years old when we were annoyed at each other or something. the unconnected plotlines and random violence/killing off of characters brings back childhood memories LMAO
Thanks for this video, Ellen. I had no idea that Tyra even wrote a novel, but thanks for putting yourself through it so that we don't have to!
it's a pleasure to do community service
I knew about it but never bothered to read it. Don't get me wrong, a story about the modeling world can be interesting as one of my story ideas is about a Japanese American girl in the late 60s attempting a modeling career in Japan after the American fashion industry refuse to take her seriously. It's obvious that Tyra is a narcissistic woman as she allowed the toxicity she wanted to fight against in her show.
@@kamsismith Coolness, I really like your pitch for a story, I can't wait to read it!
also trina I see your comments all over youtube so I'm so happy you also find yourself here!!
@@elleliteracy Thanks so much, Ellen, it's an honour to be recognised by one of my favourite UA-camrs.
I feel like the only explanation for this is that Tyra chewed up and spat out like a dozen editors such that none of them got through more than a random selection of pages? Thanks for the wild journey! Big thanks for unequivocally slamming that DID hair bullshit too.
the fact that the french country is literally just named "very pretty" in french is SO TELLING to the lack of any depth in her writing fr
One of my core memories was watching that ANTM episode and because it is so utterly batshit when they did the photo shoot and tyra says “Tookie loves whipped cream” my mom and I kept waiting for a male model to come out and represent the character Whipped Cream. And it took far too long for it to dawn on me she meant the food.
An "oily voice" usually means unctuous, obsequious, servile, excessively flattering, etc, but I'm not sure if that's what Tyra meant 😂 just wanted to defend that particular descriptor, as I have in fact seen it before.
Yeah actually I'm pretty sure it's used in Harry Potter 😂😂
this is the only piece of media that exists in the same genre as my immortal, except it‘s as if tara was really into barbie and modeling instead of hot topic
YES THANK YOU THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I WAS THINKING TOO like this is the only work of - dare I say art? - that even comes close to matching My Immortal
Does this mean Tyra accidentally outed herself as the real writer of My Immortal? 😂
I'm studying both editing and creative writing right now and we keep having to produce passages from real-life works to improve upon for assignments. I think I have found a goldmine.
After listening you talk about this mess, I'm genuinely speechless. Gives me hope that my writing maybe isn't as bad as I think it is.
Had the horrific realization that Miracle might be a reference to miracle whip... Then I realized the entire family is named "Cream".
Did Tyra seriously use whipped cream as a major inspiration?
Isn’t miracle whip mayonnaise, though?
I'VE HOTLY ANTICIPATED THIS VIDEO
“Fancast: Megamind” had me rolling 😭🤣
the weight... of her forehead... threatens to make her topple over.... absolute madness!!!
This is one of those thing where bad art (even when absurb) feels like it's more revealing about the author than good art.
Funny tidbit- “tookie” means “parrot” in Hebrew. The protag is basically called Cream Of Parrot 💀💀💀💀
I read this when I was a teen, like 6 years ago, and I remember it only as a fever dream. I still have visuals that haunt me, and reliving this book is very cathartic and hilarious cause I didn't understand how bad it was 💀💀💀💀
I sorta of liked it as a kid. It had a sort of maximallist surrealist atmosphere. As a teen, most of the music, books, and clothes I liked were an assault on the senses.
I think I knew the book wasn't perfect, but there were some parts I enjoyed 😂😂❤
I loved to sew and make clothes, so my aunt had gifted me the book for a plane trip lol
@kamilareeder1493 Wow! My story is very simular actually, I also love to make clothes and was gifted this book for that reason. How many young seamstresses were subjected to this book 💀💀💀
@@haybails4876 haha 😂👌🤷♂️ at the time I enjoyed some parts of it tbh. There was a few moments where it was good 😭😂
When Power Rangers has more internal consistency (and I say this as a super fan) than your world, there's a problem.
i believe it
I guarantee tyra just held a gun to the ghost writer's head and made him type everything she said word for word.
Okay, we need to get that dude that draws characters how they are described in the book to make us a new cover for this book. 😅
I participated in a series of streams Allison Pregler did of Modelland. It was a wonderful, extremely confusing, very uncomfortable ride. Truly a once in a lifetime experience.
I was there too!! Truly one of her most ambitious and IMO entertaining endeavors.
@@1000huzzahs Aaaay I remember you!
For anyone who wants to read a good dystopian YA novel about a society based on physical beauty should try Uglies by Scott Westerfeld!
YES! A bit obvious from my name, but good, these are so good. Not just the critique of beauty standards and plastic surgery, but also the intensely messy, real feeling, slightly homoerotic friendship between the main character and her female best friend, the technology, the thoughts about if humanity will always just destroy itself, the villain...
Be careful with the second and third book though, eating disorder and self harm are massive plot points, and while IMO the author does not glorify it, the characters absolutely do.
Ah, also a movie of it comes out soon. Finally!
I read this book in middle school and I ATE IT UPPP. Like i genuinely needed the next two parts of the trilogy. Didn't remember anything about it other than the body horror tbh before this video. This was so nostalgic and i love dunking on how bad my taste was
That kissing scene...MY GOD!!!!!!!!!! I truly appreciate you taking this one for the team! Your bravery will be remembered.
I don’t know if anyone’s already said this, but when you mentioned the inexplicable lesson on albinism sensitivity I remembered there was an episode of the Tyra Show that was about people with albinism. The one thing I remember distinctly from the show was that a (white) woman with albinism expressed how much she hated the term ‘albino’ and even compared it to the n-word. So if you were wondering why she mentions this specifically in her book, that’s probably why 😅
my fancast for Tookie is the toucan from george of the jungle
the cover is giving au shatter me
edit: TOOKIE DE LA CREME???
tookie de la creme 😔 also stop shatter me is a series i never read and exclusively watched summaries on youtube about
I think calling them a triple 7 is because they hit the jackpot or are supper lucky to have all 8 abilities but I’m sure there wasn’t that much thought put into it
I would love if you did more videos on books!
same
That's real commitment to the cause! Thanks for going through all of that insanity of a story and sharing!
Side note, the fact I immediately remembered one of the ANTM seasons referenced this marvelous work of literature has me worried about the nonsensical use of storage space in my brain.
I’d love to hear more of your thoughts on various books, this is the first video of yours I’ve watched and I’m subscribing immediately, I have ADHD and your engaging way of explaining/discussing along with the added jokes etc just works perfectly for me. I’m sorry if my many comments are annoying, this video just really captivated me. I hope you and whoever else is reading this comment is having a great day!
i’m so glad!! I also have ADHD/ASD so I think the editing is a result of me trying to keep my own brain engaged too hahahahah
Now this, this is what the community needed
when i watched this vid last night i thought “i bet she came up with this in a dream and that’s what all the unnecessary details are about” and last night i had a dream about modelland
25:32 I’ve been diagnosed with DID and your nuanced yet casual defense of DID warms my entire soul, thank you
I'm going to actually watch this tomorrow but first I need you to know that I have read modelland and it is my favorite insane thing to tell people about. also once my car got broken into and all they took was a copy of modelland
I wonder how that thief is doing.
I read this book a few years ago when a roommate and I were having a weeks-long ANTM binge-fest. I made it through on sheer determination. It haunts me to this day.
Any section describing what happened between the main character and the love interest (I had the video playing in the background so not gonna look up the spellings of their names) had me going "Alert! Alert! Alert!" on repeat
Omg I’ve been recently binging all your videos since watching the Tyra one I’m so excited for an update I love all your analysis for things related to pop culture!
this video had me howling, the script and editing are 💯
thank you!!
You made it! Finally covered this masterpiece 😂 The names! At least they deserve some credit...?
definitely.. creative. definitely... unique.
Hi! DID-Haver here. I just wanted to take a minute to say thanks for what you said! I'm not super sensitive to the topic personally because I'm so used to it being misunderstood etc., it's become one of those things I just don't share or talk about in general unless I am close to the person. But, going out of the way to specifically make those points was a huge burst of happy feelings for me, so, thank you!!
thank you!! I really appreciate your feedback and I’m so glad you found it respectful 💞
this originally being 1000 pages implies there was an editor... and also that stuff was cut...
How I felt listening to the book descriptions:😂, 🤣,😭,🙄,😒,😵💫,🤮
the names of the chapters remind me of when we had a program about dr*gs at school and my group had to rewrite the little red riding hood as an educational story about weed and let me tell you, it was something....so honestly, slay
edit: so okay, the whole book has that essence
we were rooting for you 🎉
So I just finished listening to a fave podcaster of mine read this book in her patreon, which is the only way I would have interacted with this book. I’m so glad you posted this because I’ve been at a loss for how to talk about this book with people who haven’t read/listened to it 😅 I gotta give Tyra props for creativity at the very least. That said, I don’t know how many times I said “WHAT” or “oh my god” out loud as I listened to this trip of a book (especially regarding the SH content super suddenly). I’m only halfway through your video but I’m so impressed you kept this to the length you did; I would not have been able to make one under ten hours and it still would be incoherent 😂
This book is what my adhd feels like.
I don't know why my brain insists on having actual thoughts about this, but here it is. Two points that struck me, 1. The reason that things wouldn't work correctly for Tookie despite her technically being on the list, is that she was put on it for revenge. Whatever magic that exists in this place, knows that she's not really supposed to be there. 2. Based on the reaction of the populous when Modelland is shut down would make me think that to many it's allure and control is something akin to a drug. Remove that and you get the mass hysteria that results from the withdrawls
This is so epic, I've been waiting for someone to analyze this book for years. I haven't even started the video yet but thank you for your bravery and your service. 🙏🏼Knowing your content, this is going to be awesome and I can't wait.
If you are willing to sit through it, KrimsonRogue did a great (very long) video on this book. I highly recommend it.
@@erinhaury5773 I'm definitely going to have to check that out! There's something almost magical about experiencing and sharing the abject horror of this book lol.
This is my third time coming back to this video, for as disturbing as tyra’s descriptions may be, I love falling asleep to you reading through it loll thank you filmfatales!
I remember when I was single digit aged and had just finished watching Winx club and immediately went on to start writing my very own, very original, never seen before, incredibly creative and diverse „bunch of girl besties at a school for magical creatures“ story and istg it was better than this!
Holy shit you actually read it! Not sure if my comment about Modelland back on your original video made a difference or not, but regardless: can't wait to watch your breakdown of this unhinged piece of media. If I WAS in any way responsible for this, I'm so sorry
the STRENGTH it must have taken to make this video LOL it's taken me 3 days to watch it bc I keep needing breaks from Tyra's writing 😭
this is wild. reminds me of something i would write in english class in high school to piss off my teacher
I never thought I’d see the day where Tyra Banks would write a YA fantasy novel. What is happening?!
She couldn't get her theme park off the ground, see
The country/language names just sent me into orbit.
This book seems completely unhinged, I kind of feel sorry for Tyra Banks for the trauma she’s endured as a model, but of course it doesn’t excuse the awful things she’s done. I think this could be an interesting premise if it was written better and really focused on the whole sci-fi horror aspects. The idea of a class of people whose only purpose is to be beautiful and forced to perform some kind of exaggerated rituals and performances at all times isn’t bad.
The physical description of Tookie reminds me a little of a character in a Terry Pratchett book, who’s described as having all the traits of the ideal woman, however she’s got the beauty ideals of all different eras all at once, so the combination makes her look kind of weird.
I would say this novel sounds like a fever dream, but fever dreams probably have more logic to them. 😂
Tyra: a crack fic pioneer
I honestly remember reading this is middle school and loving it so watching this whole thing that makes sense. I was very much under her spell and groom by ANTM
I remember this book my mom brought it for me when I was 10/11 years old and I barely remember it. I don’t think it kept my interest mind you I use to read books heavily like I would stay up just to finish a book. I would read it and got bored and would try to restart it. So hearing you talking about it it’s definitely a throwback from my childhood.
hilarious that it couldn't hold your attention!! i have no idea how my tween brain would have processed it
good lord the description of tookie. really makes me understand what it would be like to stand in front of Tyra and have her describe you. you'd never recover
i fell asleep while watching this and had the strangest nightmares all night
i’m so sorry
"the structure of this video is a reflection of the structure of Modelland ... Non-existent"
TW ED
The period detail…is that not…Tyra referencing how many models stop having their period due to severe ED issues?
you'd think so but it's just a magical detail?? there's no mention of how body weight/health impacts your menstruation it's weird
Some of these character descriptions are so cool and interesting. They could have been so well used in another authors hands 😭
Tyra wrote this immediately after regaining consciousness from dental surgery
Many celebs who wrote books at this time used Ghost Writers (Like Kendel and Kylie) --- HOWEVER --- After these read clips, I 100% believe Tyra really wrote this.
As an author and professional editor....I really really really believe Tyra wrote this.