MMAS: Ronnie Becomes Fashion Weak

In episode five of Make Me A Supermodel, it begins as they all do with a discussion among the models of who from the bottom three is most likely to be eliminated that week. The models know that the determination is totally controlled by the votes of the viewers, yet for some reason they continue to talk and act as if the contest for votes is affected by ability or effort. Well of course it isn't. It is dependent on how interesting and personable the character are. With the bottom three being being Casey Skinner, Jay McGee and Katy Caswell, it was a foregone conclusion that Jay would be eliminated, which he was. Regardless of how well Jay did in the challenges, he just never exhibited anything interesting about his personality that would cause enough people to make the effort to vote to keep him around.

My theory is that some of the models do realize the need to engage the audience but they remain coy about it, not wanting to divulge their own strategy to their competitors. Perry Ullmann is a good example of someone who understands how the game is played. He stays out of the bottom three by being a great model, but he also makes sure that the viewers see what a warm and witty personality he has, thinking ahead to when he will need viewers' votes. He mentioned the problem that the girls are having with this concept when he talked about their personalities being on milk cartons (because they are missing). He's right. Some of girls will be heading home soon from lack of personality more than just their looks on the catwalk.

Ronnie Kroell is another one that is smart enough to understand what to do. He has tied his wagon and chances on to the inherent advantages that his roommate Ben DiChiara has going for him. Ben is in law enforcement, married to a longtime sweetheart, has a good natured personality and comes into the contest as an underdog. These are strong advantages and using his analysis of the situation, Ronnie practically begs the viewers to see them as a pair so that they will keep Ronnie in as long as Ben is there. My concern for Ronnie though is that this may help in early on but eventually the pawing and manhandling he does of Ben is going to be increasingly annoying and the viewers will tire of it enough not to vote for him.

The focus this week was on the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Bryant Park. The sponsor keeps changing to be what ever company wants to shell out the money to have its name attached to the event. I'm waiting to see Tostitos Fashion Week or Dr. Scholl's Fashion Week. The models get to see a runway show and Ronnie became overwhelmed with emotion from the experience. I was once next to the tent at Fashion Week but it was by accident as I was wandering around that part of New York in February without a map looking for touristy things. I don't recall becoming teary-eyed from the close encounter but it was probably because I couldn't have cared less.


The models undergo more catwalk training and Ben continues to show consistent improvement. On the other hand, something not good is going on with Ronnie. I don't know if it is something I just never noticed before, but where did that spare tire around his midsection come from? And did he always have those child-bearing hips? His outline is awful and not like any runway model I'm used to seeing.

Later in a game of "Most likely to...", Ronnie starts to show that his confidence is waning. Besides being criticized during the catwalk training, he got tagged in the game as "most likely to have been an ugly child". Meanwhile, his true biggest competition, Perry, was labeled "most likely to succeed in life". To make himself feel better, he took the label of "most likely to be two-faced" and with the most bizarre definition of the term ever, said he had to put it on Perry. He said Perry is "a thinker and he's always watching and always thinking and that in this game is two-faced." WTF? I believe in Psychology 101 I learned that this would be called "projection". The next morning Ronnie continues to ponder Perry's chances and he disingenuously tries to manipulate Ben into thinking that Perry is manipulative.

The boys got their chance to put their catwalk training to use at a real show at Fashion Week at there I really felt embarrassed for Ronnie. His clothes looked like they were several sizes too small. His walk looked more like a waddle. His overly developed chest (for a male fashion model) was too prominent. It was all terrible. Ironically, Ronnie had ridiculed Katy for eating too much and not exercising enough but it looked like he had the weight problem this week.

All of the models got one more chance to show their catwalks skills when their did their walk for the judges. The had to do New York downtown grunge. Unfortunately, just when I thought it couldn't get any worse for Ronnie, it did. Horizontal stripes and stretch fabric made him look water retentive. It was almost as if he were wearing jodhpurs, but it was just his bloated self making it look that way. Needless to say, Ronnie ended up in the bottom three.


Considering how well Ben is doing, it will be interesting to see if Ronnie survives whether he will continue to treat Ben as an ally or as a competitor.