Kraftwerk - The Model

A little bit in me does think this may be accurate about the modelling world.



She's a model and she's looking good
I'd like to take her home that's understood
She plays hard to get, she smiles from time to time
It only takes a camera to change her mind

She's going out tonight, loves drinking just champagne
And she has been checking nearly all the men
She's playing her game and you can hear them say
She is looking good, for beauty we will pay

She's posing for consumer products now and then
For every camera she gives the best she can
I saw her on the cover of a magazine
Now she's a big success, I want to meet her again


It is interesting that The Model was released in the 1980s, the same time period that the idea of the "supermodel" was becoming a real hit within the fashion industry. Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista and co. were the stars of the show, with all eyes on them at all times. Beauty sold, and the models themselves quickly became a product and commodity that could be bought for the most amount of money.

 

The Model conjures an image of the woman being aware that she is a commodity to be bought and sold (remember Linda Evangelista's quote - "I don't get out of bed for less than $10000 a day"? That is a woman aware that her face and body commands a monetary value!) and therefore is constantly on the prowl for new customers. Outside the world of The Model, she is flat and boring, only occassionally smiling and having fun. However, whilst at events she plays the game to the full, knowing that there will be people present who are using the function as a shop window, choosing who to include in their next big ad campaign. The only time The Model gives in any effort is when she is working, and the fact that she is now famous is the only reason that the narrator (and any members of the public) wants to see her again.

 

I have to say this is the picture in my head that I've always had of Kate Moss. The only interesting aspect of her is her modelling career, and if it wasn't for the sensationalism built around that, none of us would be interested in knowing her. Paparazzi images of her elsewhere, even at fashion events, show her to be aloof and disinterested, with very few images of her actually smiling. The only hint of personality ever shown by Moss is restricted to her modelling portfolio, which similarly lacks smiling and energy and is comprised mainly of her famous brooding, heroin-chic look. If it wasn't for the media's adoration of supermodel culture, with Kate fitting the given criteria of being skinny, odd-looking and slightly awkward, interest in the Cult of Moss would dwindle significantly. No one would be half as interested in the gawky girl from Croydon if The Model hadn't been constructed in such a way that made beauty in itself a product to be bought, sold and covetted.