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I thought this photo shoot was very interesting, and if you haven't noticed, modeling isnt about looking pretty, and that is mainly to the person who says bruises and strangulation dont make someone pretty. this point of these photoshoots are to see if they can take a convincing picture, not matter what it is. the fashion industry is controversial in general, and things like that can happen in life. watch the news.

The next top model must be photogenic in all photo shoots, including the death shoot. ANTM is about extremes and originality. In the end, the model who wins the title is the one who can transform from crime victim to easy breezy cover girl.

Death by callousness:
That's what they should have called this!
1. I don't think they would ever do such a shoot with male models.
2. Strangulation, blood, and bruising does not make women look beautiful.
3. The fact that lots of people think its ok shows exactly why violence against women is so tolerated by society.
4. These pictures will be enlarged and framed by violent men who thinks watching women suffer is a real turn-on.
5. For the families of real homicide victims, this is offensive and insensitive.
6. Tyra Banks just lost all the respect I held for her.

I REALLY HATE THE DIRECTION IN WHICH THE SHOW IS GOING.THE FOCUS SEEMS TO BE ON RENEE.PPL WAKE UP SHE NOT GOING TO WIN.ONLY THE JUDGES THINKS SHE LOOKS LIKE A MODEL.OMG ITS MORE LIKE BITCH!!!QUEEN COMPLAINER AND AN ENVIOUS BITCH,ESPICALLY WHEN JASLENE, DION, WHITNEY OR BRIT DOES BETTER THAN HER, AND COMES OUT SMELLING LIKE A ROSE.LOVE THE SHOW.LOVE TYRA

PEOPLE!!!!!! ITS A SHOW FOR CRYING OUT LOUD.THE REAL PICTURES WERE WHEN WE SAW AMERICANS BEING BEHEADED. THINK OF THAT.

Come on, people! The reason they gave these girls the task of "playing dead" is to see if any of them had the innate ability use their minds and bodies to portray two vastly different states of being - death and life - and have it come across convincingly in a photo. That's it. Yes, the photos depict an aspect of real life that's not so fluffy and pleasant. News Flash: life is not always fluffy and pleasant. People die. Sometimes violently. That's life. Deal with it.

I do not see anything wrong with this photoshoot. I would like to know if those who disagree with the pictures understood the reason behind it. Tyra had the girls do this theme to learn how to look alive with their eyes. Because it is a major part of being a model. There was nothing more to it. I think that everyone who is poking deeper into it needs to stop trying to be so politically correct. I am a mother and a wife and still do not see why others think it is some kind of attack at violence against women. Just relax and enjoy it as a show not what you think should be on television, because you can always change the channel.

Oh my god!!! some people just need too loosen up. It's just pictures, I'd rather see the hopefuls pretend to be dead rather than wearing a poor dead animals ( I'm referring to fur for those who are a little slow!) it's not the end of the world!

The crime scene photos are nothing more than jerk off material for necrophilliacs and not even that creative since it's been done before (I can't remember the photographer's name). Unfortunately, people resort to shock value when they run out of truly original, thought provoking ideas. All of you people screaming "It's art" are idiots. Anything can be called "art". So maybe next week they will cover the models in shit and call it art. Maybe they could dub the shoot "Fecal Fetish".

I just started watching the show this season. While I admire Tyra for standing up to the devastating role media plays on the issue of girls and body-image, I have to question her thought process in allowing this "death" show to go forward. An "artistic" argument can certainly be made but I think if we examine these shots in the larger cultural context, their potential to hurt girls trumps any artistic value. I would love to hear Tyra speak out about this - show that we can make mistakes and learn from them. What a great opportunity to educate!

I absolutely looooovvvveeeed the crime scene pix idea. It was very creative, and so kool. It was art, and great art causes controversy.

I'm with Laura, I will be celebrating the day that Renee gets kicked off the show. She makes me hate her sooo much. What happened to her trying to be a nicer person? I guess a bitch, will always be a bitch. She wants everyone to feel sorry for her. She needs to suck it up and take it as a learning experience, try to get what she can out of it, because only person is going to win. She's so bitter. I hope and pray it's NOT her.

This is art. If you don't like it, you don't have to look at it. I think they got the reaction they wanted, people are up in arms, so more people are tuning in to find out what the big deal is. If these were pictures of "dead" male models, regardless of race or ethnicity, would NOW have come forward? And who's to say who or what killed these "victims". They could be suicides or heaven forbid another woman is the "killer". If your mind immediatly jumped to the conclusion that men did the "killing", maybe its not the photographers who have the prejudice.

jerslix: I hope you're right, and I hope these photos really do bring attention to violence against women. But which ANTP viewers will be enlighted in this way? Members of the Congressional Appropriations Committee? Abusive partners?
J: You say "these pictures have nothing at all to do with violence against women". I sincerely want to know: then what are these pictures about?
Lindsay: The good news is NOW is not taking time and money away from campaigning against female genital mutilation or sharia law just to complain about ANTM. However, it's also important to publicly object to these images. The media is so powerful that no one can let this display of horrific violence against women go unmentioned.

Let me put it this way: if these were grisly photos of dead Jews, or dead blacks, or dead animals, no one here would be talking about artistic expression or censorship. Everyone would be outraged. Think about it.

I think making the muder of women look sexy is reprehensible. Violence against women is a very serious problem not something to be sexualized.

i think some of the gurl's need more help on their pic !!!! bye

I think American Top Model is pushing the limits with pure none-sense,I think Tyra Banks Show has nothing todo with Beauty, but rather than Girl Gone Wild with slaps and disrespect.I think it shows nothing but imoral positions and should be banned from CW. A model sould represent Beauty and morals and not good looking girls gone bad. Let our kids watch this stuff. they grow up to be prostitutes or slags.

I agree with that violence is never entertaining. However they forget that the entertainment industry has been exploited this forever. Law&Order, CSI, Heroes, the SAW movies or any horror/detective/freaky movies out there have those scenes in them. Maybe they just open our eyes and make us think about what's been going on forever. This show is supposed to expose these girls to what their jobs may look like. Depending of where their careers take them, these pictures are nothing compared to what is being shown on TV.

I would also consider the context of the shows here. America's Next Top Model is about models--making women look beautiful and appealing to the public. Crime shows such as CSI or Law and Order are about crime. While both have depicted violent images, I have to say that Law and Order (at least SVU) dives into the emotional, physical and societal consequences of violence against women. I've had to turn off the TV sometimes because the cases freaked me out. (I do find CSI to be somewhat gratuitous in its sex and violence content.) For the photo shoot in Top Model, it was to show how good these women looked while lying around dead. So, while violence is a tool exploited in both SVU and ANTM, the resulting messages come across quite differently. This is why those photos made me uncomfortable, to say the least.

I'm torn. While I agree with J -- worse offenses are being committed against women on a daily basis, I do think NOW has a valid point in bringing these photos to our attention. Even though no one did anything violent to these models, the photos seem to capitalize on a kind of gory sex appeal, like, "Wow, that dead girl is HOT!", that I'm not sure I like seeing marketed to tween/teenage girls. I'm not pro-censorship by any means, but I do think Tyra and her gang should put a little more thought into what they're saying to their audience when they choose to do a photo shoot like this.

Perhaps the NOW should focus its efforts on the REAL abuse of women around the world (think women under Sharia law or African clitorectomies) and stop manufacturing controversies about fake photos of plastic looking women.

These photos seem to me less disturbing and a far more legitimate art form than dunking a crucifix in a jar of urine or smearing feces on a depiction of the Virgin Mary.

These pictures have nothing at all to do with violence against women, nor does it promote it.
As the anonymous poster said, the media loves blood and gore, as shown in many shows, and the chance to add blood and gore to their beloved Sex Appeal, was to good for them not to take up.
Don't take it as pro-violence against women, it was never intended for that.The media is just being the media, and NOW is just trying to stir up
controversy.
The only people who can change the media is us,-
they can only sell it if we buy it,
Corrie.

The photos were somewhat hard to look at but I did not mind them.

However, on another topic:
Do you not find the non-editing of cigarette smoking appalling on a show that is revered so much by underage/young girls? I know these girls are adults but I don't think it is a good idea not to edit these scenes where the contestants are smoking.

Personally, violence against women is very distrubing for me to know about, watch or be faced with in any way. That said, I have to say I do understand the "artistic" point of view ya'll refer to. Are they my favorite photo shoot of Cycle 8 to date? No... Can I appreciate the dark art? Yes...

Whenever Renee is kicked off the show I'm going to pop open a bottle of bubbly. She is a pain in the a**. All she does is complain, she's never happy. She must have been an only child who was soaked with attention.

Very weird. Why would they do a photo shoot with this theme??

I agree with that violence is never entertaining. However they forget that the entertainment industry has been exploited this forever. Law&Order, CSI, Heroes, the SAW movies or any horror/detective/freaky movies out there have those scenes in them. Maybe they just open our eyes and make us think about what's been going on forever. This show is supposed to expose these girls to what their jobs may look like. Depending of where their careers take them, these pictures are nothing compared to what is being shown on TV.

Oh my god... I didn't see the episode, but I just checked out the gallery. Definitely creepy as hell, especially the ones with the blood spatters and the bruises. That's just horrifying. Who the hell thought this was a good idea?

personally i see nothing in these pictures too graphic nor demeaning to women. i feel these pictures evoke a sense of awareness in society about violence against women, most of us simply hear about it, feel sympathy and then forget about it, hopefully these images would be etched in our minds so that we really may then get a sense of how horrific it (violence against women) really is

That's not icky. That's absolutely disgusting.

It's one thing to have models dress up as superheroes and or dress up like manequins. It's another thing to go off and glorify violence against women. We get enough of it in today's mainstream media; ANTM certainly does not need to follow suit.