Debate This: Should We Laugh When Models Fall On The Runway?
Posted by: Amelia McDonell-Parry
Filed in:
style
12:00PM, Tuesday July 14th 2009
We’ve debated topics of varying importance on The Frisky, for this installment of “Debate This,” we’re tackling a subject that is truly timely and serious. Should we—and that’s a royal “we”—laugh when models fall on the runway? This sparked a little heated debate during our morning meeting today, so I’ve asked two particularly empassioned Frisky staffers to square off on the matter. The gloves (and the three-sizes-too-small-stilettos) come off, after the jump…
| “Models Go Down!” posts seem to be the online answer to the "This Celeb Got Fat!" brand of schadenfreude that we all know and love so well in the tabloids. Just like I wish they’d stop with the latter, could we please learn to leave these poor girls alone? Women hating on women is rampant enough as it is, and while it's easy to poke fun at excessively beautiful folks (and yeah, people falling is always kinda funny), consider our Catherine's analogy -- laughing at models falling is the equivalent of yelling at an employee for not doing their job while their computer has suffered an unexpected meltdown. Sure, it seems like, all they have to freakin' do is walk -- is that so hard? But consider this: the shoes are usually outrageous and they don't fit, and for some ridiculous reason runways are always crazy slippery. Plus, these girls are, like, 16 on average. How would you feel if you were some scared kid from Russia with 45 cameras blinding you and the most influential people in your industry staring at you like hungry hounds? Intimidating much? Models may be taller than most of us, but contrary to popular belief, they’re people, too. Erin Flaherty, Style Editor |
Should you laugh when a model becomes road kill on the runway? Um, YES! Why? Because it’s hilarious. The collective gasp of all the I-live-for-fashion types in the audience, the stunned look on the model’s face that screams, “My life is over,” as her tailbone makes contact with the floor—unless something’s broken, these things are pure comedy. Here’s how I see it. Runway model make buckets of money and there’s only one thing they have to do—stay upright while they walk for the 10 minutes of a fashion show. When they can’t do that right, it’s amusing. Sure, as Erin mentioned, their heels are never the right size and runways are slippery, but designers could easily change those things if they wanted to make sure slippage wasn’t a possibility. Instead, the fashion world intentionally makes walking a challenge, fetishizing the idea that it’s SO HARD to be a model. But that’s a whole ‘nother rant. Basically, if designers and the models themselves didn’t take the whole thing so darned seriously, it wouldn’t be nearly as chuckle-worthy. So, some advice for the next model who slips and falls mid-strut: stand up, take a bow, and laugh it off yourself. Kate Torgovnick, Pop Culture Editor |
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Squidtermz
wrote on July 14 2009 @ 12:06 pm: [report]
Yes… laugh away. Isn’t 90% of the job just walking in a line and turning around? It’s like when a newscaster stutters, if you can’t do that… then I deserve to be able to laugh at you.
Riley
wrote on July 14 2009 @ 12:09 pm: [report]
Laugh about it, then feel guilty later. Problem solved!
tattooed_redhead
wrote on July 14 2009 @ 12:11 pm: [report]
It’s not about hating women. Don’t be silly. If these chicks did anything remotely deserving of my respect, then I wouldn’t collapse into gales of laughter when they fall. But they don’t, so I do. Squidtermz has it right - their job is to walk. If they don’t even have the brain cells to do that, they deserve a belly laugh.
Raugiel
wrote on July 14 2009 @ 12:12 pm: [report]
You MUST laugh! Why? Because to pitty these girls is to buy into everything that pushed them to the runway, the ideas that make that “my life is over” look appear on their faces, and the eating disorder that keeps them on the runway. Laugh and remind the whole industry that it takes itself more seriously than it has ever deserved to.
lea322
wrote on July 14 2009 @ 12:13 pm: [report]
I think it’s a bit sad that we think humor is laughing when someone makes a very human mistake. Look at sitcoms…the laugh track gets played anytime someone makes a mistake or is the butt of a joke. If that was you, you’d be mortified, even if you could laugh it off later. Do we laugh because we feel superior in that moment?
nikkiwikki
wrote on July 14 2009 @ 12:29 pm: [report]
Falling is hilarious, period. I don’t laugh at models falling because it means they’re incompetent, or they take fashion too seriously, or whatever. I laugh because it’s incredibly comical. The expression on their face, the way their legs fold up and get all weird. It’s great, unless they legitimately hurt themselves.
Joey Daytona
wrote on July 14 2009 @ 01:01 pm: [report]
They have that aloof un-smiling facial expression, so very serious fashion is! Ha!
Schadenfreude at it’s best.
MissChaotic
wrote on July 14 2009 @ 01:03 pm: [report]
*cough* *cough*. I am biased. Being that I’m a model, and I do much more than just walk in a straight line, I don’t think its cool. Granted, I’d laugh at myself, but you try stumbling in 5 inch stilettos. Bet you will probably end up with at least a sprain. Now try walking on a sprain in those shoes for the rest of the day, with no medical attention.
Still funny? Think not.
(Before the nasty retorts come in, I am a web developer in addition to being a model)
juliePS
wrote on July 14 2009 @ 01:22 pm: [report]
As long as no one breaks an ankle or anything, I laugh, but then again, I laugh whenever *I* fall over, which is on average at least a couple times a day, and I don’t even have to wear 5-inch heels while I’m at work like these gals do.
Humble Bee
wrote on July 14 2009 @ 01:23 pm: [report]
I don’t discriminate, I laugh at everyone who falls. Its my guilty pleasure, I can’t help but crack up when someone bites the dust. AS long as they’re not seriously hurt, then i’m laughing my ass off.
AgentBeryllium
wrote on July 14 2009 @ 01:28 pm: [report]
*Sigh* Should have eaten before getting on the runway just like the sign said.
See the models are not weighted down resulting in having traction problems.
Jillakiss
wrote on July 14 2009 @ 01:35 pm: [report]
If Naomi Campbell can laugh at herself, then other models should follow in her footsteps (?). Then we consumers can laugh at their laughter. It is quite funny…
bumbler
wrote on July 14 2009 @ 01:38 pm: [report]
When people fall it’s funny. If it wasn’t there would be no market for America’s Funniest Home Videos. What’s next? Is it wrong to laugh at men getting hit in the groin with footballs?
writergirl
wrote on July 14 2009 @ 01:50 pm: [report]
Again—I’m with Humble Bee. I don’t discriminate. If you fall in my presence, I will laugh. Hard. Between gasps for breath I will ask if you are ok, but sorry, I find it hilarious. I also laugh when I do things like fall down the stairs. So I don’t even discriminate against myself.
Gorigrl
wrote on July 14 2009 @ 02:24 pm: [report]
Laugh for sure
subpar
wrote on July 14 2009 @ 04:00 pm: [report]
Am I the only one who wouldn’t laugh? Falling is sort of funny, but having to laugh it off when you’re actually injured isn’t exactly hilarious. I slipped a few months ago on some stairs and the people I was with (who I had just met) didn’t laugh—they ran over to help me. I was mortified, and these people laughing at me would’ve made it sting all the more. Turned out I twisted my ankle and could barely make it home, let alone anywhere, for the next few weeks.
Think about hurting and embarrassing yourself at work in front of clients, your boss, and your co-workers. And like Erin said, you’re probably 14-17 years old. It sucks.
_jsw_
wrote on July 14 2009 @ 04:16 pm: [report]
If it were a minor stumble and there was no injury, I might smirk, but I’d not laugh unless it was just insanely comical - which doesn’t seem like it’d be all that often. I tend to always put myself in the place of someone in awkward situations (which makes awkward TV and movie scenes really… awkward for me personally), so I’d have a hard time finding it funny.
Unless it was someone really arrogant or bitchy… then I’d laugh… but again, not if they were injured.
Adam(aka)AP
wrote on July 14 2009 @ 04:20 pm: [report]
I would probably laugh. Although I’ve had terrible falls and know that it can hurt pretty bad. I remember one night hanging out with some friends. In my friends livingroom dancing terribly when my knee popped out pretty bad and I almost jumped to the floor in unbelieveable pain. Everyone in the room proceded to laugh at me for a good 15 minutes. I could barely walk afterwards and everyone continued to laugh. So next time imagine yourself in the person’s position. Karma’s a bitch.
Lilypie
wrote on July 14 2009 @ 04:44 pm: [report]
As a klutz who falls on a regular basis WITHOUT wearing stilettos, I have to cast my vote for not laughing. It’s embarrassing not to mention painful most of the time. Next time you see a girl fall, give her a break and check to see if she’s okay instead of laughing. Trust me, she will be incredibly grateful to you.
tattooed_redhead
wrote on July 14 2009 @ 05:04 pm: [report]
I fall constantly - my speciality is tripping up stairs, usually landing in a basket of laundry. I laugh at myself when I do it, so why shouldn’t others laugh at me? And I’m not a model.
betty123
wrote on July 15 2009 @ 12:38 pm: [report]
I agree with tattooed_redhead. I work in a typical office setting and if i fell on my way up to give a presentation I am sure I would get laughed at. I would laugh at myself! I fall all the time. Luckily only in front of one or two people though.
Also, these models make their living on people looking at them. When you do that you gotta take the bad with the good. I would laugh at anyone who fell honestly, male, female, animal. I am an equal opportunity laugher and don’t discriminate
lcollins
wrote on July 16 2009 @ 07:02 am: [report]
It’s stupid to think that we can’t laugh at them when they fall…...yet we laugh all the time when it is someone else on the street that does the same thing. I say laugh away unless they are hurt.
alphabete
wrote on July 18 2009 @ 01:22 am: [report]
In my family we like to say “We’re going to ask first if you’re okay, and if you are, we’re going to laugh.” We laugh at ourselves, and truly, it is funny to see someone fall. I think, however, that making a huge deal of it with a big headline and especially websites which collect this sort of thing, is in poor taste. We’ve all fallen, we’ve all seen someone fall. It’s one thing to fall down in front of your friends or coworkers. It’s quite another to fall down in front of them and then wind up being made a mockery of in mass media. We don’t need to know every model who falls down. If we didn’t see it, it’s okay. We can rest assured that we WILL have our chance to see someone fall, or better yet, to be the faller.