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20 Sep 2023


NextImg:Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Super Models’ On Apple TV+, Where Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, And Linda Evangelista Reflect On Their Careers

Where to Stream:

The Super Models

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In the four-part docuseries The Super Models, directed by Roger Ross Williams and Larissa Bills, the four biggest supermodels of the ’80s and ’90s reflect on careers that made them household names. Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington and Linda Evangelista are all interviewed for the series, and they also get together for various photo shoots and joint interviews.

Opening Shot: We see Naomi Campbell on the phone, and then picking some jewelry for a photo shoot.

The Gist: The episodes are structured by themes: In “The Look”, the four superstars talk about their upbringings, how they got started in modeling, and how their careers and public images became high profile as the ’90s started. “The Fame” discusses their rising profiles and how all four of their careers exploded after appearing in George Michael’s video for “Freedom ’90.” “The Power” examines their cultural influence in the ’90s. “The Legacy” bring the quartet into the present, when they’re all in their 50s, have families and have become entrepreneurs.

All four of the models were discovered in their teens, in the early-to-mid-’80s — Campbell in England, Crawford in suburban Illinois, Evangelista in Canada and Turlington in Northern California. All were approached by scouts who saw an “it” factor with all of them, a “look” that went beyond just being conventionally attractive.

But as they started their careers, they all made choices that advanced their careers, and seemed to roll with the idea that the companies that hired them and the magazines that put them on their covers were trying to sell via their glamour and sex appeal, despite their young ages, though not always. In one segment, Crawford remembers being on an early episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show with John Casablancas, the founder of Elite Model Management, and Oprah, of all people, is shown telling 20-year-old Crawford to stand up so everyone can see her body. In retrospect, Crawford says, “that was so not OK, especially from Oprah.”

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The Super Models reminds us of Brooke Shields: Pretty Baby, but not quite as explosive.

The Super Models
Photo: Apple TV+

Our Take: One of the reasons why Pretty Baby was so well-received was because Shields wasn’t afraid to not only tell all, but also to be vulnerable while doing so. We didn’t quite see that level of candor in The Super Models. Because of that, your mileage may vary when it comes to your enjoyment of the series. If you are really into the fashion scene and have been fascinated with the careers of this quartet for the past thirty-plus years, the series will interest you. If you’re looking for dirt on the industry in the ’80s and ’90s, you’re likely going to be bored.

Listening to the four superstars talk about their lives and their upbringing was interesting to a point, especially when Crawford talks about the death of her younger brother when he was 3, and the fact that she went to Northwestern to pursue chemical engineering. It’s interesting to hear Campbell talk about being raised by her mother, who was a single parent. But a lot of that stuff can also be gleaned from previous interviews and biographical information online.

In the rest of the first episode, they talk about connecting with one of the two major modeling agencies at the time, and how different the Ford Agency was from Elite. They talk about the different photographers who were able to find that “thing” that made their careers take off. Crawford talks about getting her hair cut off without her permission before her first big shoot. All of it is a pretty big snooze.

Aside from the Oprah anecdote from Crawford, there was very little reflection on the idea that their sex appeal was being used at a young age to sell magazines or fashions. There are no anecdotes about being harassed or exploited. And that could have been their experiences. But that seems unrealistic. When a photographer talks about a ’90s photo shoot with Campbell on a Louisiana plantation where she’s dressed like an enslaved woman who worked on the house staff, he shrugs and just says, “It was a different time.”

Maybe we’ll get some more insight when they talk more about the ’90s, when they all became household names. There will be some other revelations, we’re sure, but we’re not sure they’ll be given the time that they deserve, in favor of more praise of photographers, agents and others.

Sex and Skin: Aside from skimpy outfits worn over the years by the quartet, there’s nothing.

Parting Shot: An archival clip of Evangelista saying, “One day will come when it’s over,” which we assume is about the astronomic level of fame she and the others were experiencing back in the ’90s.

Sleeper Star: The cultural commentators interviewed, like Michael Musto and Robin Givhan, give some context to the seeming fluffiness of what we’re hearing from the show’s stars.

Most Pilot-y Line: While we chuckled when Musto said “In the 1980s, kids, there was no internet; there was something called ‘magazines'”, the trope where documentary filmmakers need to have people remind the youn’uns watching that they are talking about a time before cell phones, social media, etc., etc. has gotten really, really old.

Our Call: STREAM IT. If you’re fans of the quartet at the center of The Super Models, you’ll be fascinated at this look at their lives. If you’re looking for explosive revelations, you’re mostly going to be out of luck.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.