Girl Model [Import]

I am interested in the subject of modeling, so was very jazzed to watch this documentary. What was disturbing is how this particular modeling "agency" took girls from Siberia, telling them how they could make big money, to Tokyo for "modeling" sessions. They put these particular dirt-poor girls (who didn't speak any English or Japanese) up in a crappy apartment in Tokyo, took them to go-sees, did not bother to take good pictures of the girls, and didn't seem to give them any traveling expense money (so they could eat). There were no modeling lessons or training. The girls had no control over the pictures that were taken of them, were not informed where they would show up, and sometimes were not even paid for them. The girls were unable to ask basic questions of the people around them. At the end of their contracts, the modeling agency informs them that they didn't make any money, and in fact they are in debt to the modeling agency for the expenses of their apartment and airfare, sending the girls home over $2,000 US in debt.

What you come to see is that the modeling agency exploits these girls, not even trying to get them modeling jobs, but to make money for the agency by keeping them in debt. The biggest villian is the former model who is now a recruiter for the agency. She knows how the girls will be fleeced, yet she continues to work for the agency to finance her lifestyle. It's very sickening to watch.

The reason I'm giving this documentary only a Like rating is that the pacing is very slow, and there is little to no background music, and no voiceovers. Sometimes it just gets boring. I realize you can only do so much with true stories, but I would've liked more information about Nadya (one of the models), about how long she was there, how was she living alone in Tokyo at 13-years-old, what her daily life was like, and more details about the unscrupulous modeling agency.

It is easy to point the finger at Ashley and say she's horrible. (Which she is.) But her horrible behavior is enabled by her boss Tigran, who is in turn enabled by the industry that prizes/fetishizes the bodies of 13 year old girls. That industry is enabled by consumers who put up with this crap, and countries who don't prosecute/stop the modeling agencies that are employing/scamming children. If Tigran and Ashley were arrested, someone else would step in. If people said "yuck, I don't want to look like that 13 year old in a dress" things would start to change.

So yeah, there's a lot that's horrible going on here.. and in many ways most of us have a little bit of responsibility in the chain of blame. Maybe you even have a little more responsibility after you see this film, now that you know what is going on.

Overall this documentary is quite good. How the directors got Ashley to talk as much as she does is a mystery. She even invites the cameras to her sad "glass house" which is an interesting metaphor. Tigran, the uber-creep, even talks to the cameras a couple times. The filmmakers must have worked very hard to gain trust. I have a strong suspicion that Tigran's agency acts as a feeder for prostitution and strippers. I don't think the intention is to put these girls in magazines at all. Possibly that would have been difficult to film or prove.

This is not a documentary. This is a film about few different pimps of different nationalities operating in different countries in the name of modeling agencies. Tigran, the real creep who most likely is an Armenian living in Russia, claims to be the owner of modeling agency in Russia. Ashley a confused, a mentally disturbed psycho freak, a former model??? who never produced any pictures of herself in any magazine shoots, resides in US and claiming to be the recruiter. Then there is the Japanese guy who is the owner of the agency in Japan who actually says that none of these girls will ever get any modeling job. They sell paradise and modeling careers to mainly poor families from impoverished neighborhoods in Siberia and Russia when infact it is nothing but a front for underage prostitution. The grossest part of the film is when Tigran talks about himself and his existence with the other pimp Ashley in a restaurant. It is so disgusting to see these people getting a platform which is offered by the director since it is the director who put that segment in this film, to attempt to convenience others that they are doing all of these in the name of religion and humanity. There is no narration so the director does not even try to explain what is happening at all. The girls get lost in train station. Ashley drops in Japan to visit these girls few weeks after they are in Japan and during that few minutes of visit, Ashely can not even communicate with them since she does not speak Russian while one of the girls has not eaten for few days since she has no money. Gross, gross, gross... These individuals are not identified by their full name or last name since after all they want to protect their privacy from any possible criminal prosecution. Ashley seemed to be very nervous that soon or later she is going to get busted, so she did claim that she is aware of many awful actions and knowing the way that she kept describing herself and her life, I am sure that this director and Ashley are planning another film together with more juicy details for their own pocket books.

There is nothing new here. PBS did a documentary with Front Line called Odessa Girls. If a parent has been living under a rock then watching this documentary will show the creeps who disguise themselves as recruiters who are nothing more than professional pimps. The director could have done more, at least even in the extra section of the DVD but failed to do so and instead gave those disturbing pimps a platform to advertise their beliefs instead of hammering them. That is why this film deserves one star.