Model Behavior

Were it not for the fact that a certain lovely, leggy supermodel is known for her regular outbursts at underlings and others, some might be sympathetic to the recent case of one Ms. Naomi Campbell. The tempestuous beauty, you see, was arrested last week when her luggage, checked in for a flight out of the now equally-infamous Heathrow Terminal 5, went AWOL. Apparently, she threw a fit with airline staff upon learning one of her fashion-filled bags failed to make it onto an L.A.-bound plane. Who among us wouldn't have loved to throw a similar fit? Anyway, the long and short of it--police officers had to board the plane to quell the disturbance. At that point, Ms. Campbell allegedly spit on the officers and had a nasty word or two to share. Okay, most among us wouldn't do that. Soon thereafter, she was led away sporting that popular fashion accessory--a set of silvery handcuffs.

Given that thousands of passengers have now experienced the same fate (missed baggage, not the ability to strut down the catwalk to the tune of millions of dollars), one might say Ms. Campbell's rant gave a public face to the feelings of many. However, given Ms. Campbell's ego and her police record (she recently spent five days mopping floors in New York as part of a community service sentence after throwing a cell phone at her housekeeper during an argument over a pair of jeans), it is more likely that she thought she could get away with such behavior....unlike the thousands of other peons who would liked to have yelled or thrown a cell phone at someone...but somehow managed, in a very British way....to restrain themselves.

Speaking of models behaving badly, let's talk Kate Moss for a minute. No, she hasn't caused any ruckuses that I know of, nor has she snorted any cocaine lately....well, at least not on tape. Not that the latter has turned out to be a bad career move. Even though a couple of advertisers dropped her after said tape became public, she appears to be doing better than ever. Ms. Moss is featured on at least 20 of the first 50 pages of every fashion magazine I pick up these days. And men, just so you know, the first 50 pages are usually devoted to ads. The table of contents doesn't even show up in a September issue of Vogue, for example, until page 100 or so. What, are there no other models available to peddle fashion wares? Granted, Naomi Campbell might be in jail when an advertiser is planning a shoot, but surely, there are other choices. How about some of the castoffs from America's Next Top Model? Good thing supermodels are not role models. Oops, except that they are to many young girls--witness anorexia and the behavior of the girls on ANTM. Anyway, my point is, what is it about Kate Moss that advertisers and photographers find so appealing? Perhaps it is the fact that, since she is so frail, she doesn't have the strength to cause any harm should she decide to hurl a cell phone their way.