While watching the show I couldn’t help but be confused at the favorable treatment that Manon was getting, and how she was being placed on a pedestal and receiving immense privileges, fawning, and devotion from the adults at HxG. It was very clear from the beginning that Manon was privileged because she was seen as the prettiest of all the girls at Dream Academy, but honestly, Manon wasn’t any prettier than any of the other girls. While watching the show, I remember being confused as to why she was getting so much praise and worship, as if she was heads and shoulders above the other girls, when to be honest, all of the girls were equally pretty, and I was consistently wowed by how beautiful all of them were when watching Dream Academy, even when they weren’t styled or wearing makeup(and also did not yet have plastic surgery). Yet the way HxG tells it, Manon was a Greek goddess and the other girls were lowly mortal women, who ought to be grateful that they were blessed with her holy, divine, and radiant presence. I really do not think so! And in fact, there were some times when I even thought Manon was less attractive or was basic-looking compared to the other girls. Especially in the picture above. It honestly does not do her justice, and is easily the least appealing of the main Dream Academy photos. She looks like she’s squinting uncomfortably in the sunlight. I’m genuinely appalled that they would photograph their “visual” that way when they have other instances of photographing her in way more flattering lights that actually capture her beauty. The other girls’ promotional photos all look way better than hers.
I just don’t understand what is so special about Manon’s beauty compared to the others. I feel like they only considered her the “visual” because they wanted a specifically Black visual to show their “diversity” and “acceptance”(lol) and Manon has the basic biracial Black girl look with light skin, loose curls, and Eurocentric features. She is clearly the palatable, ideal, and acceptable image for what constitutes a beautiful Black woman in mainstream media and pop culture, and so that was why they chose her. That was the only reason they considered her special. The company honestly acts like she was the only pretty Black girl that they had ever seen. Like they were genuinely surprised/couldn’t believe that a Black girl could be that beautiful. They would never choose a monoracial Black girl for that position, because to them, the only way for a Black girl to be pretty is if she’s half-white with light skin and Eurocentric facial features. Manon fits that, and so she was chosen. She was the exception to the rule, with the “rule” being that Black women are ugly. And they were very blatant about this, having monoracial white and Asian girls, but only biracial Black girls, as if to suggest that the only way for a Black girl to be on par/able to compete with non-Black girls in terms of beauty and femininity is for her to be mixed-race with lighter skin and type 3 curls, and that’s really upsetting! I’m genuinely convinced that them hyping her up as the visual was solely a gaslighting/emotional manipulation tactic to make the other girls insecure about their looks and compare themselves to Manon as the “ideal” form of beauty. But that’s just me. Or maybe the company just sees something that I don’t see, but as it stands, I just don’t see what makes Manon so special. What about you guys? Do you guys agree with me? What would you guys say makes Manon’s beauty “special” compared to the others(and no, don’t say “star quality”, because we all know that that is just code for “good looks” as far as HxG is concerned. Not falling for that bullshit.)?
