'The City': Allie and the anorexic elephant in the room

Emmy please! After watching actresses shrink for the past five years to such prepubescent proportions that Ally McBeal looks hefty, I can not commend "The City" enough for finally -- finally! -- tackling this issue head on.

And it's a weighty one.

So, in one corner we've got Kelly Cutrone, the tell-it-like-it-is fashion maven who feels a sort of obligation (or so she claims) to rid the world of unrealistic standards of beauty.

In the other corner we have Allie, just trying to make it in the cutthroat fashion world, just trying to make a friend or two, and just hoping her boyfriend won't cheat on her.

Two sympathetic women, and yet you can't be on both sides in this debacle.

So, in tonight's eppie, Kelly Cutrone confronts Allie, asking if she's "OK" and repeatedly pointing out how skinny she is. 

Allie, for her part, is left flustered, tearful and just utterly hurt. "I know I'm healthy. I know I'm happy the way I am," she tells Whitney the next day. But it's more like she's telling herself.

What would you do if you were Whitney in this situation? Would you tell your starving friend you'd been worried for months now? Or would you say, "Ooh, forget Kelly, she's just jealous!"

Answer? Neither. You would, or should, do exactly what Whitney did, which was to say, "If you're healthy and you're happy, that's what matters." Utterly judgment free. If Allie goes to anybody about this, ahem, debacle, you can bet it will be Whit.

But who will Whitney talk to about the whole mess? Erin, perhaps? Or, might she call LC? Anybody but Olivia! But, of course, she does go to her local "social," saying, "I don’t know what's healthy in modeling."

"Are you kidding," replies a characteristically unsympathetic Olivia. "Like you think we have like Shamu coming down the runway?" In other words, this is the biz, honey, get used to it!

Cut to an awkward scene in which Allie tries to show her proclivity for food by grocery shopping with her boyfriend.  "I want salmon," she says. "Smoked salmon." And then there's something about asparagus.

So everybody is going to have their own, strong, opinion coming off this episode, but I'd like to voice mine: Kelly Cutrone is full of it. "I couldn’t not say something to her," she tells Whitney, as though attacking Allie the model is a step forward for women everywhere. But if you're so big and strong, Kel, why don't you attack the people who cast those models? Who is really responsible here? I mean, isn't attacking Allie for being thin a bit like going to a non-organic farm and strangling the chicken?

Am I totally off-base? (Hint: no.) Was Kelly in the right crucifying Allie tonight? Let me know. If this ep doesn't stir up some strong opinions, I don't know what will.

Till next week!

-- Stephanie Lysaght

(Photo: MTV)

Comments

[Blair Waldorf]

I love Kelly Cutrone. I mean seriously, as I was watching this, I could not stop laughing. Allie isn't too skinny so much as she is ugly. Maybe that's the problem. She confused "unhealthy" for "hideous". Not sure. But my FAAAAVE part was when they were at Allie's modeling company's party and Kelly was offering jobs to everyone BUT Allie. So classic.
But seriously, she's a model, she probably doesn't eat anything but smoked salmon and asparagus (her urine must smell AWESOME) but at least she profits from it. I know people who don't eat that don't even get paid for their anorexia!
Steph, I know you feel me.

[shannon]

I think Kelly was a real bitch. Being skinny is not different than being fat. There are people who eat like crazy, and never gain weight .. just like there are people who eat as healthy as possible, but are STILL overweight. There are people who don't eat enough, and are unhealthy-skinny .. just like there are people who eat like crazy and get unhealthy-fat. Would you tell someone you don't know who is fat from eating excess unhealthy foods to stop eating? NO. So don't tell someone who is skinny to start eating .. no matter how their weight came about.

I am 18 years old and 4'8" and 84 pounds. Naturally a VERY petite girl. If someone tells me to eat, i get VERY offended because i eat like crazy.

[Caitlyn]

Blair Waldorf, what's wrong with you? why are you so mean? How could you say your favorite part of the show was seeing Allie sad and hurt? You enjoy seeing other being put down until they"re in tears? Have a heart.

[Cynthia]

I agree 100% w/Shannon, being skinny is the same thing as being fat!! growing up really skinny I always got, you're too skinny you need to eat!! and I eat all the time, never ever have I starved myself. it's really hurtful to hear those words just as hurtful as you're too fat!!! because it's really out of your hands.

[cg]

hmm..I have had an eating disorder for 17 years and it sux...yes, the modeling world made it worse..to be honest I am at a healthy weight (meaning I feel large and in charge) When I first saw Allie it triggered me...I wanted to 5'10" and 114 lbs again..until I watched in a public setting I remember going out with friends and counting every calorie I drank...Allie is a beautiful girl in an extreme industry..yeah we can bitch about how it is the industries fault..but when it is all said and done "the industry" won't think your runway worthy with a feeding tube..I have an addiction...once I realized that..I left. If I am an alcoholic I am not going to be a bartender..yeah Kelly was over the top..But- I put $$$ on her either being in recovery or someone close to her is....It sucks that Allie was hurt but by looking at her shoulder she does have a problem....there is not a chance in hell she feels happy about herself or healthy....I like Kelly being upfront..I hope her runway shows have models who aren't as thin...

[Ana]

Kelly is a rude bitch. Albeit, Allie is impossibly thin and exudes anorexia. However, any issue she may have is none of your damn business. Confronting a person you don't know about such a personal issue (in public, no less) is absolutely inappropriate. Anorexia/ED in general is a personal, unglamourous battle for those who have the disease. In face, as a result of insensitive and ignorant attitudes similar to those of Kelly Cutrone, help is often unavailable to those who need it. It was hurtful, obscene, and insincere. Kelly's business drives many of the media industries that have created such unrealistic ideals. Does she book thin models? Absolutely. Are sample sizes designated for skeleton bodies? Yup. Kelly, nice work in fashion and keen business sense, but you get a serious F in tactical performance. Would you approach a cancer patient and ask if they do enough chemo? Would you query that perhaps they have a problem, as their hair loss is noticeable? Most likely not. Eating disorders are DISEASES, they kill people. Amping up the shame that shrouds the victims of these disorders only adds to the problem. What a stuck up, terrible thing to say to Allie. You, as I said, are a rude bitch. Pull your greasy head out of your ass or (at the very least) brush your teeth occasionally, you foul person.

[hbm]

Haha wow, Blair Waldorf, your jealousy is showing.