Editor's Note: This is a weekly guest post from the TV staff at Film.com. Check back here on Wednesdays for more Film.com stories about your favorite shows: Big Brother, The Amazing Race, Dancing with the Stars, Survivor, American Idol and America's Next Top Model.

By Susan Young, Film.com

Once a reality show player gets the gate, they go on a round of interviews with reporters asking them basically the same set of questions over and over again. Think of it like Groundhog Day.

There’s always an “incident” question, a you-didn’t-deserve-elimination discussion and always, the how–did-you-feel-when inquiry. Google the name of any recently ejected contestant, and like a Vegas slot machine on a roll, all those canned quotes come spilling out.

Once in a while you get a particularly honest contestant who might give you a little extra something if you ask just right.

So with the finale of America’s Next Top Model at hand, there was just one burning question I felt had been left un-asked: Is there a freakin’ sign flashing “scream and act wacky” when Tyra Banks and crew perform those cheesy skits like the mad scientist or Sleeping Beauty?

Luckily, the lovely she-should've-gone-further got drunk in Amsterdam and yes-she-regrets-it Marjorie didn’t mind answering just that question.

“No,” says Marjorie with a semi-nervous giggle about a flashing reaction sign. “We’re just supposed to show energy, and not have a normal reaction.”

Sort of like VH1’s Scream Queens, although all I know about that show is what I see on The Soup.

“The idea is that viewers have to know this is rare,” Marjorie continues. “If we are blasé, then that doesn’t come across. On the small screen, it all has to be larger than life. The fact that we had to squeal a lot got kind of tiring, but it was a minor inconvenience.”

As most watchers know, there’s precious little reality going on in any so-called reality show. When Survivor first shot out of the box, creator Mark Burnett would say that he never called it a reality show. That was a label TV writers and other slapped on his program. Burnett always liked stirring the pot; putting people in situations and having Jeff Probst ask those questions that would be sure to shake things up. Everyone Burnett chose was a character, and miles of film were shot just so the series could follow those story arcs.

ANTM is no different. Marjorie says her story arc was “nervous French girl.”

“My character arc goes from being this little awkward girl, then growing into puberty and then you see adolescence when I finally drink,” says Marjorie of her progression on the show, which culminated in her getting cut right before the final three competition tonight. “This is a product carved out by producers. I am awkward, and it can be annoying, touching and sometimes super positive. And it can be taken out of proportion and taken too seriously by viewers, because that’s not the only thing that I am.”

By the second photo shoot, she had adjusted and was nonchalant about the whole deal. But while she conquered those nerves, she couldn’t break character. When she tried just being herself, the judges called her boring.

“So I’d play on my nerves in the confessional, using my doubts and uncertainty because otherwise I could be eliminated for lacking personality,” Marjorie, a film major at San Francisco State University, says. “When I wasn’t fidgeting, I had no personality and no charm. So I had to keep it going to stay on the show.”

By the end, this girl was just ready to have some fun. She knew it was all just a TV show, but it wasn’t easy knowing that "The Episode" would be coming up – and her parents and boyfriend would have to watch her getting snockered and making out with some Dutch boat driver in a hot tub.

“I don’t think it was that sloppy next to a college party, but for young girls watching the show, it didn’t give the best message,” Marjorie says. “But it gave a good message for friendship.”

Of course, it also sent the message that nervous French girl was ready to leave the ANTM nest. Arc over, time to crown the winner.

For more TV news and features, plus picks for what to watch in our Fall TV Preview, visit Film.com.


Also Check Out:
America's Next Top Model: Best Photos of Cycle 11
America's Next Top Model: Worst Photos of Cycle 11