Pierce Mattie Public Relations New York & Los Angeles

Quite a few years ago, around the time when John Singleton’s Higher Learning hit theaters, I was walking through my local mall when I heard a group of teens approaching me. “Is that her?” one asked. “Yeah it is,” someone said. “Ask her!” I heard another one say. Honestly, I almost took flight in fear that I was going to be attacked. However, I was relieved, flattered and tickled all in the same moment when one boldly stepped up and asked, “Are you that girl from Higher Learning?” The flattery came from the fact that the woman of which she spoke was Tyra Banks. The feeling was bittersweet though, because while I was glad to be mistaken for someone so gorgeous, I had always thought Ms. Banks was a bit fake.

In her various acting roles, personal appearances, and more recently on her talk show, she's had this way of trying to act “ghetto”, and it was always very clearly an act. I always wondered why she couldn’t just “keep it real.” Well, recently she greatly increased her reality quotient. Yes, she still does the attempted ghetto talk. However, she has taken a stand against the artificiality of her industry. She has decided that she doesn’t want any of her photos retouched. From now on, it’s totally up to her fake hair and make up to keep her looking great. At a time when more and more magazine covers and photos are beginning to look cartoonish due to all the retouching. It’s refreshing to see someone who will openly discuss her “flaws” tell photo editors to leave her pictures alone. Thank you, Tyra.