On Monday night, the Discovery Channel taped the 65th episode of
“Berman and Berman” in front of Royce Hall, with a
student audience and the topic, “The Naked Truth.”
The hosts were the co-founders of the UCLA Female Sexual
Medicine Center, doctors Jennifer and Laura Berman (yes,
they’re sisters). Throughout the evening, the doctors were
accompanied by guest speakers ranging from UCLA professors and
students to Hollywood actresses and UCLA alumna Laurie Holden
(“The Majestic”) to the UCLA spirit squad.
The discussion centered on body image, and the audience listened
to experts and students discuss eating disorders, self-confidence,
dietary advice and social tendencies.
According to Steve Lange, producer and conceptual writer of the
show, “Berman and Berman” deals with the questions,
“How much do looks matter?” And, “If you looked a
certain way, will that affect the way people respond to
you?”
For this episode, the show took a theater student and placed her
on the corner of Le Conte and Westwood, and observed the way people
reacted to her handing out a survey while wearing two different
outfits. She was recorded by a hidden camera across the street.
Theater student Alexis Maron took on the experiment after she
heard about the opportunity on the first day of school.
Standing on the street corner, Maron passed out surveys to
pedestrians. While wearing a T-shirt, jeans and a backwards
baseball cap, Maron got few volunteers to take the survey, and most
of the ones that did were women. However, while wearing a mini
skirt and low-cut top with a padded bra, Maron not only easily
received male volunteers who tried to flirt with her, she also got
plenty of attention from people just passing by. Interestingly
enough, the ones that wouldn’t volunteer to take the survey
were women.
“It’s sad that’s how predictable humanity is,
because that was what we pretty much predicted would happen,”
Maron said. “Dress sexy and you’ll get more
attention.”
The experiment was discussed with professional psychologists,
and this fact was backed up with evidence compiled by a British
research company that investigated the question of attractiveness.
The company’s conclusion was that attractive kids are more
popular, attractive applicants get more jobs, and attractive people
are more often found not guilty in court.
The show also followed first-year student Erica Membreno through
her first few weeks of school as she confronted the pressures and
myths that accompany starting college. In fact, the myth of the
“Freshman 15″ (gaining 15 pounds during the first year
of college, which, in reality, is only an average gain of 4.6
pounds) was dispelled by an expert nutritionist on the show.
“People fall into the pressures of eating
disorders,” Membreno said. “When you watch TV and look
at magazines everybody is a size 2 and that is not what real life
is.”
“The theme of the show is the importance in body image and
your need to be comfortable with yourself. There is no size
2,” Lange said. “The media puts out false images, and
if I knew this stuff in college, I would have been much more
successful.”
The show displayed a wide range of opinions without the rhetoric
of trying to stop social superficiality. Instead, the show made the
case that looks do matter and that it is more important to be
comfortable with yourself, to keep your body healthy and to avoid
damage to your body caused by dangerous diets and malnutrition.
“The Naked Truth” will air on the Discovery Channel
Jan 17th.