Whether eating bugs or fighting in swimsuits, reality-show
contestants rarely seem like real people. But Maria Sajjad is not
your typical reality-show contestant.
For one thing, the third-year sociology student at UCLA is both
Muslim and Pakistani, usually a rarity on prime-time programming.
“Our girls are never represented in the media,” she
said.
Sajjad found out about a casting call for a reality show while
browsing Seventeen magazine’s Web site in May. In just a few
days, her dorm friends had helped her film and edit a 10-minute
audition video to bring along. She noted that most of the
reality-show hopefuls there were white.
She won a spot on “Miss Seventeen,” a joint venture
between MTV and Seventeen magazine that uses
“character-testing” challenges to judge talented and
ambitious young women as role models. The prizes amount to a
$35,000 scholarship, an internship at Seventeen, and the chance to
be on the magazine’s cover.
“Some chances in life you take because you think
it’s your fate. The way the casting worked out so magically,
I just felt God wanted me to be on it,” said Sajjad, who was
one of 17 college students chosen to film the reality show over the
summer.
“Miss Seventeen” premiered Monday, and Sajjad was
impressed by her high-caliber competition. “It is inspiring
to see people our age who have done so much with their life,”
she said. “(The contestants) were motivated and educated
people who have achieved things that girls can actually look up
to.”
The contestants were from diverse backgrounds, though not as
diverse as Sajjad had hoped.
“It’s hard when you constantly have to explain why
you don’t do certain things,” she said.
According to Sajjad, it is taboo for an Islamic woman to be on
television. “If I were a strict Muslim, I’d never be on
a reality show. (Religion) is always a running issue in my mind but
it’s nothing that would stop me from doing anything. Your
relationship with God is your own.”
Her family and friends, though now supportive of her
reality-show debut, were initially worried Sajjad would be taken
out-of-context. “A reality show is about as much judgment as
can be placed on you,” Sajjad said. “I’m worried
about being stereotyped.”
The filming took place from the end of June to the middle of
August, and during that time Sajjad and her fellow competitors were
hardly left alone.
She estimated there were always at least two cameramen filming
them around New York City, though they were never allowed to talk
to the film crew. And if they did, the cameramen were not allowed
to respond.
Whenever they ventured outside, their large camera crew
attracted more followers.
“People would stare and wanted to know what was going
on,” said Sajjad, who could not tell them. The contestants
have contracts forbidding them from revealing details about the
show until the episodes air. “If you break the contract, you
owe something-point-something million.”
Despite being a glitzy show on MTV, the contestants did all
their own makeup, even for close-up shots. The only time their
makeup was done professionally was for a promotional photo
shoot.
They did not have wardrobe stylists either. Instead, they were
given a few tips on how to appear camera-ready at all times:
“Don’t wear white; it is bad for the light. No stripes.
And no green if there is a green screen,” Sajjad said. The
contestants brought their own clothes, and Sajjad said she was
definitely one of the lighter packers.
Though, like any reality show, bickering contestants are
featured prominently, Sajjad got along with most of the
contestants.
“Most of the drama (on the show) comes from being
competitive,” Sajjad said, as opposed to stemming from
deep-seated personality conflicts. “All the girls were girls
you could see on campus. The experience was as surreal for them as
it was for me.”
She admits, though, that this destiny-fulfilling reality-show
experience is not the conclusion of any of her dreams.
“I’ll never feel as accomplished as I want to
be,” Sajjad said. Back at UCLA for her third year, she is
taking the fall quarter relatively easy so she can enjoy her
friends and ease back into normal life.
“You do something so extraordinary, and then you have to
go back to the ordinary and it’s weird,” Sajjad.
“I’ve changed myself.”