Last night I could not sleep. As I restlessly flicked through the channels looking for something to watch I came across the 1998 HBO bio pic Gia, (starring Angelina Jolie), based on the glamorous yet tragic life of one of the worlds first super models, Gia Carangi (this is a film I' ve wanted to see for quite some time).

The movie quickly takes us from Gia' s early days as a wild Philadelphia teenager to her famous (and infamous) New York debut in which she became an instant fashion sensation. During her short but high voltage modeling career, Gia graced all of the most highly coveted magazines including Vogue and Cosmopolitan. She' s been credited for many things, one was waving in the "ethnic" look, (along with the self-proclaimed "first supermodel" Janice Dickinson), her simmering dark features bulldozed over the "all American" blond beauties that dominated the fashion scene at the time. Cindy Crawford, nicknamed Baby Gia, due to her likeness to the stunner, may not have attained her supermodel status if  it had not been for this fearless trailblazer. Gia was also very uninhibited, often posing nude and indulging in love affairs with women and some men. Unfortunately, Gia was also credited for bringing in the first wave of Heroin Chic, due to her drug addiction.

Gia was a ball of  beautiful trouble from the minute she walked into the offices of Wilhelmina models, carving her initials into the receptionist desk with a switch blade, but her stunning beauty, incredible body and unpredictable aura made it impossible for legendary agent Wilhelmina Cooper to turn her down. During the late 70' s in which she reigned, excesses with drug and alcohol were common and even chic, (today drugs are just as prevalent but much less chic). As I watched the film I was saddened by the fact that her beauty was desired so badly by the fashion industry that designers, agents and make-up artists simply turned a blind eye to her addictions. Once her addictions grew uncontrollable they discarded her.  Models to follow learned they had to be more discreet about their drug addictions. Many began using tricks such as shooting up under ones toe nails, so that needle tracks would not give them away.

Gia died of Aids related complications in 1986 (considered one of the first women to die of Aids in the U.S.) When she died she was 26 years old and penniless despite being one of the most successful models of her time. What a stark contrast compared to the supermodel drug scandal involving Kate Moss two years ago.  Kate Moss has become even more A-List since her drug scandal, continuing to bring in lucrative modeling contracts. Where Gia was spoiled, exploited and discarded. Kate Moss is celebrated, forgiven and rewarded. Now celebs don’t try to hide their addictions, rather they flaunt them in hopes of catching some media attention. Which for some keeps them on the front-pages Lindsay Lohan, others like Mischa Barton and her recent DUI charge may finally get the attention she’s been whining about for years (why am I not more famous by now? blah blah blah).

Don' t get me wrong, I don' t believe models and celebrities should be perfect (it is not fair to expect that of them). We may put them on pedestals but they have the right to live life as they choose. But it does make me realize how times have changed and how incredibly powerful beauty is in our world and will always be.

If Gia had not been so gorgeous, her rage, drug addiction and unpredictability would not have been tolerated in any high paying profession let alone the fashion world. Her antics are usually saved until after one becomes famous, not right out of the gate, but then again Gia lived life fiercely raw, honest and fearless to a fault. Was Gia' s beauty ultimately a curse? Or would she have found herself along the same destructive path even if she had not become a supermodel?

I don' t know. But what I do know is when someone is so beautiful no one really cares to know what pain rages inside them because that would force us to look past the physical, and we live in a world that rarely values anything past the physical. Image reigns supreme and as long as the photograph translates physical beauty, the reality behind it, for some, means little.