Miriam Rivera documentary

[rodinuk]

A new tv documentary series “Miriam Rivera: Death of a Reality Star” starts Monday 29th April at 9pm on UK Channel 4.

[Stavros]

A new tv documentary series “Miriam Rivera: Death of a Reality Star” starts Monday 29th April at 9pm on UK Channel 4.

Thanks for the Heads up Rod -here is one of a few available links on the documentary, in three parts.

Miriam Rivera Documentary: Tragic Story of the World’s First Trans Reality TV Star | Glamour UK (glamourmagazine.co.uk)

[GroobySteven]

I'll watch it - and keep an open mind, but I'm not really sure if I see the relevance of telling her story.
By now, most people have forgotten about 'There Is Something About Miriam' which really wasn't that much of a big deal even in it's day. It was hardly a most talked about TV show.

Wonder if they talk about her porn life much? I know we had her on some of the sites at some point.

[Stavros]

I think the key relevance is, if done today, would producers of a 'reality' tv show conceal the 'twist', given that the men all sued the company and it was not broadcast until after they had received their compensation. There was a real risk of harm being done at the time of the reveal, and allegedly at least one contestant "a former marine, smashed up the villa in Ibiza where the show took place, and the burly bouncers hired to keep the peace ran away".
World's most offensive dating show that ended in lawsuits, violence and death threats - Mirror Online

One also wonders if 'the man from Bremen' who was 'with her' when she was in Europe (Germany and Poland) makes an appearance in the documentary, he was central to one of the threads on Miriam in this forum some years ago.

In the end, who actually knew her?

[Stavros]

I expect there will be more like this in the media.

‘She was tough, but it broke her’: why There’s Something About Miriam was reality TV’s most shameful low | Television | The Guardian

[Stavros]

And another one-

The shameful tragedy of Miriam Rivera, reality TV’s first trans star | The Independent

[Stavros]

All three episodes are now available for streaming in the UK -I don't know if it can be viewed outside the country- this is the link

Miriam: Death of a Reality Star - Series 1: Episode 1 | Channel 4

There are considerable gaps in the story -no mention of Miriam taking part in Big Brother in Australia, or the time she spent in Europe, some of which is discussed in a bad tempered way in this thread-
what is happening whit miriam rivera!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - Page 5 (hungangels.com)

There are two aspects to this: one is the Sky One series that mostly concerns the male participants, the other being the attempt to link the show to Miriam's subsequent life and death, though I don't know one caused the other. Plenty of people appear on reality shows and use it to make money either in entertainment or journalism -Miriam did that, but clearly as events in New York and Las Vegas show, she fell in with some bad people, one of the allegations made is that 'they' murdered her. If what happened in Las Vegas is true, it is utterly wretched. Perhaps she was not as strong and in control of her destiny as she wanted to be.

The callous nature of the show is perfectly stated by one of the producers when asked about the deception at the core of the TV show, rejecting any moral problem because 'it was entertainment', a tv show. The psychiatrist flown in from Glasgow (he has a long history of treating trans people) points out he was there to counsel the 'boys' not Miriam, though he did ask to see her and thinks she just told him what she thought he wanted to hear. Also, the 'Big Reveal' in the show was scripted for her, so one wonders if she would have chosen other words to describe herself. But once done she was in effect abandoned, and it also appears that while she was paid for it, she did not get any royalties from subsequent airings of the show.

There is a contribution in episode 3 from someone called India Willoughby which is irrelevant, and when she says she had not seen transgendered people on tv before one could point to UK broadcasts in the 1990s of shows like Donohue (always the most sympathetic) or Jerry Springer, or the occasional snippets on shows like Eurotrash and Passengers, both on Channel 4.

It is all problematic, because there is so much we don't know, and there is the view that it 'merely' reproduces the view that Transgendered women survive through porn and escorting, until the drink and the drugs ruin their lives, and they find they spent all the money instead of investing it, or saving it, and so on. Thus one of her closest friends thinks she did kill herself, though the practical aspect of hanging does sound suspicious.

There is a negative review in today's Guardian (I think a more positive one in the Telegraph but it is behind a paywall)
Miriam: Death of a Reality Star review – as grubby as the cruel show that ruined her life | Television & radio | The Guardian

[ceejay100]

I watched episode 1 last night and will watch the other two and will reserve judgment until then.

The Telegraph review is certainly more positive - 4* compared the Guardian's 2*