Your current location:HOME >politics >Miriam: Death Of A Reality Star review 正文
TIME:2024-05-01 04:31:14 Source: Internet compilationEdit:politics
Miriam: Death Of A Reality Star (Ch4)Rating:Always read the small print. Everybody knows it and nobo
Miriam: Death Of A Reality Star (Ch4)
Always read the small print. Everybody knows it and nobody ever does – when you're young, you can't be bothered, and when you're old, you can't find your reading glasses.
Dating show contestant Toby Green was in an airport bar in 2003 with five lads he'd just met, about to fly to Ibiza for sun and TV fame, when the producers thrust a fat contract under his nose.
'Half was in a language you don't really understand,' he remembered, on Miriam: Death Of A Reality Star. 'Am I gonna say, 'I disagree with that paragraph'? No.'
The repercussions were worse than the six men, all in their 20s, could possibly have guessed. Plied with unlimited drink and tempted with the chance of a £10,000 prize, they spent a fortnight vying for the affections of 21-year-old Mexican beauty Miriam - unaware that she was a transwoman.
Plied with unlimited drink and tempted with the chance of a £10,000 prize, they spent a fortnight vying for the affections of 21-year-old Mexican beauty Miriam (pictured) - unaware that she was a transwoman
Everything about this three-part documentary is grim, including the fate of its central figure: Miriam Rivera, used as bait in this elaborate sexual deception, was found hanged at her home five years ago, after a life of drug abuse
Viewers of the show, There's Something About Miriam, were privy to her secret from the start. Host Tim Vincent, a former Blue Peter presenter, crowed on the voiceover: 'From the waist down, she's a man!'
Everything about this three-part documentary is grim, including the fate of its central figure: Miriam Rivera, used as bait in this elaborate sexual deception, was found hanged at her home five years ago, after a life of drug abuse.
A show that Miriam hoped would launch her as a star treated her as the punchline to an obscene practical joke.
The producers used every imaginable ruse to goad the lads into declarations of lust and infatuation, while making sure they never guessed their date was — in the snide words of Tim Vincent — 'as much Steve as Eve'.
'These boys didn't have the option to consent,' said Dr Gareth Smith, a psychiatrist who was hurriedly flown to Ibiza for the final episode, when the production team belatedly realised that emotions were running high.
Four of the six contestants are absent from this retrospective, though we're not told why. And executive producer Remy Blumenfeld, who masterminded There's Something About Miriam for Sky TV, also did not appear, though on a podcast two years ago he pleaded: 'I don't feel that I was cruel in making it, I feel I was incredibly naive.'
'These boys didn't have the option to consent,' said Dr Gareth Smith (pictured), a psychiatrist who was hurriedly flown to Ibiza for the final episode, when the production team belatedly realised that emotions were running high
A show that Miriam hoped would launch her as a star treated her as the punchline to an obscene practical joke
The boys were naive, for sure. So was Miriam, however streetwise she thought she was. But there was nothing gauche about the production team's intentions. This was sexual humiliation dressed up as an experiment in entertainment.
Though this documentary sets out to condemn, it's constantly distracted by archive clips of the rivals jostling for Miriam's attention and trying to win kisses. It's real failure, though, is pretending not to see the wider context. Most viewers 20 years ago were unaware of the growing trans debate, and phrases such as 'gender fluid' were unknown.
Nobody can be ignorant of the controversies today... though Channel 4 chiefs were apparently too timid to examine them here. All they've done is rake up an old scandal.
Confidence of US consumers continues to decline as Americans worry about the future2024-05-01 04:03
Inside Harry Kane's family life with devoted wife Katie Goodland after the couple's car crash scare2024-05-01 04:02
Trump appeals US$454 million ruling in NY civil fraud case2024-05-01 03:56
Core blimey: Bramley & butternut squash soup with gorgonzola cream2024-05-01 03:53
Growing wildfire risk leaves states grappling with how to keep property insurers from fleeing2024-05-01 03:02
David de Gea jokingly asks 'who' as he responds to former Man United team2024-05-01 02:40
Lily Ebert, 1002024-05-01 02:34
Ministry of Health calls staff meetings as job cuts loom2024-05-01 02:23
Lilly rides Mounjaro, Zepbound to better2024-05-01 02:10
Back to Black film: Does Marisa Abela sing her own songs in the Amy Winehouse biopic?2024-05-01 01:57
US, Mexico drop bid to host 2027 World Cup2024-05-01 04:11
Photographer at Prince Andrew's car2024-05-01 04:11
FIRST LOOK: As Laura Ashley relaunches, how does it stack up against its vintage heyday?2024-05-01 04:07
Lily Ebert, 1002024-05-01 03:47
Portuguese2024-05-01 03:38
Why Kate Middleton waited to announce her cancer diagnosis2024-05-01 03:31
I get shamed by other mothers for being naturally pretty with a good figure2024-05-01 02:27
Fitzwilliam Corrie2024-05-01 02:13
Calling a female colleague a 'pretty woman' at work is sex discrimination, tribunal rules2024-05-01 02:03
Princess Charlene of Monaco debuts soft new look with feathery, face2024-05-01 01:45