As this documentary smugly rehashes the transphobia that made Miriam Rivera’s life hell – claiming it would never happen today – it becomes just as tawdry. Has TV learned nothing in the past 20 years?
It was, all in all, a moral quagmire of a TV format. In 2004, There’s Something About Miriam saw six men vie for the attention of Miriam Rivera, a 21-year-old Mexican model who unbeknown to them had a “secret”: she was transgender. Even before it aired, this British reality-dating show had whipped up a tabloid frenzy, fuelled by the news that the contestants who had wooed Rivera were mounting a legal challenge to stop the show from airing. Lawyers claimed their lack of informed consent equated to a conspiracy to commit sexual assault.
Miriam: Death of a Reality Star retells the story of this queasy moment in pop culture, while also delving into Rivera’s traumatic early life and suspicious death. Yet despite looking back disapprovingly, this three-part documentary attempts to have its cake (sanctimonious dismay) and eat it, too (milking exactly the same tawdry titillation as the original did). There’s Something About Miriam’s horrifying denouement – one of the men reacted violently to the news that Rivera was trans – is teased throughout, meaning the documentary is also powered by the promise of that reveal. (While the original series was removed from circulation by Sky, this documentary re-airs so much footage that it doubles as a worst-of clip show.) Later, it stages a superficial investigation into Rivera’s death. Reality TV was – and still is – grounded in exploitation.
