Miriam - Death of a Reality Star

[Rosieleerose]

I think these men were absolutely right to get upset.
I do think Miriam had to take some responsibility for her part in it.
However the production team and everyone involved should ultimately be to blame for taking advantage of Miriam and also the men involved.

It’s unbelievable how much has changed in the last 20 years. This would never, ever be allowed to happen now.

@WinterMorn - it’s inconceivable how it was ever allowed tbh but yes, things have thankfully changed in the past 20 years!!

I watched this last night. How the fuck did it even get off the ground. All the people involved, surely at least one of them should have thought.............hang on a minute.

Different times back then. It would never be allowed now. I feel sorry for all of them. They were all taken advantage of

Big Brother was big at the time
I guess Sky were thinking "how can we go bigger and better than Channel 4" What was on their mind was ratings ratings ratings and not much else

Surprised there's not been more of a discussion about this tbh. Watched it all tonight. I felt utterly disgusted with the production staff at their callous attitude towards all the participants, especially the woman who, when asked if she was concerned about them, said, no, she's in the business of 'entertainment '. Appalling, immoral behaviour. And I'm not sure it's much better now tbh.

Just watched episode 2 missed 1 that woman producer is awful she called it entertainment ffs Miriam and those poor young men were exploited hard watch

Yet, people did watch it, presumably knowing exactly what the premise of the programme was……so people were guilty of enjoying it as entertainment.

I didnt know about this until last night.

I vaguely remember it from the time but I didn’t watch it

I haven't seen the second episode but I listened to the documentary podcast a while ago.

The original series is an absolutely disgusting programme. The entire premise of it was that Miriam was transexual. Like, that was it, the whole story. There was no other reason for making it. All the other things it presented - that she was beautiful, that she was intelligent, that she was charming, that men would kiss her and aren't they fucking stupid for doing so - revolved around the big "gotcha".

It was gross, insulting and reductive.

I know that reality tv is often all of those things but this one was a particular low. The production team engineered it so that the climax was a transwoman of colour from the global south surrounded by (rightfully) angry white western men smashing things up.

The episode I saw last night had footage and information about her life prior to the show. I'm glad that they did that. What kind of programme could sky have made when Miriam was alive, if they had just talked to her, asked her about what she was doing and who she was? I mean, that would have been a reality show, right? But a reality show that might have enlightened us all.

Yes the producer was horrible.

I vaguely remember it at the time and I know I knew it was going to be a disaster. But they knew that too, it's what they were going for. As said above, ratings, ratings, ratings.

Around the same time The Swan was on and 10 years younger (I think it was called). Both horrible reality tv shows. Thankfully things have improved somewhat since then.

Watched it and it's just awful that poor woman, they were all victims apart from the TV crew, Miriam was the biggest victim, absolutely heartbreaking to see what followed, shame that her father realised too late that it didn't matter whether she was male or female till the.end.

I've just watched this and it felt really tawdry. I felt like the producers of this series were almost as bad as the producers of the original show. Manipulative and making money from the people taking part. Milking the clips from the original show. I really wish I hadn't watched part 3. I felt quite soiled watching it

I’m watching episode 3 now. All the people in the show were exploited but I feel more sorry for the men tbh.
Thank god this programme would not be made today.

Discussed it with my son and he was surprisingly anti Miriam. Sees her as a perpetrator for sexual assault (kissing them when they hadn’t consented to kissing a man) and fully culpable for that.

I found the psychologist in episode 2 a bit bizarre - the idea that people have been socialised to think that someone with a penis is a man. Erm……

a disgusting show. The young men however were the only innocent parties.

I felt sorry for the boys. Everyone else know the truth except them.

They're all alive though.

What's your point?!

I feel like none of this would have happened if families and cultures could just accept their gay, "effeminate" sons or their gay, "masculine" daughters. Just love your kids for who they are and stop imposing all this gender crap on them and they stand more chance of being happy and living a full life.
Be a man in make up and a dress, it shouldn't be an issue, you shouldn't have to hide and think you have to change, liking "girly things" or not conforming to stereotypical masculinity does not mean you have to think you are a woman, it's so sad.
These days we should be breaking down gender stereotypes more, not reinforcing them and making people feel they are in the wrong body.

Did they take advantage of her? She loved it, loved the attention, loved men competing for her. She didn't give a toss about their feelings. Neither did the production team.
It was a shabby programme. The only ones I felt sorry for were the.boys who had been duped.

People are so snow flakey now, it's a joke

I don’t think Love Island is going to age well either.

Following

I wonder what the other contestants think of it all now