‘The Swan: Behind the Mirror’ reveals new details about the controversial 2000s reality show
Fox’s ‘The Swan’ premiered in the thick of the early 2000s makeover craze, and it took the format further than most of its rivals. Women who were dissatisfied with their appearances were required to go through cosmetic surgery, dental work, strict regimes, and intensive workouts to finally unveil their transformation in a closing pageant that would crown one of them as ‘The Swan’. Season 1 attracted 9 million viewers, as Variety reports, but ratings dwindled in Season 2 and the series was canceled. More than twenty years later, Hulu’s ‘The Swan: Behind the Mirror’ revisits the show through the eyes of those who were part of it.
The documentary, directed by Erin Lee Carr (filmmaker behind ‘I Love You, Now Die: The Commonwealth V. Michelle Carter’), premieres on September 29. It features interviews with a dozen of the contestants, its producers, trainers, cultural commentators, and one of the show’s plastic surgeons. Hulu’s official description of the film states that it also explores the evolution of both television and beauty standards since 2004. Sixteen women who appeared on this show lived in apartments where every reflective surface was covered, and producers even confiscated the women’s CDs. The show’s contestants were required to ask permission to leave through Nextel walkie-talkies, and they came to call the setup ‘Pretty Prison.’ Kristy Garza (Season 1 contestant) said that her alarm bells started going off when she saw the covered surfaces in the apartments in Marina del Rey.
Moreover, the women worked out six days a week, sometimes twice a day, while recovering from multiple procedures. They were also obliged to follow a Jenny Craig diet of 800 to 1,200 calories a day. The show claimed to spend $250,000 on each contestant on surgeries, training, dieting, and therapy. The trailer adds more details. One woman describes ten hours of operations followed by a single day of recovery, and also says that none of the contestants were told they would have to compete against each other in a pageant. “I almost died for reality television,” is what a former contestant says in the footage.
Notably, two big names do not appear in the film. Creator Nely Galán and the show’s chief plastic surgeon, Dr. Terry Dubrow, are both missing. Carr said she had “many conversations” with Galán about participation, but Galán’s demands of an executive producer and a degree of editorial control were too much. ‘The Swan: Behind the Mirror’ streams on Hulu in the US, on Hulu on Disney+ for bundle subscribers, and on Disney+ internationally, according to Hulu’s announcement.
