Considering its subject matter, “The Swan: Behind the Mirror” seems like a documentary that would be tailor-made for Erin Lee Carr, the director behind such shocking films like “Mommy Dead and Dearest” and “Britney vs Spears.” But Hulu’s deep dive into the controversial Fox reality show was actually in development before Carr was ever attached.
“Truly, [‘The Swan’] traumatized all of us,” Carr told TheWrap.
Though “The Swan” only ran for two seasons, it left an ugly mark on television. The series first premiered on Fox in 2004 at the height of the body modification-obsessed era of reality TV, a period of time that was home to shows like “America’s Next Top Model” and “The Biggest Loser.” Even compared to those series, “The Swan” was extreme. Each season took 16 self-proclaimed “ugly ducklings” and promised to transform them into “beautiful swans,” putting them on plans that included extensive plastic surgery, dental work, fat loss surgery and a grueling workout plan. Over the course of three months — a shockingly short amount of time considering the physical pressures put on these contestants — these women transformed themselves, living in a controlled environment without mirrors and relying on the show’s therapist; its life coach, executive producer Nely Galán; and each other. These still-recovering women were then pitted against each other in a beauty pageant.
Even in the early 2000s, the show was heavily criticized for promoting negative body images for women and for the shocking measures its contestants were forced to take. Still, the too-shocking-to-skip series averaged 9 million viewers an episode in its first season.
“I think in the wake of the ‘America’s Next Top Model’ documentary [‘Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model’], there was extremely high interest in the subject matter, and the women had already been waiting for 22 years,” Carr said about making the documentary. “It really was about making sure that this felt like it was in the zeitgeist. Of course, it could be in the zeitgeist in six months. But now feels like a perfect time. It’s a confluence of all these different things happening, and it’s time to tell the story of ‘The Swan.’”
Expectation TV, the production company behind the film, had been working on what would become “Behind the Mirror” for years before Carr was ever brought on board. Known for her deeply emotional and thought-provoking documentary work, Carr wanted to ensure that her telling of “The Swan” didn’t focus just on the producers or the cultural impact of this series but instead on the actual contestants.
“It was about fostering the relationships with these beautiful people, these women, to create an emotionally expansive dynamic inside the film,” Carr explained. “There have been shows about reality shows — some extremely successful ones — but they’ve often been from the viewpoint of the producers. Sometimes women’s stories are siloed to one thing. So for this, I had a huge, deep feeling that was like, I don’t want to come and do exactly what the show did to them. I was really lucky to work with Beth, who didn’t make me pick four people but allowed us and the producers to really tell each story.”
That care for the contestants’ stories translated to how each former “Swan” was interviewed and styled for the documentary. One of the most traumatizing aspects of the original Fox reality show were the interviews. While these women were healing from surgery and away from their friends and families, producers would probe them with invasive questions in the hopes of eliciting a reaction. At one point, Season 2 contestant Dore Weber reveals that a cameraperson asked her about her infertility struggles while she was reading a letter from her sister, who just had a baby.
These sorts of invasive questions were par for the course on “The Swan,” a show that described getting a contestant to cry onscreen as the “money shot.” That’s why Carr was especially careful to make sure each contestant felt like they had agency in “Behind the Mirror.”
“Before every interview, I sat at the feet of each of the Swans, and I said, ‘There is a societal thing where women feel like they have to answer questions when they’re posed to them. You don’t have to. This isn’t a reality show … I am giving you the power in this to talk about what you think is important,’” Carr said.
“Behind the Mirror” also had a large female crew, a decision that Carr believes helped construct a safe environment for her documentary subjects. Each woman was even given her own walk-on song.
“I recommend this for every documentary filmmaker who’s dealing with somebody who’s in trauma. You pick your favorite song, we play it in the speakers and everybody claps,” she said. “I want to make you feel like a rock star — confident, cool, listened to — and that’s how we did it, which was so fun. I’d never done that before.”
That care even translated into the styling of the Swans. As the film explores, “The Swan” did not take the preferences of its contestants into consideration before giving them extensive, nearly permanent makeovers. Season 1 contestant Tawnya Cooke speculates in the documentary that she wasn’t pushed through to the pageant because she refused to get a nose job. Season 2 contestant Kari Bravata admits that she didn’t recognize herself when she was finally allowed to look in a mirror. It was only after she took off the makeup, dress and hair extensions that she saw herself again. Even more horrifying, Bravata experienced several complications after her image-changing surgeries.
“I communicated that this wasn’t supposed to be a super made up, overdone thing. Let’s try to keep it as naturalistic as possible. But also, if you want to go crazy, go crazy,” Car said, noting that the makeup artist for the film — Devan Underwood — is “one of the best makeup artists I know.” Carr also asked the women to bring multiple outfits and planned the curtain behind them based on which curtain went best with which woman and outfit. The producers for “The Swan” weren’t given that luxury.
“I don’t know if you caught this, but I put all the producers in front of a red curtain because they had done that to the women,” Carr said.
That stark contrast between the contestants vs. the producers and onscreen talent is another theme woven throughout “Behind the Mirror.” At one point, Dr. Randal Haworth, one of the plastic surgeons in “The Swan,” refers to himself as “a plumber,” implying that he saw the pre-surgery women were toilets. Later in the movie, producer Carl Buehl becomes emotional when a woman is crowned the pageant winner and declares, “That’s why we do shows like that.” His awestruck comment comes after multiple contestants have detailed how they feel victimized by “The Swan.”
“If you sit for an interview with me, I have enormous gratitude because it is so easy to say no,” Carr said. “I think everybody I interviewed felt some deep conflict about [‘The Swan’] at times. There was Jenna [Baker, a producer], who’s a very matter-of-fact person. She said they had 1% choice in terms of what happened, and she didn’t think that was fair. I don’t think she would have done a third season of it.”
As much as “Behind the Mirror” may be remembered for its shocking revelations, it’s the documentary’s ending that will stick with Carr. The doc ends with a reunion between several former contestants. Even after more than an hour spent watching these women detail how traumatizing it was to be on “The Swan,” many of them confidently say that, if given the choice, they would do it all over again. That’s because this reality show led to them meeting each other.
“I am obsessed with this film because I finally got a happy ending. All my films are so sad,” Carr said, referring to works like “Murdaugh: Death in the Family” or “I Love You, Now Die: The Commonwealth V. Michelle Carter.” “I don’t think I could be happier. It almost doesn’t ever even matter [how it’s received]. Sometimes it matters so much what audiences feel about this. But for me, I did right by the women, and that’s what we can’t lose as documentarians. It’s such a fine line between journalism and documentarian, but I don’t want to have people go through their trauma and leave them with more trauma.”
Carr also hopes this film will put to rest the question that’s haunted the contestants of “The Swan” for decades: Why would you do this?
“This story is for anybody who has felt like they don’t like the skin they’re in,” she said. “What I needed to do with this film — and I hope we were successful — is answer the why. Somebody comes into your life and says, ‘You don’t feel good about yourself? We can change everything. We’ll get you a nutritionist. We’ll get you a therapist. We’ll get you a trainer. We’ll do the plastic surgery that you want.’ And it was the advent of reality TV. People didn’t know how human beings were treated in reality TV at the time.
“I needed to answer the question: Have you ever felt bad about your body? Imagine someone came to you with a golden ticket, and instead of that happening, this happened,” Carr said.
