Nwanne Eke
Viewpoints Editor
From “The Bachelor” to “90 Day Fiancé,” “Love Is Blind” to “Love Island,” the general public seems enthralled with looking at and navigating the messiness that comes with romantic relationships. While in our own lives this journey is private and oftentimes mundane, broadcasting to a larger audience through channels such as TLC and ABC and streaming services such as Netflix and Peacock, invites broader discourse on what love is, who is deserving of it and the lengths to which one should go to feel it.
Like many others, I was thoroughly engulfed in the “LoveIsland USA” frenzy (#nicolandria were MY winners), tuning in every night — except Wednesday and Saturday, because who really cares about Aftersun — at 8:45 p.m. sharp. This season sent both viewers and the islanders through a whirlwind of emotions. Bizarre and sometimes disgusting challenges…(Who really wants to have spit-up milk poured on them?) …were followed by nerve-racking island send-offs decided by the islanders and viewers at home. Viewers had to distinguish between relationships they felt were authentic and ones they felt were scams. While inside the villa, islanders were on a six-week time constraint to pull each other for “chats” and explore every connection they felt —all while portraying an image of genuineness, lest they come off as a “ringleader” who came to the villa with ulterior motives. These images prove more often than not to be just that, images, facades, if you will. Is six weeks enough time to fall in love and become “closed off ” with anyone? Can islanders’ actions in the villa be seen as indicative of their characters in the real world?
Like many other reality television shows, “Love Island USA” puts its contestants under the deeply critical gaze of the American public, who dive into seemingly never-ending discourse on what constitutes a healthy relationship, while sitting on their couches, single, bored and unqualified. This discourse often goes past the point of the show, finding and supporting love and spirals into the creation of online communities dedicated to disparaging some contestants while supporting others.
Viewers fail to realize that reality television is the exact opposite of what it’s called. The parasocial relationships formed during these shows are built on lies. As viewers, we see only a sliver of what is filmed and that sliver is carefully curated to paint the picture that producers want us to see, not the objective reality of what occurs. Though the watch parties were fun and the online discourse was riveting, let’s all use this time between seasons to take a deep breath, touch some grass and realize that it’s all for entertainment.