Comparing this with Black Mirror isn't far fetch. I've never watched Love Island, but between other reality TV series that are based on love there are some aspects that I can see becoming an episode of Black Mirror. Love is Blind I feel is one of them, especially when you have the participants forming relationships with just a voice.
Love is blind is such a good addition to this!! I honestly don’t think it’s too far off, the episode “White Bear” where a woman wakes up with amnesia and is hunted by people filming her felt very similar to the tension and anxiety you can recognise in the islanders if you pay attention (with the islanders being somewhat innocent participants). There’s this inherent belief that because everything is filmed that everything is shown, but the reality is that the contestants are filmed 24/7 while the audience gets a snippet of that day. There’s more to it and it’s so disheartening to see how the audience is participating in this scrutiny!
Interestingly enough, I feel like the first season is the biggest victim to it because it truly was not knowing what to expect vs. current seasons where people audition or are scouted for it. It took me until some recent seasons to even know what is the timeline the participants follow from the moment they are in the pods to getting married, it’s insane.
loved this take, i am very behind on the show and just witnessed the first islander to be voted off and the new couples that emerged from that and i was honestly shocked to see the decisions made. it definitely seems extremely disingenuous and counterintuitive for viewers to be the one voting on these decisions instead of the islanders themselves (that itself is what's making this connect more to black mirror to me, it seems like a planned tactic to up viewer engagement through drama and power imbalance) but as im so far behind im interested to see how things play out further down the line
definitely! it feels like one of those movies where you get to decide what the characters do, except these aren’t characters they’re actual real people. For them to feel like how they’re portrayed determines their happiness/ fate is really counterproductive to the whole point of the show, and can be extremely detrimental to their health and perception
The lack of genuine couples does really make this season feel so different. And I only started watching last season so I don’t know if this is normal but the online hate feels insane! It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before
hiii ! as someone who hasn’t seen love island, it’s very interesting to hear your take; amidst the internet commenting on the elements within the show, you analyze those beyond it, and how online engagement coincides with the actual happenings. very thought provoking!
As someone who watched Love Island UK Season 1 and can still remember the relationships and cast members by heart, this is far from how this series began, and I definitely will not watch another season of the U.S. This is my first and it’s been very hard to digest.
Comparing this with Black Mirror isn't far fetch. I've never watched Love Island, but between other reality TV series that are based on love there are some aspects that I can see becoming an episode of Black Mirror. Love is Blind I feel is one of them, especially when you have the participants forming relationships with just a voice.
Love is blind is such a good addition to this!! I honestly don’t think it’s too far off, the episode “White Bear” where a woman wakes up with amnesia and is hunted by people filming her felt very similar to the tension and anxiety you can recognise in the islanders if you pay attention (with the islanders being somewhat innocent participants). There’s this inherent belief that because everything is filmed that everything is shown, but the reality is that the contestants are filmed 24/7 while the audience gets a snippet of that day. There’s more to it and it’s so disheartening to see how the audience is participating in this scrutiny!
Interestingly enough, I feel like the first season is the biggest victim to it because it truly was not knowing what to expect vs. current seasons where people audition or are scouted for it. It took me until some recent seasons to even know what is the timeline the participants follow from the moment they are in the pods to getting married, it’s insane.
loved this take, i am very behind on the show and just witnessed the first islander to be voted off and the new couples that emerged from that and i was honestly shocked to see the decisions made. it definitely seems extremely disingenuous and counterintuitive for viewers to be the one voting on these decisions instead of the islanders themselves (that itself is what's making this connect more to black mirror to me, it seems like a planned tactic to up viewer engagement through drama and power imbalance) but as im so far behind im interested to see how things play out further down the line
definitely! it feels like one of those movies where you get to decide what the characters do, except these aren’t characters they’re actual real people. For them to feel like how they’re portrayed determines their happiness/ fate is really counterproductive to the whole point of the show, and can be extremely detrimental to their health and perception
The lack of genuine couples does really make this season feel so different. And I only started watching last season so I don’t know if this is normal but the online hate feels insane! It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before
Love it! I just wrote a piece on love island too. Yall check it out if you love a little psych debrief and id love to dish on your thoughts 😍❣️🏝
Love island vs Stanford prison experiment - the art of performing but this time adding in a digital footprint: https://softcuts.substack.com/p/love-island-our-21st-century-stanford
hiii ! as someone who hasn’t seen love island, it’s very interesting to hear your take; amidst the internet commenting on the elements within the show, you analyze those beyond it, and how online engagement coincides with the actual happenings. very thought provoking!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it without having watched the show! Thank you so much for reading ❤️
Really good read!!!
thank you so much!! ❤️❤️
As someone who watched Love Island UK Season 1 and can still remember the relationships and cast members by heart, this is far from how this series began, and I definitely will not watch another season of the U.S. This is my first and it’s been very hard to digest.