Love is Blind has become one of Netflix’s most popular and longest running dating reality shows. Now in its seventh season, there has been increasing criticism about multiple aspects of the show, from the people they chose to participate in to its production.Â
Many people online joke that the show was created so that Lauren and Cameron, a couple from the first season of the show, could meet. Since then, many think the show has gone downhill. Lauren and Cameron’s relationship truly highlighted the meaning of the show, the purpose of the hypothesis it sets out to prove. Is it truly possible to find love without ever physically seeing a person? And is that love strong enough to face all the challenges in the real world, outside of the pods where couples first meet?
While Lauren and Cameron seem to have gotten it right straight out the gate, there have been many other couples who did not and this seventh season has only emphasized why. Since their boom in popularity with Big Brother and Survivor, reality TV has become a way for people to get famous. In the era of mega rich influencers, a show like Love is Blind seems like another easy way to leverage public opinion and amass followers on social media to turn it into a career.Â
Regardless if someone’s intention is to truly find love, one cannot ignore the possible financial benefits participating in Love is Blind may have. However, if their intentions are not genuine, then participants who are in it for the money end up playing with other people’s feelings, following through with engagements they have no intention of staying in just to make it as long as possible on the show. While the hypothesis that love is blind may hold true in a controlled setting, it has become clear that reality TV does not provide the proper conditions to conduct this experiment.
Beyond questionable intentions, the show has also brought to light a lot of the reasons dating can be so hard in this modern age. The short experiment lasts only four weeks after couples became engaged. They first spend time on a vacation, disconnected from the real world, and then return to their real lives, jobs and families to really put their relationship to the test. During this short period of time, people’s real feelings tend to pour out and their true colors show under the pressure. For the men specifically, this has shed light on many of their toxic and unrealistic expectations and misconceptions about who a partner should be and what they should do. From cheating, to expecting sex and women to take on the burden of birth control, the men on the show repeatedly show how unprepared they are to be a true partner to a woman. Even more than the cast members themselves, Love is Blind continues to reveal everything that is wrong with reality TV: it is not reality. For decades reality tv has been painted as the truth, a real glimpse into people’s lives. When in reality, it is edited to an extent that might exceed a fictional TV show. Just like a normal TV show, reality TV producers have an agenda to push, they have a story to tell. Regardless of how people behave in real life, they need a villain, a hero and a victim etc. to convince people to watch. Admittedly, this tactic works, people tune in. But this tactic also warps people’s perception of reality, what real love looks like and how real people behave in relationships. While Taylor and Garrett’s love story was swoon worthy, we all cheered when Monica told Stephen to Venmo her after he cheated, and everyone jumped down Hannah’s throat for how she treated Nick, it is important to remember we do not know any of these people. We have no clue what their true intentions were, how they really acted and what they really said, even when they were on camera. We were fed a narrative and there is no one to know how truthful it was to reality. Season 7 of Love is Blind serves as a reminder that reality TV is fun and entertaining, and even though the cast members are playing themselves does not mean viewers should assume anything about them and their lives.