If you’ve been living under a rock for the last three weeks, let me explain the premise of Netflix’s Love Is Blind. Single men and women sit in “pods,” where they talk to each other through walls, and the whole point is to find a partner and prove that love is truly blind. Does that sound absolutely insane? Yes. Did tons of people watch it anyway? Also, yes.
Netflix has been getting into the reality TV show game recently, and considering I loved The Circle, I decided to try Love Is Blind. I’ll admit that I did watch the whole 10-episode season, but I couldn’t get rid of this feeling in the pit of my stomach while I watched. At first, I rolled my eyes when contestants said they were in love with someone after talking to them for less than an episode. And then, as it grew to proposals (which were done still in the pods, wut?) and bachelorette parties (where everyone had like one friend there, also wut?), I got straight-up angry. I’m not a romantic, but I certainly don”t believe in people treating marriage like as much of a joke as these people did.
With all reality shows, you have to suspend disbelief at least a little bit. If you’re reading this under the assumption that The Bachelor is real, for example, I have bad news for you. Part of the problem with this show, though, is how the season was structured. I assumed the whole 10 episodes would be about people dating around in the pods, looking for love. What I didn’t anticipate was that by episode 2, people would be engaged and on their way to a pseudo-honeymoon. The narrative arc of having the proposals happen right up front made it so hard to believe any of the people actually had a shot at making it.
Then, for the next eight episodes, we had to watch these people who didn’t know anything about their “partners” give each other ultimatums and vent about how they weren’t sure the other person was truly committed and ready for marriage. More than half the show was spent figuring out they weren’t right for each other. Like…no shit? You’ve known each other for a literal day. It’s hard to watch people struggle to make a decision that should be so obvious (looking at you, Damian and Giannina).
FWIW, plenty of other reality shows do this same thing. The difference here, though, is the truncated timeline. They were forced to move in with one another into strange corporate apartments after only seven days, met each other’s parents after nine days, and then got married within four weeks. (Also, contestants were forced to walk down the aisle, even if they knew ahead of time they were going to say no.) It’s one thing to watch a delusional 23-year-old think she’s falling in love with Peter Weber after one date, but it’s another to watch a 32-year-old sit in a box for, in TV time, less than an hour, and come out with a ring on their finger.
I’m not here to preach about the sanctity of marriage. Lots of people who shouldn’t get married do just that every day, and ultimately, Love Is Blind is made for entertainment. But something about watching these people call each other soul mates and pick out wedding dresses after two weeks cheapens what that even means. If that’s all it takes to get married, that doesn’t seem like something worth working toward.
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