Love Island is perhaps the trashiest television show to ever grace our screens. You know it, I know it, everyone knows it. And yet, it has so many of us hooked under its spell. So why does watching something so wrong feels so damn right? And what does it say about us?
Put simply, it says, “hey, you’re only human.”
A few weeks ago if you asked me about Love Island or The Bachelor I would have given a dismissive “I don’t understand the appeal.” Like many people who might be out to make you feel bad for enjoying the show, I harboured a belief that resisting was a sign of intellectual prowess.
I solemnly regret this sentiment almost as much as I regret ever believing that Cassidy was worth anyone’s time.
Australia at Cassidy for pulling a Grant #LoveIslandAU pic.twitter.com/nGag9onGxK
— hayley (@hayleyskordei) June 12, 2018
Now that I’m part of the trashy-dating-show-watching community (and stoked to be here!), it’s clear that getting in on the action is far from a sign of weakness. It’s a sign that you don’t take yourself so seriously that you would deprive yourself of all this blissfully idiotic content.
We’ve all got needs, and you know what? Love Island is providing the goods.*
*Except of course for the frustratingly sexist Irish voice-over and the complete lack of racial and body diversity among contestants and a few other super shallow and problematic aspects of the show. For now we’ll just have to sit with the fact we’re addicted to Love Island in spite of its bleak downfalls.
To persevere with our investigation, let’s break down exactly why we’re all sucked in by Love Island so that we can better understand how this show became such a defining factor of our lives.
#1 We Want That Sweet Sweet Escapism
It’s no coincidence that I fell into the soothingly mindless arms of Love Island after a particularly traumatic episode of Handmaid’s Tale season two. Is this love or PTSD? Hard to say.
With so much bad stuff going on in the world it makes sense to seek refuge in a reality TV show that is so extremely far removed from reality. Admittedly, escapism is a privilege, and I don’t recommend it as an entire lifestyle, but for one hour five nights a week, we sit down and find sweet relief in the petty drama of Love Island.
Yea suck it Elias.
So lean into it as the weight of all your stresses is temporarily replaced by your passion for Eden and Erin to remain stable as a couple. All that says about you is that you need a mental break to keep on keeping on.
End game.
#2 We Are All Anthropologists, Deep Down
Ok, so you can’t blame yourself for getting hooked on the Lord Of The Flies style approach of this dating show. Love Island is an irresistible peek into a very particular breed of Australians that we may otherwise never get to see. And to see them build ‘friendships’ and ‘romances’ is a wild experiment.
When you put a bunch of absolutely extra individuals together it’s like a caricature of the real world that we can objectively analyse for training purposes.
For instance, Grant is out here spelling out exactly what emotional manipulation looks like, and that helps us to spot and understand the toxic relationships in our own life.
And Elias’s behaviour reminds us that even though a dude might be incredibly hot, he’s probably a pathetic little child inside. Don’t be played a fool! Thanks guys!
All #LoveIslandAU does is cement my opinion that men are awful
— ????? ?????? (@_meatba11) June 14, 2018
We are all just curious creatures gathered here each night to do a learn about humanity.
What's the next scientifical topic lesson Prof Josh n Grant can teach us? #LoveIslandAU pic.twitter.com/LqRKFa4Jww
— Bachtastic (@Bachtastic) June 11, 2018
#3 We Love To Live In The Moment
You know what makes Love Island so damn exciting? This drama is happening now. Unlike The Bachelor series where what we watch was filmed months before, the Love Island action comes to us a mere day later.
We can get a whole lot more emotionally invested in the contestants knowing that their fate isn’t yet sealed. Add the voting to the mix and it’s almost like we’re a part of it.
Me getting ready to vote Grant out the second voting opens #loveislandau pic.twitter.com/t72vRLN0Vf
— hayley (@hayleyskordei) June 5, 2018
Yes, I downloaded the Love Island app and yes I cast my vote for which islander most deserves a date (Justin, obviously) and I’ve thought about how to infiltrate the house to save Tayla from making this huge life mistake (Grant, obviously).
That’s just plain compassion.
#4 We Are Here For The Spectacle
Love Island is ridiculous. No one is denying that from the concept to the challenges to the contestants, it’s an absolute spectacle. And that plus the emphasis on sex is a simple but irresistible recipe for entertainment.
Most of our enjoyment honestly comes from the shock of watching these people enter into this alternate universe and behave with such a lack of self-awareness.
It’s truly bizarre seeing them form ‘deep’ connections in a matter of hours and hearing them claim they’re actually here for love…? Are these people real? Who cares! We love it!
So there you have it. Give Love Island a chance and you too can hinge your mental health on the success of Erin and Eden’s relationship.
Own your Love Island addiction. Lean into it. Though I would recommend subsidising it with some more socially engaged content.
Get around Atlanta, binge watch Dear White People, give Big Little Lies a crack, but definitely don’t let anyone make you feel like enjoying some stupid sh*t like Love Island says anything bad about you as a person.
