AIBU to think that Love Island should be axed?

[Jade218]

AIBU to think Love Island is sending really harmful messages and is really bad for modern society and should be axed?

My reasons;

1. Two suicides as a result of participants being unable to cope after the show
2. Every year black female contestants are voted last (I can’t help but feel producers should ensure there is an opportunity for a contestant to be picked by asking if people would consider interracial dating - in the same way they wouldn’t put in a gay person without ensuring there is a potential suitor that is also gay)
3. The ‘ideal standard of beauty’ being promoted is really harmful to young people and is not helping their insecurities
4. The message that being ‘pretty’ is enough to get you all the fame and money in the world

It disgusts me. I’m on the verge of starting an online position for it to be axed - if Jeremy Kyle deserves to be axed so does this! AIBU or does anyone else agree?

Completely in agreement - I’ve never watched a single episode but I know enough to feel as though I can make a judgement. The whole concept of the show makes me feel sick.

Love Island won’t be axed, though. Sex sells, whether we like it or not. YANBU.

I don’t watch it so can’t pass judgment on the voting process.

But the whole shallowness of it and the pressure to be perfect isn’t a good message

The whole concept is terrible and damaging. If DC was old enough to watch it I’d try my hardest to prevent them from doing so.

In years to come people will look back in astonishment that this was a popular programme much like we do with Ms World in the 80s.

Yabu

It's not that deep, it's just entertainment. If you don't like it then you have a remote control so turn it off

YANBU

Totally unreasonable. Love Island is good stuff and good entertainment.

@Shoxfordian I say this more for younger people.

It doesn’t bother me as I’m 35 and secure in who I am, but if I go back to my late teens early twenties when I’m at an age where my parents cannot dictate what I’m watching, this kind of programme would have provoked so many insecurities and at those tender ages people are too vulnerable to see the potential damage.

Just my thoughts anyway, its more about younger generation as I’m old enough to understand the BS that the show promotes. Younger people I’m not so sure can

My 15yo DD watches it with a very open mind. She knows it’s not ‘real life’ and therefore treats it as the entertainment it’s meant to be

Nobody gets 'voted last'. Thats not how it works, the public don't actually have that much say. I get you don't like it, but at least get your facts straight.

ITV are not going to axe a show that makes them such a fortune in advertising. It's popular with the 16-35 demographic who are most desirable to advertisers.

YABU its trashy tv and its great entertainment

It isn't really the fault of the tv show that someone might feel insecure watching it though. Self esteem isn't something you can get through not watching love island.

I absolutely agree with you, OP. It's cheap, trashy and exploitative telly. I believe it encourages girls and young women to believes that they have to expose their bodies to be popula, or to achieve anything. It's a real step backwards for women and girls.

I'm kind of with you, OP. I do watch love island but was saying to DD only yesterday - why is it that the black females, who are both lovely and beautiful, don't get picked by the blokes? The men, whether black or white, frequently seem to be queuing up for the petite white blonde girls.

Samira last year was just so lovely and Yewande this year also seems really nice and both are beautiful girls. Yet they get sidelined. It sends a terrible message.

I too think they should deliberately pick blokes who like bigger girls/ black girls/ mixed race girls etc not just put in a load of men who are all going to fight over the one or two blondes.

It disgusts me. I’m on the verge of starting an online position for it to be axed
Complete overreaction if you don't like it don't watch it

@Ohnotanothernamechange I didn’t say that the public vote.

Merely a suggestion for producers to at least make sure there’s a possibility of someone being in the running before putting that person in the villa.

I’ve got my facts straight thanks,

I’m also not suggesting that Love Island is solely to blame for insecurity issues amongst young people.

No individual thing is to blame but collectively they are creating a really big problem amongst modern society. And when two people from a TV show commit suicide in such a short space of time I think it speaks volumes about the messages the show is sending and how it is being created.

@justeatasalad I don’t watch it - I’ve seen small snippets which is enough for me to comment

I would say I’m fairly open minded generally but I simply do not understand why anyone thinks this is a reasonable premise for a tv show, it really baffles me. You’re watching people enter into relationships for entertainment value, to be famous etc. I’d be mortified if one of my children went on it and I really don’t understand why anyone wants to watch people with so little self respect do what they do.

It’s pretty tire

I watched some last night with my boyfriend it made me feel so uncomfortable . It’s voyeristic. I also felt my self getting really insecure wondering if I should have a flatter tummy and A boob job . Also really worried that younger women think that fillers etc are actually natural and not the work of a surgeon

OP I'm the same age as you so you must remember Big Brother starting up in our early teens? I was a big fan when the first series aired but I don't remember finding it aspirational as a young person, just entertaining. I have watched Love Island but I don't anymore (I have 2 kids 2 and under and frankly it's far too much of a commitment for me!) and found it to be harmless, and in some cases, heartwarming, trash.

I think it's unfair to blame the show entirely for the two much-publicised suicides although I'd concede it was a factor. Wasn't one of the people in question in great debt and committed the act at the end of a cocaine binge?

1. Two suicides as a result of participants being unable to cope after the show

This isn't actually true you know? One had long term depression and yes I'll bet that was exaggerated by the fame that came from love island.

The recent death was a guy whose family members and best friend had just died, so he wasn't coping. No suggestion from his loved ones that it had anything to do with the show.

I think drink and alcohol played a significant part in the death.
I hate the way black women are treated on the show.

YABU. THE programme of the summer. Much better than that Game of Thrones shite.

I watch it and enjoy it for what it is.

That being said, as a PP said, I am secure in myself now. I'm not sure what kind of message it sends to teenagers. Particularly when it comes to self esteem and relationships.

I think it would be interesting if they put a more diverse spectrum of people in there. More POC, different body shapes, people with disabilities, etc. I think it reinforces the notion that you aren't attractive unless you look like the contestants.

But, for some (including me) it is entertaining. And I think parents have a responsibility to talk about the show with their kids and explain that it's constructed reality, etc.

One had long term depression and yes I'll bet that was exaggerated by the fame that came from love island.

But doesn’t that in itself raise questions? About both the selection process for contestants and how it ensures they are in a place to cope not only with the show but the aftermath and also the support provided afterwards?