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?

Insta is probably more damaging with all the filtered pics and catfishes on it yet most teenagers are on insta.

At least on LI we get to see them with their hair extensions in a mess and no make up on, as well as see them all glammed up at night time

We also get to see the boys looking normal

I like Love Island, it's light entertainment. It's no worse than other reality tv.

Don’t watch love island so can’t comment on the way it works, but find it interesting that Take Me Out, where contestants are judged on attractiveness with a button push without even opening their mouth has been merrily running for years.

The problem with love island is when they go through the selection process they ask the potential conestents what there ideal type is, thereafter they deliberately put men on the island who have a preference for blonde hair and blue eyes and the remaining male participants do not have a specific type. Read what you like into that but trust me when I say that this programme, just like the JK show is very goady, all done behind the scenes, the producers are the puppet masters and the participants, the puppets.

fred False. The producers are deliberately putting in men who have a preference for blonde haired blue eyed women, knowing full well that the blonde haired women will be the most desirable, why not put in a participant who has a preference for black women. It's all a set up by the producers, they know exactly what they are doing. All for entertainment purposes I guess.

It's no better and no worse than Big Brother. They've just focused on the elements of Big Brother that gained the most attention, e.g. hot young people getting into relationships and sex on TV.

Of course the producers are manipulating things in the background - it happens on every single reality TV show. Of course it's depressing that the black girls are the least popular - the same thing happens on Britain's Got X Factor Idol.

It's entertainment. It sells advertising. The producers should have a duty of care to only take people who can cope with it, but they don't because that doesn't make good TV.

@Doghaseatenthesqeaker I agree about Take me out that has its own sexist issues. Like the fact that it is the men always doing the picking, but that's another thread.

@Fredthefrog I completely agree that the treatment of black women is a small part of a much bigger problem on how black women are presented in the media. I've seen the dating app statistics too. I just feel like Love Island brings all these issues to the forefront more than most TV shows that's all.

I watched a whole episode in full last night as only ever seen snippets and read about it.

It was even worse than I imagined!

I agree there is an issue with diversity, where are the asian or Indian contestants or even red heads?

Is it that damaging though? Yes the contestants are blonde (largely dyed), slim or toned & tanned but no one in there is super human, incredibly handsome or beautiful. They all look very normal to me & show the stark reality between insta filters & real life. There does seem to be less surgery this time which I think is a good thing. I believe the people on this show know exactly what they are signing up for & it’s certainly not for love.

Agree. Plus having sex on tv?
I've never watched it and wont let my children watch it. Tacky low lifes and not appropriate. Scummy. Yes i do judge people who watch it.

It is very entertaining. I like watching it - me and my DH both do, the commentator is really funny because he kind of takes the piss out of them. They may be "good looking" but a lot of them aren't very bright.

Also as PP said, the women on the show call out crap behaviour by the men instantly and all the other girls support them - I think that is a good example to be setting.

I didn't know they have sex in there too, wow!

Oh it’s just a bit of naff, light-hearted entertainment- you are not obligated to watch!!! There are beautiful people all over the media and in real life too, why is that a problem?

People coming out have severe mental health issues and 2 have committed suicide. It's not light hearted entertainment.

It's utter shite

I agree about Take me out that has its own sexist issues. Like the fact that it is the men always doing the picking, but that's another thread..

It’s literally the other way round!! The women do the picking right up until the very last bit.

Can you imagine Take Me Out in reverse, a woman walks on stage and says “hi I’m Amy and I’m from Essex” and 10 men turn off their lights! She talks about herself for a bit (some more turn off their light), her friends and family talk about her (more lights off), she does a little skit (most people have now decided they don’t like her). I don’t think most women’s egos could cope with that, it’s brutal!!! The fact that at the last few, if indeed a few remain, the picker gets a choice is the least they can do! Take Me Out is totally weighted in favour of the women.

I always say that Love Island is like going to the zoo. You watch to see how their mating rituals and jealousy come across to the others, they get up to some fun and games which is entertaining and occasionally you catch them bonking!

It’s laying out the worst of human behaviour for us to judge, very much like J Kyle but without his aggressive smarmy judgey involvement.

Also the type of people that were shown on JK were held up as figures to mock and look down on. He clearly did, his studio audience jeering at them clearly did, viewers at home were invited to metaphorically throw rotten fruit at these people for their sins.

Love Island is presented as being aspirational, the participants are clearly living ‘glamorous’ lives, but we get to see that they all still suffer with jealousy, insecurity, infidelity etc. If anything it’s probably helpful for young impressionable girls to see that no matter how much surgery or lip fillers you have, you aren’t guaranteed to win the man of your dreams, or to keep him.

I like the friendships that develop, people supporting their mates through tricky emotional times, calling out shitty behaviour (mostly) from the men, and advising each other on how to deal with the ups and downs of dating.

I always go into thinking it’s trash, these people are vacuous twats and I wonder why I’m watching it. By the end I feel like I know them all, actually like most of them, even the ones who are a bit annoying, and there are always some interesting discussions about controlling behaviour etc which will send a strong message to young women about what they should accept from a man.

If you start banning programmes and movies which might make young people insecure, you would be banning about 99% of drama and reality shows. Media which portray ethnic minorities and bigger people in valuable roles (eg as a love interest rather than the joker) are few and far between.

People coming out have severe mental health issues and 2 have committed suicide. One of them two years after appearing in the show, after a combination of alcohol and cocaine, which the coroner said makes people 16 times more likely to harm themselves. Another after losing two very close relatives. Being on LI isn’t the reason they killed themselves, unlike the JK suicide which was apparently directly linked to the lie detector test on the programme.

It’s a load of shite! In total agreement with you, OP

Don’t think you can call the suicide a direct result of being on love island. Many artists have killed themselves but there isn’t a call to ban people from being singers

www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-7041353/Love-Islands-Zara-Holland-claims-rollercoaster-experience-left-battling-anxiety.html
This is a grim read.

Like watching fucking paint dry! Much like other reality TV programmes (big brother, X factor, Britain's got talent etc etc) loads of old shite!! But people love it so of course TV Bosses will continue to make these types of TV programmes.

I can't entirely slate the reality TV genre though as I love The Apprentice & GBBO which I think falls under the same kind of bracket?

Sad that 2 people committed suicide but I don't think you can entirely blame the show, Altho perhaps the writers should have stricter criteria when interviewing applicants...

I’ve watched about 2 episodes in total, just to see what the fuss is about.

It’s terrible. I disagree with how it promotes an unobtainable standard of beauty. Very fake. Harmful to young people.

Let me know if you start a petition, as I will sign, as will a lot of my friends.

It’s awful and means those who have awful/no personality and are completely shallow get rewarded. Article published shows they make any more than graduates can in a life time

Yesterday 12:08 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

That’s a massive allegation to make, to state that you know why these participants committed suicide. At least one of them had gone on to appear on other reality TV after Love Island, so why point the finger at that particular programme? There also seems to be evidence of personal and family issues which were factors in their decisions. Very different to Jeremy Kyle where the evidence is that the man killed himself within a week or two of the programme being recorded as a direct result of what happened on the show.

Also, re your comments about the black female contestants not getting picked... they were holding back as apparently not interested in the guys, which was their prerogative.

Fine for you to not like the show OP, but at least get your facts straight.

YABU if you don't like it don't watch it. But it's only light entertainment, not meant to be taken literally. Plenty of people like and enjoy watching it.