Is Love Truly Blind…? No, Not Really.

Love is Blind has taken the reality television show industry by storm. With its interesting premise, plot twists, and crazy cliffhangers, it’s very hard to put the phone down and not binge watch the whole season all at once. 

Love Is Blind brings together 40-50 young and attractive singles who (supposedly) are looking for love. They are separated into women’s and men’s living quarters. From there, they find out if love is truly blind by going on dates in conversation pods. They can hear their date through a wall but cannot see them. Once you make a connection with another person, the man decides to propose… while still inside the pod. Their appearance is then revealed. Out of all of the contestants, only five couples get to leave engaged. These couples then go on to be pampered on a beach vacation before entering their real lives. This is to see if they're just in a honeymoon phase or if they are equipped to get married.

The premise of the show is amusing, and sounds like it has good intentions, setting individuals up to find “the one” through real connection and not just physical attraction. The problem is that they are all attractive! The real reason it doesn't work out between most of these couples is because they have to rush into love and get engaged after just a few weeks of knowing each other, and then get married shortly after that. The main problem isn't if they look good enough to marry each other; the real issue is that once the ten couples are all together, their looks start to get compared, which is frankly never good for one's self-esteem. It is hard not to wonder why these people come on the show if after they get engaged, they still care so much about how the other people look. Being compared to others after getting recently engaged and the rush of the process overall is why a lot of the couples on Love Is Blind don’t make it past the altar. 

There is another reason why the show doesn't work, that reason being that a lot of the cast members are hungry for fame. For example, two of the men came on the show with significant others! I know, right—plot twist. One contestant this season, Trevor, came to the show while having a girlfriend back at home. This made Love Is Blind fans cringe, especially since Trevor was considered to be one of the “teddy bears” this season. Another man from this season, Jeramey, signed up for the show while he was engaged to another woman! Jaramey has come out and said that he wasn't living with her when casting reached out to him, but the point still remains. Why would someone agree to be on a show to find love when they aren't actually interested in finding it?! 

This brings me to the idea of being the second choice. The idea of going on the show and automatically knowing the love of your life is there always raises red flags. There are maybe 20 to 25 possible matches for you. However, when you think about it, that's not that many. It is very possible that the love of your life isn't there, which in itself poses a problem. The whole idea of not actually being interested in finding love or finding a default partner is the reason the show does not work. This season, Amber Desiree, also known as AD, quickly became a fan favorite because of her spunk and confidence. She first hit it off with a guy named Matthew who ultimately ended up leaving her for another girl. She ended up at the altar with a guy named Clay, who was her second choice in the pods. Clay was deliberately rude to AD, but since she couldn't go to the altar with Matthew, she decided to say yes to Clay’s proposal. It seems difficult to understand why someone would go on a show to find true love and pick their second choice. However, it's not so surprising when you look at it—it is a classic case of someone craving 50 seconds of fame. 

To add to the countless problems of this reality TV show, it certainly doesn't help that while filming the show, nearly the entire cast is intoxicated. It is without a doubt going to be difficult to find a partner when for the majority of the time you know them, they are under the influence. How are you really supposed to get to know someone and be with them for the rest of your life when you don't know who they truly are?

To conclude, this show highlights the toxicity of relationships, especially when they are found on reality television. Being compared to other people while simultaneously trying to get married to them is just an utterly unhealthy way to start a romantic relationship. Dating shouldn't be a competition, and putting so many people against each other evokes many negative feelings that directly harm relationships.