Love Island’s age preference remains the same as younger generations enter the villa. Does this disrupt the peace, or will Love Island be able to handle situationship bombshells?
As Season 8 of Love Island USA came to a close, with the final premiere airing just a couple of days ago, casting calls are being made around the globe for season nine. The casting calls are open year-round, with the final original crew being announced a week before the first episode is released.
Why Be on Love Island?
The original goal of Love Island is for a group of young, hot contestants to find their “life partner” on a remote island; they do this by EXPLORING the other contestants on the island. Once the contestants have explored their options, each contestant couples up with someone else in the Villa; whichever couple makes it to the end by the viewers wins the grand cash prize. THAT’S THE ORIGINAL GOAL!! However, many apply to Love Island for the fame and success after leaving the Villa; many contestants have been able to make a living off of brand deals, signing with a modeling agency, or just making simple day-in-my-life videos.
This fame mindset ruins the genuine feels or connections that could potentially happen, all because a contestant wants to stay to the end of the season to get the most screen time to be the fan fave. This is called playing the game: couple up early with someone, try to get the most screen time, last until the end, then win. This usually doesn’t end well, because one of the contestants ends up exploring a different connection with someone else.
Friendship Island
Is friendship worth more than a romantic relationship? That’s a question as old as time socially, but on a dating show, the rules have to be broken. The standard Villa way is for the other couples to explore each other’s couples to see if they have any type of connection, but in recent seasons. The platonic friendships have more value than romantic ones, because of the fear of betraying a “loyal” friendship. This can be great in general, but the original intention of the show loses its value.
Insecurities
Many of the cast members showed signs of internal and external insecurity in their romantic connections, maintaining nonchalant behavior throughout the season. For example, being detached and not publicly expressing any romantic emotions toward each other won’t hurt or make anyone look “stupid”. This is “commitment-phobia”: never be committed so you won’t get played in the end. #Playemdontgetplayed
Creating or being in a situationship is also an insecurity for both parties. Creating one shows that you are scared to leave a relationship for fear of being alone. However, being willing to be in one also shows the same, AND that anyone can treat you any way they please.
Sassy Men
Men these past couple of seasons have shown signs of the sassy men epidemic. The men always want to be picked and lusted over by the women first. During this season, we saw clear examples of manipulation and misogyny.
KC and Zach both had issues with the women giving them affection. KC slowly grew resentment towards Aniya when she wouldn’t sleep with him or be that physically intimate in the Villa. She had boundaries and was uncomfortable with physical intimacy in front of everyone. Thus, the comment calling Aniya a “grandma” was born, and the hatred began; he never fully forgave her for not choosing him first in the coupling. With Zach, he used not being physically intimate with Kayda as a type of punishment if he was upset with her or saying we should still be open to exploring other people. Even though this made her very uncomfortable and made her second-guess herself.
I hope that in future seasons the men and women can truly discover each other, not physically, but emotionally. The point of the show is to explore couples and not to build lasting friendships. Yes, that is a plus of the show, but the true goal is to be a good romantic relationship that lasts forever.