Love Island USA Season 8 has been nothing short of entertaining. From a jarring movie night to Kenzie doing the splits (go off, I guess), the season has kept fans fed all summer. But as fun as it is to have an episode of mindless reality TV to watch nearly every night, some critics of the show are implying it may be a bit too mindless; specifically, they’re linking the way some cast members speak to the declining literacy rates across the United States.
I understand where the criticism is coming from. Multiple Islanders — the affectionate nickname for the lucky group of twentysomethings inhabiting the Love Island villa in Fiji every summer — have used the wrong word or phrase or mispronounced words in confessionals and conversations all throughout the season. Viewers have seized on these moments, taking to social media to call them out and poke fun at them. Some are even blaming them for being part of America’s literacy problem. But is that really the conversation we should be having about this issue?
In a hyperdigital world, literacy — or the lack of it — has become a bigger concern than ever in recent years. According to the National Literacy Institute, 54% of American adults can’t read above a sixth grade level. If the literacy rate continues to drop as it has in recent years, Gen Z and Gen Alpha could face tremendous challenges as both generations grow into adults.
“The U.S. absolutely has a literacy problem, and a lot of it goes back to policy,” scholar and sociolinguist Erica Brozovsky tells Her Campus. She notes many of the Islanders were likely in school during a time when there was less emphasis on teaching phonics, and student success was largely measured by test scores rather than real-life outcomes. “When it comes to Love Island, the islanders are being followed around by cameras 24/7, so the fact that they’re a product of these kinds of educational policies is bound to come to light.”
The main source of online criticism comes from the Islanders mispronouncing words. However, Brozovsky notes those are simple mistakes with simple solutions — and not necessarily signs of low literacy. “Mispronunciation often comes from only ever reading a word and not hearing it spoken aloud, so that might be the case with Sincere and his pronunciation of epitome, especially since he used it correctly in context,” Borozovsky says. Even more bizarre flubs don’t have to sound the alarm bells. “Jen’s pronunciation of compromise was surprising, especially since it is a fairly common word. She did self-correct after her partner copied the mispronunciation, though,” Borozovsky says. “There’s a chance she was trying to do a bit about ‘promises,’ but more likely she had a little brain glitch.”
Viewers have been especially hard on Sincere, who has misspoken more than once — saying he wants to “emerge” himself in the experience and calling one woman a “ball” of fresh air. Borozovsky finds these missteps interesting. “Emerge vs. immerse is an example of a malapropism, where someone uses similar sounding words incorrectly,” Borozovsky says. “It could also be that he was thinking of both immerse and submerge and then a combo of the two came out that happens to be another word.” As for “ball vs. breath,” Borozovsky isn’t sure what happened there, but she does point out something critics should absolutely keep in mind: “He is bilingual, and it’s not uncommon to make these kinds of mistakes as a bilingual speaker,” she says.
Sincere’s case demonstrates why Love Island fans shouldn’t pass judgment on the cast’s literacy simply based on these clips that go viral. If you really want to gauge how skilled a communicator someone is, you have to look deeper. “I’m interested in how the actual conversations go,” Borozovsky says. “Do they make logical arguments (positions on an issue, not fights)? Do they understand each other beyond the surface level? Can they differentiate between facts and opinions? Comprehension and critical thinking are where a major literacy problem is likely visible.”
Borozovsky acknowledges that the Islanders’ varying levels of literacy may very well be a reflection of the varying levels of literacy across the country. Considering the literacy rates in the U.S., “it’s statistically likely that a number of [the Islanders] have low literacy,” she says. But the Love Island cast members aren’t necessarily less literate than the masses — they’re just highly visible. “Love Island is a huge cultural touchstone; tons of people watch it. So anything said (especially negative! And seemingly indicative of cultural shortcomings!) will definitely spread,” she says. “We all make mistakes and flub things, so a 24/7 camera with a production crew building a story could make anyone look any kind of way.”
So yeah — maybe some of the LIUSA cast members could stand to brush up on their vocabulary, but the truth is, viewers can’t really judge their literacy just based on what they see on TV, nor is it helpful to be so cynical about it. “It might feel like we’re cooked — a slow roast, if you will, to borrow some of KC’s language,” Borozovsky says. “But the thing to keep in mind is that we can learn. All of us can, and should, improve our literacy skills.” And with that, I’m putting Peacock on pause and picking up a book… at least until the next LIUSA episode comes out.