• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Login/ Register
  • Editorial Team
  • Get Involved

Exeposé Online

Making the headlines since 1987

Exeposé Online
  • Home
  • News
      • Local
      • COVID-19
      • University News
  • Comment
  • Features
      • National
      • Worldwide
      • Politics
      • Interviews
  • Science
      • News
      • Lite Science
      • Common Misconceptions
      • Environment
      • Health
      • Technology
  • Sport
  • Lifestyle
      • Fashion and Beauty
      • Features
      • Food
      • Wellbeing
      • Sustainability
  • Music
      • Interviews
      • Features
      • Live Reviews
      • Album Reviews
      • Single Reviews
  • Screen
      • Reviews
      • Features
      • Interviews
      • Festivals and Awards
  • Arts + Lit
      • Interviews
      • Features
      • Reviews
      • Creative Writing
  • Amplify
  • International
  • Multilingual
  • News
  • Comment
  • Features
  • Science
  • Sport
  • Lifestyle
  • Music
  • Screen
  • Arts + Lit
  • Amplify
  • International
  • Multilingual
Home / Screen

In defence of Love Island

Dr Alex suckles loudly on an ice lolly. “I like cars,” he whimpers, a drop of sugary green juice probing its way down his chin. The girl he’s talking to smiles and nods. “Oh really?” she asks, visibly more interested in the far superior banter occurring by the beanbags. The camera cuts elsewhere. Everyone watching will likely have been on at least one end of this conversation before: hopelessly flirting with someone who regards your eager face with a coroner’s gaze, or being on the receiving end of some chat that’s so abhorrent you can feel your bones ache as they describe their favourite podcast to you.

Herein lies the appeal of Love Island: it is relatable. Not passively relatable like a tired meme, but shockingly, viscerally relatable. It cuts straight to the very core of your being as you watch the entire spectrum of romantic emotion play out between 20-something 20-somethings and, whether you like it or not, you start recognising yourself in them. Not in their already-doing-sponsored-Instagram-posts good looks or their expertly sculpted bodies, but in their unfaltering, endlessly hopeful, and often embarrassing pursuit of love.

“You can’t usually watch yourself fingering your girlfriend for the first time on your TV , and there isn’t usually a Scottish man telling jokes over the top of it”

Despite the incredibly superficial nature of the show (and some of its contestants) there are people on there who are genuinely wanting to find love, and that is a far more endearing motivation than those of participants on other reality TV shows. Of course, it doesn’t reflect the world of dating whatsoever. You can’t usually watch yourself fingering your girlfriend for the first time on your TV a month after it’s happened, and there isn’t usually a Scottish man telling jokes over the top of it, and you aren’t usually three beds away from Danny Dyer’s daughter. But, usually, you do feel similar emotions to the islanders. And for these reasons, we start to care about what happens to them.

When the producers of Love Island made Dani Dyer cry, Ofcom received 650 complaints. This kind of thing doesn’t happen often in other reality TV shows. In 2010, when Gillian McKeith went on I’m A Celebrity, the public hounded her. We rejoiced in torturing her, day after day, trial after trial, kangaroo testicle after kangaroo testicle, until she passed out in the Australian dirt. “Kill her!” the synchronous voice of the public shouted, feverishly dialling the McKeith-specific phone number. “We want this woman to literally die on live television!” Yet as soon as we see lovely Dani Dyer in tears because the producers showed her an out-of-context video, we’re typing out our emails of complaint, arguing that toying with Dani’s mental health like that is irresponsible and immoral.

“Perhaps we’d have more sympathy  [with other shows] if we knew what it was like to be buried with 12 pythons”

However, this isn’t entirely surprising. We can sympathise with Dani, a nice girl who has clearly been treated terribly in the past, as she is forced to watch her partner do something which could be construed as unfaithful. A lot of people watching will have been in a similar position and know how it feels. But when we see Gillian McKeith, a celebrity, who has made her career by telling everyone to eat some more fucking lentils, we instantly want her to be buried underground with 12 pythons. Perhaps we’d have more sympathy if we knew what it was like to be buried with 12 pythons, but since we don’t, we look forward to her getting zero stars and heading out to eat some worms with Shaun Ryder the following morning.

Love Island is enjoyable for all the normal reality TV reasons: the petty arguments, the manufactured drama, the ritualistic dumping of contestants. But it’s also enjoyable because it has a heart. It may be a tiny heart, obscured by meaningless night-vision-shagging and inevitable club appearances, but by the end of the series, a handful of couples seem to have found a genuine connection, and it allows for a rare moment in the cynical world of reality television where what we’re being shown is pure unadulterated warmth.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related

Feb 24, 2019 By Harry Bunting Filed Under: Screen, Columnist Tagged With: Dating, romantic comedy, Reality TV, love island, british television, danny dyer

Primary Sidebar

exeposescreen

University of Exeter 🎓 Film, TV, Game section of University of Exeter's student newspaper Exeposé 🎬 🎮 📺 📰

"WandaVision is the first introduction to somethin "WandaVision is the first introduction to something that feels refreshing."

Arjumand Qobil reviews the first three episodes of Wandavision, the first expansion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe on Disney Plus.

https://exepose.com/2021/01/27/review-wandavision/
Meet the Screen Team for 2020/21 🎬 Our team is Meet the Screen Team for 2020/21 🎬 Our team is made up of 2 Print Editors, Francesca and Olivia, and 2 Online Editors, Jim and Olivia. We are all looking forward to bringing you exciting screen content over the next academic year! 🥳 We are always looking for new writers so keep an eye out for content calls on Facebook or drop us a DM if you want to get involved! 📝
THIS WEEK ON SCREEN: In support of #blacklivesmat THIS WEEK ON SCREEN:

In support of #blacklivesmatter✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿 , we’re dedicating this week to the work of Black filmmakers and to films that will educate us on racism. Black voices have value and deserve to be heard. 
Link in bio!!
We’ve got some awesome stuff for you this week o We’ve got some awesome stuff for you this week on screen online to cure some of that awful isolation boredom! 💪🏼👏🏼 Go check it out! (Link in bio)
The first batch of #lff2019 reviews are up on Scre The first batch of #lff2019 reviews are up on Screen! Online Screen Editor @heyimjay_cob finds much to enjoy in both #knivesout and #theirishman, two films debuting next month.

#filmfestival #festivalreview #filmreview #netflix #lionsgate

@knivesout @theirishmanfilm @netflixuk @lionsgate @riancjohnson
Online Screen Editor @heyimjay_cob talked to the a Online Screen Editor @heyimjay_cob talked to the award-winning writer/director @mrsambarlow (Her Story, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories) on his latest project Telling Lies, as well as the current state of interactive fiction. The full interview is now on Screen! #gaming #interview #TellingLies #herstory #sambarlow #interactivefiction #choicegames
🌟🎞🌟TIFF, Venice, Sundance, watch out! Exe 🌟🎞🌟TIFF, Venice, Sundance, watch out! Exeter has its own festival in town, for one day only!🌟🎞🌟 📽Tomorrow from 12:45 - 15:00 we will be presenting a handpicked selection of XTV films, as well as early shorts from well-known directors!📽 ⭕️Newman Red (inside Peter Chalk), tomorrow, Wednesday, 12:45, FREE!⭕️ 💫The festival is absolutely free and you can drop in and out whenever!💫
Online Editor @harryjcaton discusses the merits an Online Editor @harryjcaton discusses the merits and downfalls of movie epics in our latest feature article - give it a read, it's not as long as the movies mentioned in it, promise!

#movies #epics #moviemarathons #theirishman #martinscorsese #filmjournalism
Take a look at what Lauren Newman thinks of the la Take a look at what Lauren Newman thinks of the latest stream of Disney remakes, what is her Gospel Truth? It’s a fantastic read for sure! Find it in the Screen section of Exeposé Online!  #Disney #Exeposé
Load More… Follow on Instagram
Tweets by Exeposé Screen

Contact Us: editors@exepose.com

Since 1987, Exeposé has given a voice to Exeter students. Over the years, the determination and political fervour exhibited by students through Exeposé have helped shape the University we study at today. We have received national recognition for our award-winning campaigns, investigations and surveys, and always strive to provide students with high-quality news, comment and features.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in articles and comments do not reflect the views of Exeposé Online or the University of Exeter Student's Guild.

        


© 2021
Website design: Harry Caton and Ellie Cook
Webdesign & development: Harry Caton