5 on Friday: why reality TV is for geniuses

The SUP theory, hyper-fixations, and my attempt to de-influence

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This week marked the true start of summer, solstice be damned: Love Island UK is officially airing. I am locked and loaded with a VPN and an ITV account, which means I can watch every episode the evening it’s released instead of waiting three days for it to air on US streaming platforms. This is crucial, because the Twitter and Reddit conversation is half the fun of the show.

While I do visit the Love Island reddit far more often than is strictly necessary, I did find myself charmed by a thread last week, which brings me to my first line item of 5 on Friday.

The thread was called At what age does one stop watching Love Island? There were some predictable responses from the precocious (yet so naïve) twenty-somethings who stated they felt too old to watch, but there were also a series of less-expected responses. Someone who watches with their 71-year-old mom, a 42-year-old who began watching 3 years ago, a 52-year-old attorney who has seen every season (this is a true feat; for the uninitiated, it airs every night except Saturdays for 8-week periods every summer, and more recently in the winter, too) clocks it as a “fun escape.” A 70-year-old watches it to observe “what young people do and say today.” A 56-year-old who “suffers from social awkwardness” finds it fascinating, as does a 43-year-old who “needs a little drama” in their own life. One user reports her 88-year-old grandmother is looking forward to the upcoming season. Another says it keeps her family connected; she (50s) watches with her son and daughter (20s) and says: “I love the discussions we have about relationships and the psychology of it all, it keeps us talking for hours.”

There are over 379 responses in the thread, mostly people using the show to escape from their own anxieties, add a bit of intrigue into a stable life, or turn their brain off from a stressful job (further validating the theory once posited by Sexy Unique Podcast host Lara Marie Schoenhals that “reality TV is for geniuses.”) I’ve always found dismissing reality shows as silly tiresome. Anyone interested in anthropology or sociology, attempting to turn their brain off, or simply looking to be entertained has something to gain from watching reality TV. Given that Love Island in particular airs for ~49 episodes each season, it’s an intimate look into the psyches of those looking for love (sometimes) and fame (always). And so, my first official statement of this week’s 5 on Friday: 1. reality tv is for geniuses, and you’re missing out if you’re not watching Love Island (UK!). Crack on (oh, yes, the British vernacular is spectacular, too).

Preview! Top images c/o Net-A-Porter, With Nothing Underneath, Omsom, Love Island; all the rest are via Maria de la Orden