Love is Blind (?)

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So, as you know life’s not felt right lately…straight out rubbish for some. The price our mental and physical health will pay for these surreal times cannot be assessed just yet, but the impact can already be felt by a lot of us. Lord knows when we see the back of this harrowing pandemic, but we somehow need to find a way to live with it, and its consequences.

Like for many, escapism is my coping mechanism; it looks like light reading, easy-listening music, a lot of time spent on YouTube (sort of addicted), and light-hearted TV shows. Light, easy…we desperately need some airiness, a good dose of frivolity in our lives nowadays don’t we?

If you’ve read the post “Lessons learned”, you’ll have seen my brief statement about Netflix…however, yours truly is still insisting on looking for the hidden gems on it – I’m really still a subscriber because of the F.O.M.O. (Fear Of Missing Out for us cool people – just to embarrass my son)). It’s in that quest that I followed my bestie L’s recommendation to watch the umpteenth dating TV show – clearly cash cows – that premiered early this year on Netflix, “Love is Blind”.

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What is it all about? In a nutshell, contestants from different cultural and social backgrounds go on several blind dates (literally, seating in opposite rooms with a wall separating them), the goal being for them to connect emotionally and intellectually. No electronical device allowed on location.  If two people decide to get engaged after a few conversations, they get to meet in person and move to the next phase of the show.

 For all the lucky ones who have found their “perfect match”, it is off to some exotic place (somewhere in Mexico) for a holiday getaway and proper face-to-face dating. Glittery idyllic world, exuberant excitement, the newness of it all…what’s not to love there? If they don’t kill each other by the end of their break, they get to live under the same roof for some can-we-live-together rehearsal, and also meet their respective families. About a month later, they find themselves at the altar, and must decide their fate: embrace the unknown and actually get hitched, or do a runner…

Tantalising isn’t it? Allow me to share some random snippets of the show; promised, no spoilers! Names amended:

Day 5

Joe: I feel so blessed to have you come into my life, I love you so much and want to spend the rest of my life with you…will you marry me?

Cora (Sobbing): Oh my God yes, I will marry you, I will be your wife! You’re such a beautiful person, I don’t need to see you to know that.

 What?!

Day 6

Finn: I love you with all my heart, you’ve taught me so much in such a small amount of time (…) I find myself thanking God for you (sobbing uncontrollably). I can’t see my life without you at this point.

Dionne: I think God put you in my life for a reason, because you are a phenomenal person (…). Oh gosh, this is like the happiest day of my life!

Mills & Boon inspo…

Day 7

Mark: I appreciated this journey with you – I know I need to be with you, and you’re exactly the person I’ve been looking for (…) would you marry me?

Sinead: I will Oh My God! It’s so surreal; I don’t know how to even describe the thoughts going through my mind right now. I’ve found someone I’ve worked so hard to like even dream of or think of…you’re just the perfect person…you’ve been my missing link to complete me…

“You can fall in love with a person’s potential, but you have to be in a relationship with their reality.”

You’ve got the picture. Just like many of you I’m sure, I totally subscribe to the idea that the physical needs to be transcended, to form a potentially durable relationship. Physical chemistry tends to skew the game, and can lead to infatuation that is often mistaken with love.

However this show takes this viewpoint to another level! It is a caricature of an obviously veracious theory, made to create a buzz. Time is a crucial ingredient, in MOST cases. I can already hear some of you pinpointing this or that exceptional couple that made it to the altar after a week…hmm…how many of them actually make it in the long run?

I’m in a sharing mood today, so here’s a gold nugget for you on how we tend to perform at early stages of a relationship, and what the ideal approach should be (great Youtube channel by the way, and I’m not sponsored…).

Watching the show was a good laugh, if you take out parts where an aghast and definitely frustrated me would shout at the TV screen in quite a colourful language – abuse – as I felt increasingly cheated, the more I was engaging with the program. I don’t know why, but I really wanted this show to be good; I binge watched the whole thing in one sitting, 11 episodes… Madness I know! The premise of the concept bore promise of a notable meaningful watch, but it fell flat and felt deceitful to me the viewer.

Without giving too much away (and we don’t want this post to become a short story), I can reveal that 2 couples got married, and 3 people got dumped at the altar. Netflix has promised a second season for 2021. Why not? It garnered 2 Emmy nominations, and has been a great financial windfall for the network.

Am I too cynical? May be…To me, love is assuredly not this blind.

Good luck to all of them though; the beauty of life is, one never knows…