CXVII: Love Is Blind - Let’s Talk About It! (Review)
Love Is Blind is the show that has taken peoples Netflix accounts by storm! It is the show that I know you’ve heard about either by word-of-mouth, or from the memes and spoilers! So, in true Bree fashion, I kind of want to talk about it!
I only have a few qualms with this show, so I’ll keep this discussion on those things specifically.
I COMPLETELY GET FORMING CONNECTIONS BEFORE DATING, BUT BRINGING UP LOVE OR TRUST WITHIN THE FIRST WEEK IS PREPOSTEROUS.
Yes, you guessed it, I’m referring to show favorites Lauren Speed-Hamilton and Cameron Hamilton.
Even Lauren herself mentioned a time or two that telling someone you love them after knowing them for only a week is insane. To that, I’d say that I 100% agree!
Stay with me though! And consider the conditions: (1) you’re all on a reality tv show categorized as a “dating experiment”: (2) you know that you’re there to date and ‘fall in love’; (3) you’re talking to potential mates and girls looking for potential mates all day so this is the only thing on your mind; and the big one (4) you have no phones or outside influences.
OF COURSE YOU’RE GOING FALL INTO WHAT YOU THINK IS LOVE!!!
I believe that the difference with Lauren and Cameron is that they formed a genuine connection in the pods that they actively worked to build while outside of the pods. They respected each other throughout the whole experience, listened, and tried! And that’s why I believe that they are successful today.
I also have to touch on what an excellent representation of a Black woman Lauren is and was on the show. She was actually a good representation of a woman in general and many more should strive towards being the same. She wasn’t the only Black woman on the show (Diamond was also a good representative) but she definitely stands out…
WHAT I DON’T GET IS BEING SO ALOOF OR LACKING IN SELF-AWARENESS THAT YOU CANNOT SEE YOUR OWN FAULTS OR REALITIES.
With that, let’s discuss two couples: Mark & Jessica and Carlton & Diamond:
Jessica, Jessica, Jessica…
Watching you on television was very difficult. The toughest part was that, I started out liking you! I thought you were sweet and caring, but of course, that is the role that you wanted to play for the cameras and that was made very apparent as time went on.
Throughout the whole show, Jessica’s inability to own up to ANYTHING was troubling for me. I see that in so many people today and sometimes even in myself! But watching it on television, and to this degree, was hard! As a thirty-something year old, you should be able to admit when you like someone! We learned that when we were kids! We all watched as you denied your feelings and lead Mark on over and over again and it was so cringey.
The worst part for me, however, was that after watching the reunion I can tell that you’re still not owning up to your crap even with all of the alleged self-reflection that you’ve undergone (you know people love to claim that they’ve reflected when they really haven’t).
Overall, it just seems like you’re someone who should be avoided at all costs. You have a ton of work to do on the inside that you haven’t yet started to work on. It’s okay to lock yourself away and do some real work!
And now Mark…
I get wanting something to work so badly that we create it’s perfection in our minds just to keep it. I’ve been there where I’ve turned a completely garbage boy into a knight in my mind. But when I allowed reality to shine in, he was still garbage. It’ll just never work!
When you’re busy looking for your other half, you usually get only a half-person. When you’re a whole, not looking for your other whole, it’s usually forever when you happen upon [him].
Where you went wrong Mark, is where you actively ignored every sign to make something impossible work. So many people have done this and are currently doing this just to have someone, but watching you go through it was tough. Honestly, it should just be a lesson to all of us to just be real with ourselves and to think things through.
Really, I just want to address Carlton:
Watching this grown adult claim to be so caring and loving and attentive and then completely disregard everything that this woman had to say was pitiful.
There is something that is being missed on Carlton because it’s been brought to my attention that he still doesn’t acknowledge the flaws in his ways.
The way that you spoke to Diamond was wrong. The way that you reacted because she didn’t react the way that you wanted was immature. Your overall response to her response (as if she’s not allowed to have feelings or thoughts separate of yours) was very telling about the insecure, little person that you are.
There may be some redeeming yourself that you’re out in the world doing today but I didn’t see that on the show, and I didn’t see it on the reunion.
Watching the way that you acted when you guys first got to Mexico while you were eating those strawberries (which made me never want to eat another strawberry, honestly) should have been one of the moments that disgusted you the most. Who were you? What were you doing? And why?
You have so much work to do on the inside and leading to the outside. There are so many conversations that you still need to have to better understand what is going on in your mind. There’s so much work that needs to be done before you even attempt to attach yourself to someone else, it’s not even funny.
I pray that you surround yourself with people who will force you to do the work.
And Diamond, I like ya, but Beyoncé ain’t calling you girl!
Before I end the ‘couples’ portion of this discussion I want to talk about Giannina:
I am very much over this age of the Instagram Caption Girl.
So many girls want to sound super deep and introspective with their half Googled quotes alongside their bad grammar and misplaced commas attached to naked pictures on social media. The only thing deep about these girls is their desire to have attention and it’s largely apparent.
I think that Giannina was a super nice girl when we were able to get to the real her and outside of the parts of her that either wanted to be a philosopher or freaking famous! It was just so clear that she went there with mixed motives and I was over her the whole time for it.
I am happy that she’s found Damian and will gladly stress him out for as long as he’ll let her (I’m also happy that he did not agree to marry her at her obviously immature age). But, watching her and listening to her was basically as bad as watching Jessica. Just cringey!
I was/am not a fan!
Okay, so now that I’ve gotten those thoughts out of the way, I have to address the set-up of the show overall!
I love how the show covered more than cable-tv shows cover! We watched in-depth episodes of the selection process, we watched the honeymoons, we watched the move-in, we watching the meeting the families, we watched the day-to-day with work and bills, and we watched the weddings.
It’s like we fit their whole lives into one season without the commercials. Honestly, I thought it was kind of brilliant (even though the weddings were soooo drawn out)! The show, overall, is a gem and it’s largely based on the participants that they chose even though I obviously found problems with some of them. But I think that makes for good tv because it gives us something to talk about!
WHY NOT TALK ABOUT LOVE… 🤍
Okay, I won’t close out this post without talking just a smidge about love.
Watching some of these couples fall for each other without seeing each other was kind of refreshing.
The idea that people can fall for each other’s personalities without considering outside influences or their looks first is beautiful. It brings a certain purity back into love that’s, maybe, been missing for a while.
Now, I believe that I regularly fall for a personality and rarely fall for the exterior but I can’t 100% be sure that this is true given the fact that I like to make face-to-face connections with people before getting to know them.
My dating criteria includes meeting the guy face to face and looking him in the eyes as I talk to him, looking at his eyes while he laughs and listening to the jokes that he tells. But this is all after the initial phase of background questions to determine if we would even be compatible. The bulk of my work usually has to be done in person looking into the windows to the souls of the men who pique my interest. So, this experiment would be completely foreign to me, but again the concept is refreshing. I’d love to fall for someone’s heart and mind before exploring his smile and eyes—seems sort of adventurous.
Again, this show has taken the internet by storm, so if I didn’t already spoil it for you with my post, then I think you should join the masses and tune in!
“You can’t blame gravity for falling in love.”