Creating Generative Value

The dark side of reality tv

It is no secret that reality tv brings more than just the subtle joys of tuning into the tv on a weeknight. Reality shows such as Love Island and The Bachelor have become the foundation for young viewers to turn to when looking for the next celebrity influencers. After participating on these types of shows, many contestants move on to become highly successful business entrepreneurs, models, tv hosts and more from their gained attraction and attention. However, these contestants seem to share similarities in that they propose unattainable standards for makeup, body image, fashion and general lifestyle for each post on Instagram or TikTok. In order to increase attraction and audience loyalty, reality tv funnels their main focus on making their contestants, the locations and the dialogue as attractive as possible, and this often means that producers specifically search for young, attractive individuals; Hayley Soen writes, “To be on Love Island you have to be among the most aesthetically pleasing people there are in society. Those are just the rules”. Whilst there is no harm in admiring the physical looks and glamour of your favourite celebrities or show contestants, it could be the habits that they portray that could lead to damaging consequences, especially for young audiences. As many loyal viewers of Love Island would be aware, Molly-Mae is a perfect example of a contestant on the show who, after leaving the island, went on to find even more success in the influencer world. With viewers being initially entranced by her beauty and confidence, Molly-Mae gained significant attraction on social media after season 5 of Love Island aired, and she has since unleashed a number of cosmetic and beauty lines and products, including a fake tan brand. Her figure as an influencer and star of reality tv is an example of the look that producers of reality tv are searching for; long bleach-blonde hair, tanned skin, glamorous makeup, long acrylic nails and more. However, Molly-Mae has recently changed her perspective on the types of habits that are needed to keep up this specific look. Over the past few months, she has attempted to ‘reverse’ some of the cosmetic procedures that she had undergone in hopes of attaining the unrealistic beauty standard that we see on social media. She has made and effort to dissolve lip filler, remove her hair extensions, remove Botox from her cheeks and forehead, whilst consistently referring to these cosmetic procedures as mistakes; as seen in an interview shared by Women’s Health; “I feel like I’m still definitely going through the process of trying to make everything as natural as I possibly can; I made that many mistakes when I was younger I’m genuinely still trying to correct them now’. This insight to a perspective from a contestant on a reality tv show is refreshing, as it sets a worthy example of how influencers can change their behaviours after recognizing the damage of the idolized looks that reality tv encourages so drastically. In Closer’s article “Will this year’s Love Islanders be the most natural line-up ever?” also contributes to the discussion of what reality tv is exposing to audiences; “recently there have been repeated calls for more diversity – with criticism that cosmetically-enhanced appearances create unrealistic body ideals. Whilst at first-glance, reality tv shows similar to Love Island may appear completely harmless, however it is cases such as Molly-Mae’s perspective that teaches us valuable lessons in analyzing the media that we consume; an skill that needs urgent attention in our current climate of mass media production and information overload on media sites.

Molly has shared her experiences of transforming her looks on social media along the way and can be seen on her twitter profile; https://twitter.com/mollymaehague/status/1419241573527719940?s=20

Image sourced from The Sun (thesun.co.uk)