Loathe Island
On Love Island, Summer House, and backlash
What was it that Harvey Dent said in The Dark Knight? “You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” That applies to reality television stars, too. Death in this situation means you’ve left the show that made you famous, which is often the only way to keep public opinion of you intact. Ariana Madix discovered this when she became the doyenne of Vanderpump Rules in the wake of Scandoval, then became the show’s villain when producers, her castmates, and the audience were angry she wouldn’t play ball and film with her loser ex, Tom Sandoval. And given his recent antics, thank god for that.
Enter Ciara Miller. The recent breakout star of Summer House, thanks to a cheating scandal of her own. Her ex, West Wilson, had an affair with Amanda Batula, Miller’s friend and fellow castmate Kyle Cooke’s wife. In the aftermath, Miller became pop culture’s heroine, and Summer House finally became a household name. Miller gained an influx of new fans, pushing her to over 1 million followers on Instagram, landing her a slew of brand deals and a hosting gig on Love Island: Aftersun (alongside Tefi Pessoa).
And that’s where the trouble began.
In the recent week of Love Island, the Casa Amor twist ended, and cast member Aniya Harvey found herself dumped by KC Chandler, who returned from Casa with a new partner, Tierra “Titi” Davis. Aniya’s friend, Trinity Tatum, launched a searing read of KC, and Titi ended up being hit by verbal shrapnel in the process. As a result, the internet — particularly Threads, which has grown exponentially as a place to live-post about reality television — exploded into heated debates about the interactions.
A problem has arisen for Love Island that’s not dissimilar to the conversation centered around Summer House. At some point, the reality television show has ceased to be entertainment and instead become a forum for viewers to compare their morality to the cast members and to debate race, gender, and sexuality. Reality television is often derided as cheap entertainment, so discussing how these shows reflect real-life politics is always welcome, but at what point do these shows stop being fun to watch? When the chief reason for watching Love Island has become an opportunity to engage in heated debates, what’s the point of the show? Do the cast members only exist as avatars now and not as three-dimensional human beings?