The Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset wrote, “Tell me what you pay attention to and I will tell you who you are.” In light of American pop culture, we ought to be terrified at the reality that what we consume reflects us.
Pop culture is not a stagnant force in American life — it is both a representation of our values and a driving force behind them, whether we realize it or not. Most Americans approach movies, TV, and other cultural outlets as a mindless enjoyment of harmless material, but our consumption of glamorized filth proves that the effects are quite the opposite.
This increasingly lackadaisical approach to entertainment has created an environment in which the most debased spectacles, particularly related to sex, move from the fringes of American entertainment to the front and center.
A central example is the incredibly popular reality TV series Love Island. In this show, a group of contestants, labeled “islanders,” are isolated on a constantly surveilled island villa. To win the show and its $100,000 prize, participants must couple with another contestant, whether for “love,” survival, or most often, promiscuity.
“Islanders” choose their partner based on first impressions, but often “re-couple” by choosing or being chosen by another contestant. The survival aspect of the show is interactive, as viewers vote on which couple seems to have the most compatibility or sexual appeal with one another.
The concept of “re-coupling” encourages contestants to swap partners based on short-term attraction, essentially normalizing emotional and physical disloyalty. It is a trivialization of both love and commitment, reducing relationships to aesthetic preference and fleeting chemistry.
Love Island is widely consumed by teenagers and young adults, and it sets a precedent that promiscuity, body flaunting, and surface-level attraction are not only normal but also admirable. Given a culture where social media influences deep insecurity, depression, and loneliness, this messaging hits our screens at the worst possible time.
Viewership reports have detailed the immense popularity of the show, finding that Love Island USA, only one of 22 productions within the franchise, amassed over 4.4 billion viewing minutes in June alone.
In the show, sex and intimacy are bargaining chips and survival tactics, with hookups being the common theme of the game show. The island theme also means that the show’s filming and production are entirely based on the sexual appeal of the contestants. Slow-motion montages of desirable features align this show more closely with softcore pornography than reality television.
Vanity, lust, and the commodification of sex are the core of Love Island, not secondary features. Contestants often share beds and are shown engaging in sexual acts, only edited or obscured to avoid the production of literal porn.
No matter how much Love Island debases relationships, sex, and connection, it is gobbled up for the entertainment or arousal of the show’s viewers, who devour the spectacle with mouths agape.
This kind of entertainment cannot be neutral — it reflects and shapes what we admire, imitate, and normalize. The hypersexualized and superficial idea of love that the show promotes is a subtle poison, particularly in a culture that struggles deeply in the realm of real connection and meaningful relationships.
The result is a celebration of narcissism, where personal value is measured in Instagram followers and the contestants’ near-naked bodies. It also delivers two insidious messages to viewers: that their best chance at finding a meaningful connection is in the maximization of sexual appeal, or that hookups and casual sex ought to supersede such meaningful relationships in the first place.
By prioritizing surface over substance, the show provides us with a shallow view of sex and connection, removing any significant aspects of character or humility — the bases of actual love. Rather, the viewer is left with the message that true connection can be found in tanned, fit bodies, and a constant rotation of sexual partners.
Those of us who do not buy into this decadent degradation are compelled to consider whether the chicken came before the egg: Is the show a sign of our cultural deterioration, or a driver of it?
The answer is both.
While television such as this normalizes and promotes insidious messages, such a show could not have been produced without an already decayed society. Love Island isn’t the root cause of our cultural rot, but it certainly reflects it, while pouring gasoline on the dumpster fire of American entertainment.
Even though we cannot pin the decline of our culture on this show alone, it undoubtedly exacerbates the problem. If we do not correct course and fight to reimpose lasting standards of love and connection, we can be sure that our culture will sink deeper into the superficial sands of Love Island.
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