Point and Shoot
Fox's recent attempt to join the "reality" show craze
is sure to succeed. It has what viewers want: scantily
clad, beautiful, sexy (heterosexual) people who are
sure to cry and fight. Sad but painfully true, people
love to watch other people go through some sort of
hell. Temptation Island is designed to deliver the
emotional drama that viewers have come to love, as
proven by Survivor and The Real World. If you have
doubts, simply watch the promotional trailers for this
six-episode series: you're not going to see Ytossie
relating a heartwarming tale about her boyfriend
Taheed. Nope. Temptation Island will instead show
you Ytossie on a beautiful moonlit beach, crying about
his infidelity.
The show is supposed to test the commitment and
faithfulness of four selected couples. The group is
divided at opposite ends of a balmy island for two
weeks -- boys at one end, girls at the other. Once at
their respective ends, they are subjected to the sexy
wiles of 13 attractive singles. The show offers only
one twist to the tempting process. Within their
respective groups, the coupled men and women are
allowed to vote off the one single man and woman,
respectively, whom they find most threatening to their
relationships. In addition, each contestant can block
his/her mate from dating one of the remaining singles
by placing a band around that man/woman's wrist. With
that accomplished, everyone else is fair game, the
type of game that doesn't even put up a fight. The
show is set up like one of the those hunting ranches
where all the animals you want to kill are enclosed
and in front of you -- just point and shoot. The
participants are then instructed to "date" the
handpicked, STD free, and oh yes, paid participants.
Hmmmm. Doesn't this sound exactly like an escort
service? Mike Darnell, Fox's executive vice president,
did say that the 26 "sexy singles" were paid a
"nominal" fee to "date" the participants. So to
simplify their function, these men and women have been
paid to go on dates, just like escorts. I'm not making
any judgements on escort services (right now), but I
never would have expected a major network to become
one. Then again, I can be naive.
The buzz surrounding this show is in full force, since
the premiere episode just aired this week.
Commentaries (much like the one you're reading now)
are everywhere. And I found it striking that while
driving home last night WPGC, a D.C.-based hip-hop/R&B
radio station, held a call-in forum regarding the
show. The question: would you go on Temptation Island and if so, who would you want to tempt you? Of
the callers I heard, all would accept the challenge
and would request the likes of Halle Berry and LL Cool
J -- well, no one actually said LL Cool J (sorry LL),
but you get the point. In these responses, everyone
would cheat, the relationship would fail the test, and
it would take only two short weeks and some hot ass to
make these people fall to their knees. I am appalled.
I know that humans are sexual beings -- some very
sexual -- and that in some ways monogamy is a
culturally constructed and ridiculous notion. However,
I would hope that people could make it through two
weeks to win a prize. I also find it sad that the
eight people on the show have been so easily
manipulated for ratings: they've been sent to paradise
to have their love lives tested and ruined for our
amusement. But I don't doubt that I'll watch this
emotional slaughter each and every week -- after all,
I did ask to write this review and weekly updates --
so what does that say about me?
Essentially Fox has created the best possible
reality-based show ever -- one that focuses entirely
on sex. Bravo. Twenty-six attractive people have
eagerly allowed themselves to be purchased and
objectified on national tv. Do they realize that no
one will remember their names by the end of the year?
I wonder how it felt to stand by that pool and feel
the eyes of millions stare and rate your physical
attributes. But I don't think I'd ever wonder enough
to want to do it.
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