***TRIGGER WARNING*** This post mentions briefly the effects of upsetting images on a persons mental health and touches on suicide within the reality television industry. If you need support for these issues, please visit my get support or mental health and suicide prevention support line pages instead, where you’ll find information on how to get help. Please only read on if it’s safe to do so. Thank you.
How the hell do I find this stuff? Netflix, the channel churning out programming were engrossed by on a regular basis, has done it again.
Recently I was told by the popular app that I might like the series ‘Deep Fake Love’. Ever gullible, I thought I’d watch the trailer. I nearly switched off instantly because it’s dubbed – the original series was filmed in Spanish – but I persevered.
An hour later and I’d watched the first episode, completely unable to look away. Although the contents were so watchable I found myself wondering if the mental health of contestants is being considered at all because, trust me, this show is also bloody dangerous.
Why do people gladly place themselves in the sights of a potential mental health collapse just to be on tv? Is it purely for the chance to be famous?
The premise with this new show is pretty simple. Take a group of well established couples, split them up into 2 separate ‘casa amore’ style houses, shove a group of sexy singles in with them, video the results and repeatedly show clips of each partners exploits to their long-term love.
Yes, it gets steamy, sexy and salacious. Gay and straight couples take part, and gay and straight single stooges are living with them. The singles do everything they can to turn the coupled-up heads, and the videos played back to their partners contain only the most provocative scenes.
Partners are forced to face a giant screen where the sexual endeavours of those they love are played out without a place to hide. Kisses with other girls in the pool, licks from men on the sunbeds, foreplay in the fire pit, sex in the bedroom, it’s all there and has the expected explosive results. Partners declare themselves single the second they see it, calling each other ‘pigs’ and ‘cheaters’ after less that a minute of footage. Who can blame them? You see your partner kissing someone else, with their hands on their butt cheeks, licking their torso with an ice cube, you probably shouldn’t stick around.
What I haven’t mentioned is that the videos MIGHT be deep fakes. Forget the crappy fake porno videos of the past where celebrity faces are superimposed to take part in filmed filth – you could tell it wasn’t them. These fakes are perfect. There’s not a seam or pixel out of place, kisses are perfectly sewn together to look as lusty and steamy as possible and it’s highly believable.
Contestants are only informed about the possibility of fakery AFTER they’ve seen the first videos, by which time we all know that damage has most definitely been done. I know how I’d feel if I was presented with the same problem. In a nanosecond my whole world would fall apart in front of me. I’d be devastated, and my mental health would suffer. No, any mental health I had left would be destroyed. Informing me it might be fake later wouldn’t be enough to undo any damage and that’s why I’m asking this question. Are they truly looking after the mental health of their contestants?
Men and women on the show were in tears, having watched the love of their life in a compromising clinch with a single stranger. Years of hard work building a relationship are instantly destroyed. Whether fake or not, they know what they saw.
Here in the U.K. we’ve seen an epidemic of mental illness issues for reality tv participants. The chance of getting famous far outweighs any possible anxiety or depression that might come after being on the tv. In most cases I don’t think contestants even think they could end up unwell – I guess the depressing outcome is hard to imagine when fame is on the table.
But I’m part of the problem, because I’m sitting here watching it and ramping up the viewing figures like a moth to a flame. While the popularity of such shows continues, how do we safely manage the health of participants?
I’m lead to believe that here in the U.K., most production companies now publish their health and well-being procedures for anyone to read. This is now commonplace after multiple suicides from the ‘Love Island’ family. Such procedures are said to be more robust than ever, with professionals on hand before, during and after shows like this, ensuring that everyone involved is taking care of themselves. In other countries I don’t know what’s happening, and watching ‘Deep Fake Love’ definitely raises concerns.
For anyone thinking about taking part in reality tv like this I’d recommend thinking carefully not just about what you already know about the show, but also about how you’d manage the unknown twists and turns that might be thrown at you. ‘Deep Fake Love’ is brimming with unknowns because it’s never been done before, so you’d think that shows like ‘Love Island’ are more predictable and therefore safer to take part in. Problem is, to keep these long-running series interesting, production companies have to ensure viewers are thrown unexpected curveballs in order to keep them watching. More of the same is seldom the route to popularity.
If it was me, any reality TV would be a hard no, because it seems production companies think they have the freedom to do what they want to someone’s feelings and scarcely concern themselves with the fallout. While viewing numbers are the main goal, contestant well-being will never be properly considered.
Fame isn’t more important than health, and never should be.
Thanks for reading 💜
Creative Steph 