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Reality TV Is No Longer a Form of Escapism
Reality TV now feels like a constant reminder of life pre- and post-pandemic
In the first few months of 2020, Netflix launched three reality shows: The Circle, Love Is Blind, and Too Hot to Handle. All three hinge, to varying degrees, on the novelty of physical separation.
In The Circle, contestants were isolated individually in apartments and capable of communicating with one another only via instant message. Love Is Blind required its contestants to sit alone in a small room and chat with potential love interests through an opaque dividing wall — to choose a mate sight unseen. Too Hot to Handle brought a group of attractive twentysomethings together at a beach resort but required them to keep their hands off one another or risk depleting the ultimate prize money.
As the shows launched — in January, February, and April, respectively — the world gradually went into pandemic-imposed lockdown, isolating us all from our family and friends, co-workers, and communities. Forced to stay away from others, we now engage in endless conversations almost entirely via text or video chat. When we do go to the stores, we speak to cashiers through masks and plexiglass walls. There is no touching.
The coincidence hasn’t escaped anyone. “Y’know, everybody keeps telling me they feel like they’re in the real-life Circle right now,” Joey Sasso, a Circle contestant, told his TikTok followers in mid-March. “I can understand. I’ve been there before.”
Our escapism is no longer in reality TV’s extremes, but in our boring old lives — the formerly routine existence that shows sought to manipulate.
Trapped inside, we’ve sought emotionally soothing activities. We’ve been baking a lot of bread, for one thing. We’ve gathered together, virtually, for sing-alongs and graduation ceremonies. And, of course, we’ve turned to that great public pacifier, reality TV. For many, reality shows serve a dual purpose: They help contextualize our current experience, while reminding us of what may now strike us as a blissful time before the coronavirus outbreak.
