These Dating Shows…A Sad Snapshot of Reality

The human connection is at an all-time low. So many blows have been delivered against healthy communication the past couple of years alone. Political wars are through the roof and the year 2020 by itself was just…whew chile. These occurrences have only added to the struggle that is healthy, human communication and connection. No one talks to anyone anymore. Everyone is caught up in their fantasies of self. That couldn’t have been demonstrated more in the latest season of OWN’s Ready to Love.

At the recommendation of another writer, I decided to check this show out and see what was going on in the latest poop pile of reality tv shows. The last time I invested time in a reality show was to see Kenya get dragged by her hair across the stage by Porscha – but I digress. Ready for Love is a bit different from the typical knock down and drag out, heavily scripted “reality” mess. The cast members are a bit further in life, in their 30’s and 40’s. They are well-developed professionals who are struggling in the dating arena. Some of them have been married, have children and some of them are just tired of one failed relationship after the other.

I won’t get into too much detail about the storylines and cast members involved. You can get a great run down of the foolery here and here. I can say that this particular group had its fair share of characters. There was Rashid, the established businessman, proud fraternity member who was definitely ready to settle. On the other end of the spectrum, you had Jay, who was knew how fine he was and never hesitated to play that to his advantage. As far as the ladies go (deep sigh and eye-roll), the main ones that stood out to me where Denise, Adriana and Nya. Denise was an immediate turn-off with her arrogance and need to intimidate people as a first impression. She’s tall, beautiful and athletic but her personality and mouth are terrible. When she gets ready, she slaps on that victim badge faster than the speed of light, weaponizing her past pain to manipulate situations. Then there’s Adriana, the youngest of the bunch and one of the prettiest, but I think that’s where the qualities end. She had little to no substance to her, which was a disappointment because I didn’t want to see her live up to the pretty girl-shallow stereotype, but she did and got played pretty bad in the end. I was actually rooting for Nya in the very beginning but took a seat and sat my behind down after I saw her head spin and vomit pea soup. She completely lost it because one of the prospects she was interested in believed that all financial bills should be split between the two parties when it came to running a household (I forgot what his name is, but he’s a radio personality…they don’t make a lot of money!) She has a very nasty side to her, which is sad because like all of the other women on the show, she’s smart and beautiful.

After going through the gruesome process of elimination over a few weeks, that included one to two people getting the boot because of saying or doing something foolish, it was pathetic to see that not one couple was formed. Not one. Everyone went home just as single as they were in the beginning. One of the ladies even turned up to be pregnant by someone who wasn’t even a part of the show! What was that all about? Anyway, it was a sad sight to see that after going through that entire process, nothing was birthed, nothing was formed.

I have to say that there was no fruition of success because like most reality shows, every last one of those cast members were selfish and delusional. That’s why I normally don’t watch these types of shows because these people are in another world entirely. At the same time, shows like Ready to Love give pretty good insight on where people are in terms of communication and relationships. It’s all about what the other person can do for them while barely talking about what they bring to the table.

Of course, I’m also reflecting on the characters in my manuscript. How selfish are they? What do they offer? I’m also realizing how important the message of my book is, because human connection has taken a serious beating over the years. I also realize how dynamic the relationships in The Next Time I Leave are, considering the characters’ backgrounds and what they’re bringing to the table. Are they part of the problem? Very interesting…