They arrive in slow motion. Their hair is incredibly shiny and their teeth are mysteriously white. All high-top swimsuits and sultry gaze plunge into the villa with a ridiculous level of confidence, prepared for the role of an agent of sexual confusion. Of course, I’m talking about the Love Island bomb.
Or, if you’re new to the nuances of hit reality TV shows, let me explain. The bomb is not part of the cast from the beginning, but a player who enters Mallorca’s villa after the show has already begun. But they are also much more.
As any love island enthusiast knows, bombs are the most drama-causing villas. Beautiful, self-serving and horribly horny, they are presented to us in much the same way each season.
They usually come alone or with one other and immediately look at the competitors who are already joined and proudly declare that they are not here to make friends. Queue a lot of moans and sighs from existing islanders.
The most popular Love Island contestants are often bombs. They include, but are not limited to, Georgia Harrison, Chris Hughes, Megan Barton-Hanson, Maura Higgins, and Ovie Soko. These contestants earned a lot of screen time thanks to their full courage and ignorance of the relationships of others. Both elements ensured a lot of theater excitement in the villa.
near
David sees Ekins meet Jay on Love Island
Love Island bombs are often the most scrutinized athletes. Not as much as a woman. Consider the characteristics of Higgins and Burton Hanson during their tenure at the show. As one scholar says, the woman who named the villa resident a “bad girl” is considered the so-called “good girl” of the show, a sexual deviant who is the exact opposite of the orgy from the first cast. I did.
The structure of the show is suitable for this type of binary classification. Viewers are, of course, more skeptical of those who enter the middle of the series, as they are more likely to sympathize with the competitors they know the longest.
Today’s video
Recently, there have been criticisms of social media that this structure creates a hierarchy among the islanders. “Everything in the bomb is wild,” tweeted one viewer. “Hey, you’re first because you’re not as attractive as these other people we’re saving to bring in later!”
Of course, because Love Island is a television show, this kind of characterization is not only inevitable, but it also contributes to the value of the show’s production and entertainment. Every drama requires a hero and a villain. Not everyone is a three-dimensional character. However, this affects both the viewer and the individual.
From a feminist point of view, seeing a “bad girl” confront a “good girl” encourages internalized misogyny. In the past, this was displayed on the screen as s ***-shaming. A notable example was 2019 when Higgins was given the opportunity to enter Hideaway (a private bedroom in her villa) overnight with her partner Tom Walker.
But before they went, Higgins, who was frank about her sexual tendencies, told Walker to the male islanders, “It would be interesting to see if she was all mouthful.” I heard. Viewers quickly criticized Walker for being ashamed of Higgins for being open about sex, calling for his negative view of women’s sexuality.
The same thing happened with Barton-Hanson when her partner, Eyal Booker, mistakenly speculated that she was sleeping with 37 people. At the time, a former sex worker seemed to be insulted by the proposal, saying, “I’m not the most innocent girl, but that doesn’t mean I’ve slammed everyone I can. I was definitely smoking. It’s 2018 just because I say I’m open and enjoying sex. I’m a woman. “
This reaction wasn’t just happening inside the villa. Burton Hanson later talked about how she felt clearly sexual at her show and explained that it prevented her from being open about her sexuality.
In 2020, she reminded me of appearing on an independent Millennial Love Podcast, meeting Dr. Alex George on the program and telling him that he worked as a stripper. “From that point on, I thought,’Oh, I’ll be perceived as really sexual, I’ll probably be embarrassed in the outside world.’ So I added,’Oh, oh. I didn’t want to be like “I like girls too,” she said.
Arguably the most illustrious bomb on the show this year was Ekin-Su Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu. The 27-year-old entered the villa last week and she is already in charge of some of the show’s most dramatic moments.
After teaming up with Davide Sanclimenti, also 27, the actor turned to newcomer Jay Younger, 28. Their secret relationship reached new heights in Thursday’s episode when she and Younger stole two secret kisses on the terrace. This was followed by a conflict between Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu and Sanclimenti, which led to the accusation of gas lamps.
While Ekin-Su has received a lot of praise on social media, she is also the target of online misogyny, and many people compare her to Higgins and Barton-Hanson. “Trash,” “b ****,” and “borderline evil” are just a few of her names she calls on Twitter.
In many respects, Love Island presents a central issue with heterosexual dynamics. Women with sexual and emotional autonomy (historically bombs) are often criticized for it, but men often do business unharmed.
The truth is that without a player like Ekins from Love Island, the show would be terribly boring. And even if you make a mistake from time to time, it’s refreshing to see a woman first appearing on the screen. It doesn’t ridicule a man’s gaze or impersonate someone else. It helps, it’s encouraging, and it’s rare. It may last for a long time.
