Dissertation proposal

Love Island and the Instant Influencer.

Can we consider Love Island as an exploitative Reality Television?

Love Island is arguably a national phenomenon and one of the most popular reality television shows to grace our screens. The impacts of the show on the contestants’ lives are undeniably huge, but not always the desirable experience originally presented. Juxtaposing the ‘15 minutes of fame’ reality stars previously faced before disappearing from the tabloids, to the digital age of the internet. Thus, creating longevity for reality stars, becoming ‘Instant Influencers’ following their departure from the villa. However, accompanying its successes the shows exploitative characteristics remain a key selling factor, where the trials and tribulations of contestants overcast even the winners of the show. From the selective recruitment process to the editing and composition of the show, to post-show influencer expectations, these reality stars become a capitalist commodity to promote and sell products to Love Islands ever-growing audience.

There is little published work on Love Island notably, as an exploitative media. However, Williamson (2017) draws upon the ideas of the ‘ordinary celebrity’ and the exploration of producers undermining the power of its reality stars. Using the works of Williamson and others will allow comparative research to explore the exploitation of the Islanders whilst on the show. Further published work to explore would be observing the post-Love Island life through works such as Self-branding, ‘micro-celebrity’ and the rise of Social Media Influencers (Susie Khamis, Lawrence Ang & Raymond Welling, 2017), discussing the capitalist commodity the Islander becomes from the moment they appear on screen.

Despite the limited research on Love Island looked at through an exploitative lens, by using discourse analysis, studying episodes from Love Island (2015-2020), social media channels and individual contestant’s social media platforms. Further allowing findings of the corrupt nature of the show, through qualitative research, from beginning to end of the islanders’ journey thus far. Further, investigating the show through a feminist lens by conducting feminist research. Understanding whether the profiteering attitudes of the show has bias from a gender perspective, allowing further insight into the commodification of contestants. Finally, conducting an audience survey to explore the publics opinions creating a consensus towards Love Islands corrupt reality.

References:

Williamson, M. (2017). Class, Culture and Exploitation: The Case of Reality TV. In Considering Class (Vol. 113, pp. 273–287). https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004319523_017

Susie Khamis, Lawrence Ang & Raymond Welling (2017) Self-branding, ‘micro-celebrity’ and the rise of Social Media Influencers, Celebrity Studies, 8:2, 191-208, DOI: 10.1080/19392397.2016.1218292