The TV show Margot Robbie would write a thesis on: “I’m going to sound like a lunatic”
People typically preface their love professions of love for reality television by describing it as a guilty pleasure, despite the fact that there are some shows which are incredibly revealing of the human condition and often mirror the socio-political climate of the world around us.
Whether it be shows like Married at First Sight, which highlight the stakes of the intimacy crisis we currently find ourselves in as people give up hope on meeting someone organically and marry a total stranger or Real Housewives and the way this reflects real issues around marriage and patriarchal traditions.
While you might not expect it, given the highbrow projects she stars in, Margot Robbie is a huge lover of reality television. The genre is a comfort watch for many people as they allow themselves to be swept up in someone else’s life and the drama that always seems to ensue.
But while some people might dismiss it as being light-hearted fluff, there is one show that Robbie will defend to the hills as a result of its overlooked nuance and similarities to some of her favourite films.
Love Island is perhaps one of the most formative reality TV shows of all time, with the concept of hot single people being trapped in a luxury villa becoming the basis for countless other shows. Set over the summer, the show follows the people inside the villa as they have to form a couple with another person in order to stay on the show, with many ups and downs that are created through the complications of budding romance and millions of eyes watching their every move.
But while it may seem ridiculous, and it often is, it is also very revealing about the human psyche, our vulnerabilities and the way this is revealed through love and the patriarchal structures that bleed from the outside world into the villa. The men can become hyper-masculine and try to outdo the others, with some becoming toxic, possessive and sometimes abusive as they try to win over the affections of the girl they like. Sometimes, women can become competitive when pitted against each other, resulting in catty and slightly frosty behaviour.
This is something that Robbie highlighted when discussing the show, saying, “If I went to university, I’d write a thesis about the male ego on Love Island. I’m really interested in the whole alpha male dynamic, and I’m going to sound like an absolute lunatic right now, but it’s like Deliverance, that pack mentality. And you can see it whether you’re watching a pack of lions or Love Island or a Scorsese gangster film.”
The examination of the male ego on the show is truly fascinating, revealing many of the male contestants to be fragile and slightly pathetic in their need for the illusion of power and to appear as the ultimate ‘alpha male’. It bears many similarities to the work of Scorsese, with the director often examining similar subject matter, albeit through slightly different (and more violent) scenarios. However, there is nothing as brutal as dating, and the phrase ‘all’s fair in love and war’ finds new meaning in the Love Island villa.
