The Minneapolis-set eighth season of Netflix’s flagship relationship present, Love Is Blind, was an odd one to make sure. A lot of the motion went down within the pods, the place two overlapping love triangles in the end imploded, leaving 4 of essentially the most attention-grabbing solid members unengaged and thus principally absent within the second half of the season. With few exceptions (like Dave and Lauren splitting over his failure to belief her over gossipy family and friends), the romantic getaways and Midwest homecomings felt comparatively frictionless. However when the time got here to commit, simply considered one of 5 engaged couples—Christmas fanatics Taylor and Daniel—stated “I do.” Solely after that anticlimax, in Sunday’s reunion, did the reality behind the “Minnesota good” lastly come out.
It was a surprisingly eventful episode, with revelations starting from furtive post-breakup DMs to an replace confirming that no matter occurred between Madison, Mason, Alex, and Meg remained a multitude about which a number of folks have been most likely mendacity. However past the tough reads and hidden receipts (congrats to Madison for concealing something in that gown), what caught out have been the ideological divides that prompted two girls to interrupt it off on the altar. Like every part else in American life, Love Is Blind has develop into increasingly politicized of late. So it makes some sense {that a} season shot in a purple state throughout the lead-up to the 2024 election wouldn’t simply mirror but additionally illuminate a partisan divide that always manifested as a gender hole.
The subject first got here up in a postmortem of Devin and Virginia’s engagement. Though they appeared to be one of many season’s most appropriate {couples}, their conversations about politics—hers liberal, his conservative—had all the time been strained, with him dodging her makes an attempt to attract out his particular views. The reunion reaffirmed that this was a vital think about her determination to not get married. “We weren’t in alignment on some actually necessary issues,” she defined. “Devin instructed me loads about his core values—one thing that he didn’t wish to discuss on digicam.” And whereas she continued to respect his want to conceal his beliefs, her readability in explaining her personal painted a reasonably vivid negative-space image: “I 100% assist the LGBTQ neighborhood. I additionally imagine that ladies ought to have the choice to decide on in the event that they wanna have an abortion or not. I additionally imagine that totally different religions ought to be valued.” Devin’s response was characteristically obscure. “For me, I can look previous sure issues,” he stated. “I feel you could be collectively and have a relationship and never utterly agree on every part. And I feel a giant factor for me, as a Christian, is to like everybody, no matter how I really feel about one thing.”
This clarification for his or her breakup echoed a battle that was extra distinguished all through the season in Sara and Ben’s relationship. Whereas faith had by no means been a giant a part of her life, Sara gave the church that appeared to be the middle of Ben’s world an opportunity. However in researching its positions and teachings, she found a sermon on sexuality that espoused “conventional” views—a subject that hit dwelling for her, partially, as a result of her beloved sister is homosexual. Regardless of his assurances that he was comfy with “that neighborhood,” Ben’s views on LGBTQ rights, the Black Lives Matter motion, and different social points appeared apathetic at finest. (“I didn’t vote within the final election,” he instructed her within the pods. “I’ve sort of simply been staying out of it.”) Elaborating on her alternative after the abortive ceremony, Sara mirrored: “Equality, faith, the vaccine? Like, I introduced up all these items as a result of I feel they’re all necessary conversations. No matter you imagine, not less than have the dialog. There was no curiosity coming from his facet.”
On the reunion, Ben acknowledged that his views—or lack thereof—have been the product of privilege and particularly that he had merely by no means given a lot thought to his church’s positions on sexual identification as a result of he “didn’t ever have to know, as a result of there wasn’t actually anybody in my life that it actually pertained to.” In response, Sara defined that she wasn’t attempting to present him a litmus check. “It’s not essentially that I used to be searching for a proper or incorrect reply,” she stated. “I simply wished to have the open dialogue. The issue is, out of the pods it simply by no means progressed.” On account of that deadlock, she arrived on the altar unconvinced that she knew who Ben actually was.
As residents of a state that, in 2024, favored Kamala Harris over Donald Trump by just 4% of the vote, the Love Is Blind Season 8 solid displays an actual divide inside Minnesota. It additionally mirrors the double-digit nationwide gender gap—one the Trump marketing campaign successfully worked to widen by interesting to males beneath 40—with most ladies voting Democratic and most males Republican. All the above has, after all, been dissected to demise within the media during the last 4 months. However the substance of those disagreements isn’t put into human phrases, particularly for the hundreds of thousands of us who exist in additional homogeneously purple or blue spheres, the way in which it was this season.
Pundits on each side of the aisle have, unsurprisingly, seized upon Sara’s and Virginia’s selections as instances in level for his or her respective worldviews. A pre-reunion New York Post article that labeled Sara “woke” quoted Fox Information’ Laura Ingraham and Tomi Lahren’s pro-Ben posts (conservative white lady Lahren: “Is there something extra annoying than a liberal white lady?”) summed up the Murdoch empire’s take. As you’d anticipate, feminist-minded blogs had a unique learn. “It’s one factor to be undereducated or repulsed by the nuances of our complicated (and damaged) two-party system,” according to the site Betches. “However to actively keep away from data on the largest social points (AKA human rights) so to fake every part is chill, prefer it’s a cleansing reminder out of your dentist, is the literal definition of privilege.” “This complete season is proof that ladies are continuously doing the work,” wrote a Scary Mommy blogger.
I gained’t fake my sympathies don’t lie with the latter crowd, or that the outpouring of right-wing misogyny directed at Sara and Virginia deserves any response apart from disdain. However I additionally assume there’s one thing baffling concerning the {couples}’ political disconnects that goes past partisanship or the substance of both companion’s beliefs. On one facet we see two girls who can’t abide stances they’re keenly conscious would adversely have an effect on folks they cared about, from Sara’s sister to the Muslim kin Virginia mentions. On the opposite are two males who refuse to see political beliefs as something greater than summary concepts that ought to be neither mentioned in public nor thought of based mostly on how they impression actual folks—who refuse, in different phrases, to confess that politics matter in any respect. The factor is, in the event you assume, for instance, that same-sex marriage is incorrect and vote (or abstain from voting) accordingly, you may be as well mannered as you wish to queer {couples}; you’re nonetheless doing them hurt. As Trump supporters throughout the U.S. are being forced to confront the adverse effects of policies they voted for, Ben and Devin’s failure to a lot as make a connection between politics and actuality is a type of denial that feels each insidious and customary.
