Breaking up these couples is a public service

By Andrew Wallenstein
   
  Planet Earth continued to spin the morning after the debut of "Temptation Island" (Wednesdays, 9-10 p.m. ET, began Jan. 10). After all the controversy, you might have at least expected hellfire to drizzle Sodom-style on the show's home in Belize, or its entire land mass to submerge into the ocean below.
    Hollywood is still standing, too, despite the protestations of the Parents Television Council, Family Research Council and a rabbi who delivered a jeremiad against Fox from his Dallas pulpit that made the front page of The Wall Street Journal. Their vociferous opposition to "Island" whipped up the series so much free publicity that I suspect they are actually on Rupert Murdoch's payroll.
     Their beef was with Fox broadcasting a program that deliberately tried to break up couples by dumping them in a tropical paradise filled with gorgeous single men and women intent on seducing them. 
   Encouraging infidelity doesn't sit well with Rabbi Kenneth D. Roseman, who told the Journal, "Should we be complacent about a program that says it is sport to see how far we can go to break up relationships?"
    Well, actually, yes.
    By now the opponents to "Island" probably see how their hysterics played right into the hands of Fox. 
   Had they ignored "Island," the series probably wouldn't have scored as impressively in the ratings as it did (nearly 9 million viewers). But their objections also represent a naïve understanding about the nature of the show, particularly the people on it. 
    Roseman et al. would have done well to remember the name of Terry Rakolta. A decade ago this Michigan homemaker led the outcry to boycott advertisers who supported Fox's raunchy sitcom "Married With Children." Her jihad backfired badly, drumming up the attention Fox needed to make the series a full-fledged hit.
    What's fascinating about Fox is that when this network hits rock bottom, it bounces. Fox first plummeted downward with "shockumentaries" like "When Animals Attack!" But after weathering extensive criticism, Fox swore off such programming, only to fall back to earth with last year's "Who Wants To Marry a Multimillionaire?" The mea culpa came again, followed nine months later by the "Surprise Wedding" special. By the time "Island" came along, it should have been abundantly clear that this network behaves like a repentant amnesiac.
     "Island" isn't exactly the nadir of Western civilization its critics make it out to be, but it's damn close. If Dante were a network programmer, "Island" would be a circle of hell with surveillance cameras. I am counting the seconds until some entrepreneur opens a chain of resorts based on the show and hires people to seduce willing guests and disrupt their relationships. 
    Call it Club Meddler.
    But is the premise of "Island" really that sinful? 
   Let's not forget these couples were not kidnapped at gunpoint and shipped to Belize; they volunteered to be on the show. That means on some level they are intentionally sabotaging their relationships. 
   A free vacation and national exposure is obviously more important to these exhibitionists. What's true love compared with the chance that "Island" may lead to an appearance in the next Blistex commercial?
    Better that these relationships end by mutual stupidity in a tropical paradise than to linger on indefinitely until some unplanned dalliance at a neighborhood bar. 
    So why are "Island" critics so intent on keeping people like this together? Do their relationships have any sanctity to preserve? 
   Fox is probably doing us a public service by attempting to break up these couples before they can procreate and put more selfish, warped people in the world.
    Which is why Fox should be applauded for yanking one couple from "Island" after the network learned they hid the fact they had a child, which was automatic grounds for disqualification from the show. If two people want to make fools of themselves on TV, that's their god-given right, but their kid shouldn't have to suffer from their shortsightedness.
   Of course, after this mishap and the "Multimillionaire" fiasco, in which Fox failed to find out its wealthy bachelor's violent past, you have to ask: Who does the network hire to screen cast members, Mr. Magoo?

Printer-Friendly Version |  Send to a Friend
Cover Page | Contact Us

© 2001 Media Life