After the announcement of season 2 of the reality show Too hot to handle, I am sure that it will reappear in trending, after the first season was a real success, exploding overnight. The reality show is meant to be an encouragement of real connections between partners (accustomed, in their daily lives, only with physical relationships, without feelings), but this ideal is quickly broken after you get to actually watch the reality show, giving itself up as a superficial series and too little essentialized, with small drops of depth from time to time.

The premise is very simple, on the same island you bring attractive people, players, who perpetuate the hookup culture, telling them that they are not allowed to do anything that fits into their daily behaviors, and give them a huge prize of $ 100,000. Although the idea of ​​the series seems a bit more meaningful, it's just a covert way to capitalize on sexuality, because, as we all know, it sells best. Thus, we are presented with a group of people who fall within the conventional standards of beauty and who portray the specific behaviors of some rather bland and simple personality types.

We cannot deny that we find a mix of nationalities, with competitors from the United States, Great Britain and Canada, but, on a second check, it seems too little, totally ruling out presenting a diversity in the true sense of the word. We do not find diversity in the aspect of the competitors either, because each of them represents, in fact, a specific typology of man, which falls within the conventional and basic pattern of beauty. We are not introduced to different people, people who do not fall within the standard proposed by society, appearing only women broken from 90-60-90 patterns and men with muscles. Probably the only part that penetrated the walls of superficiality was the one in which the contestants participated in workshops, where they really tried to get to know themselves better, to understand and accept more of those around them, to break the blockage that kept them from attaching themselves to other people and the same blockage that kept them from truly loving themselves.

The question that leaves me with this reality show, however, is this: is the grouping of goals and means a superficial or profound system? Introducing both sides, I was somehow upset between them. Should a reality show really go beyond the superficial, scandalized portrayal of the human psyche and behavior, or should it be just another variant of Love Island?

Don't forget to follow us on instagram at @the.magateen! :)

editorial: Maria Angele

graphic design: Bianca Constantin,

Anastasia Chivu

translation: Irina Aldescu

DP (desktop publishing): Andreea Seba