Trouble in ‘instant’ marital paradise
“Married at First Sight”
One of the most enticing and yet cautionary viewing propositions on the boob tube these days is the reality tilt, “Married at First Sight.”
It piques viewers’ interest with its countertradition twist of getting strangers to agree to get married first before getting to know each other.
Talk about putting the kalesa in front of the horse, this is it! How will the “instant” marriage endure—unless the perplexed nag learns the confounding trick of trotting backwards?
The season-starter telecast we watched recently introduced us to four seemingly personable couples, who were obviously no spring chickens and tyros in love and romance departments.
Their respective wedding went very well, indeed, and so did their first honeymoon night together.
So, the social and marital “experiment” could work? Uh, not so fast. At the end of the telecast, a flash insert of the show’s next installment showed a couple engaging in an all-out shoutfest. Trouble in paradise, on only the neo Adam and Eve’s second day together? Ouch.
In our view, the swift “souring” process is no surprise, because the strangers have opted to get instantly married under such dubious circumstances.
Please note that prior to getting peremptorily hitched, they were so unsuccessful at finding life partners on their own that they agreed to make this last-ditch effort.
What does that say about their own loving skills? Uh, not much. So, why should we be surprised when they end up fightin’ even before their honeymoon is over?!
In our opinion, some or most of the tilt’s contestants have been programmed to fail in this ignoble experiment.
So, the show is more or less assured of continuing conflict or “drama” to keep viewers watching—and tut-tut-tutting away.
Despite some evidence to the contrary in some Asian “arranged” marriages that do work, the loving and marrying system appears to need a substantial “getting to know you” process, during which the prospective couple is able to get past the “best foot forward” charade of basic goodness and kindness—and that simply takes time.
Only after a man and a woman reveal his and her real good and bad qualities can they consider “investing” and spending the rest of their lives together.
Yes, some people do fall in love “at first sight” and end up at the altar. But many more prospective lovers sense that the first flush and surge of passionate love (and lust) can’t be fully relied on to guarantee a lifetime of (relative) happiness!
