Love can be blind, but political differences can still be a decisive factor.
Such was the case of two contestants in season 8 of the popular reality show of Netflix “Love Is Blind”. The contestants Sara Carton and Virginia Miller surprised fans during the end of last week, when both rejected their respective games, Ben Mezzenga and Devin Buckley.
Both women cited the differences in political opinions as the key reasons for their reluctance, which has revived online discourse on whether romantic relations can prosper without political compatibility. Some spectators called Carton and Miller for not wanting to be with their partners because they are not “awakened.” Others praised them for staying faithful to their values.
In recent years, politics and appointments have remained a hot issue, especially because the country has divided more politically and culturally. A recent report from the American Life Survey Center, a non -partisan research group, found that “73% of single women educated in the university would be less likely to go out with a Trump defender.”
“Love is blind”, which this season focused on Minneapolis residents, explores if people can fall in love or not before seeing themselves in person. In “Pods”, the contestants date another, speaking through a wall for hours and then they are face to face only after A proposal. Then they spend the next weeks deciding if they want to pass with the wedding, which is documented in the camera.
Until recently, the program’s stories had largely ignored politics.
Last season, which presented Washington, DC, couples and was filmed before the presidential elections, it was the first time that couples explicitly wondered how they voted.
This time, political conversations were even more prominently as part of Carton and Miller’s trips. His decisions proved to be online inflammation points, with conservative figures such as Tomi Lahren and Laura Ingraham criticizing Carton.
“Let’s find a good and conservative girl of 20 and many,” Ingraham wrote in X, sharing the Carton and Mezzenga clip of Lahren on the altar. “He will look back and laugh at this.”
Claire Fallon and Emma Gray, Coanfitations of the Popcast of Pop Culture “Love To Vee It”, said the season was a reminder that “reality television is a reflection of our society.”
“It is interesting how we are seeing what is happening in the dating market at the national level at this time develops repeatedly this season,” Fallon said in the most recent episode of the podcast. “Is it how we should establish and marry if all our options are people who oppose the policy that care about?”
During the “capsules”, Carton, a 29 -year -old oncology nurse, told many of her suitors that her sister is a lesbian. Carton said that a couple who create in LGBTQ rights are looking for. He also asked some about his views about the Black Lives Matter movement, sharing that he promised more social problems after the murder of George Floyd in his hometown.
His party, Ben Mezzenga, a 28 -year -old developer, said he goes to church often but “has no discomfort with that community,” referring to LGBTQ people. He said he was “ignorant” about policy and BLM movement.
In real life, after its commitment, but before the wedding, Mezzenga is seen knowing Carton’s sister. His sister seems doubt that the two are made for each other. Carton also goes to church with Mezzenga to learn more about his beliefs and perspective.
Finally, on the altar, Carton rejected Mezzenga. “Ben, I love you very much,” he said. “But I have always wanted a couple to be in the same wavelength. So I can’t. ”
She tells her mother and the sister after leaving the ceremony that worried her that “there would be no curiosity from her side.”
“I asked him about Black Lives Matter,” he said. “And I’m not an expert, but when I asked about it, he says: ‘I guess I never thought about that too.’ That affected me.”
He sees Mezzenga praying with his friends after Carton rejects him. During the meeting, he touched cardboard reasons to say no.
“I knew that when I entered this experience I have definitely had privileges in my life, and it is something that was not proud and something that I knew I needed to grow. And then when I entered this I knew it was important for Sara in the capsules. And then I wanted to be vulnerable and say: ‘Hey, I haven’t thought about it much.’
“You know, I am ashamed of how our conversation had gone to the beginning there, but then we had great conversations about it,” he said. “So there is only one definitive impact on me, and I have to thank Sara for that. I know it’s a bit sad that someone has taken me to make me think that way. ”
Carton said the two tried to leave after the program wrapped to see if they could make things work, but that Mezzenga stopped talking to her until finally “apologized with scripts.”
Meanwhile, Miller, a 34 -year -old medical care recruiter, and Buckley, a 29 -year -old director and youth coach, had greatly avoided talking about politics until the tenth episode of the season, when they shared a sincere conversation in the camera.
Buckley said he was not “super great in politics” and said that his family generally has conservative opinions. Miller said he didn’t care if the two shared different political opinions, but that it would be “a bit alarming” if he was “on the other side of the spectrum” in political matters that matter to him.
On the altar, Buckley said: “I do it,” but Miller said: “I love you very much, but I’m not ready.” In his confessional during the end, he mentioned the policy but did not explain more, until the meeting episode that was issued on Sunday.
“Devin told me a lot about his central values, something he didn’t want to talk about before the camera,” Miller said. “Still to this day I don’t feel really comfortable saying Devin’s opinions. But I will be very clear about mine. 100% support the LGBTQ community. I also believe that women should have the decision to choose whether they want to have an abortion or not. I also believe that different religions should be valued. … These were really important things for me. ”
Buckley, in response, said that in a relationship can “look beyond certain things.”
“I think you can be together and have a relationship and not completely agree on everything,” he said. “And I think that a great thing for me, as a Christian, is to love everyone, regardless of how I feel for something.”
