Reality TV fosters immorality
‘Island’ sets lovers up for failure by luring their human nature

Temptation. The word immediately conjures up thoughts of lust and forbidden desire. When a relationship is involved, it almost directly refers to infidelity.

“Temptation Island,” the new television series that airs 8 p.m. Wednesdays on NBC basically entices relationships to end in messy breakups.

The show offers a number of happy couples the chance to go to a tropical island and test their true feelings for their loved one.
They do this by separating them once they are on the island and introducing them to a number of single, beautiful people that are also placed on the island. Not only do the volunteers get to know the singles in the tropics, they are set up to go on single and group dates with them.

The object of the game is to see if the feelings they possess for their loved one are strong enough to prevent them from cheating.
Why would people choose to be placed in such a tempting situation? We are all human beings, and this scenario is likely to cause nothing but hardship and tension.

Another show on television that airs at 11:30 p.m. on WB titled “Change of Heart” has similar intentions, but not to the extent that “Temptation Island” does.

“Change of Heart” sends a couple that would like to “test the waters,” as host Chris Jagger puts it, on a date with another person. This gives the couple the opportunity to decide whether they would like to stay with their partner or have a change of heart.

This show shocked me at first as well. However, after watching a few episodes, it intrigued me. I would often attempt to guess, judging on the actions of the people on their trial dates, if the couple would stay together or decide to move on. “Temptation Island” might be entertaining also, but what society enjoys is not always the morally acceptable thing to do.

The bottom line is “Change of Heart” is bad enough because it encourages partners to “test the waters,” but one date is virtually harmless. “Temptation Island,” on the other hand, goes way beyond harmless and reaches the point of just plain immoral.

The setting of an exotic island and a hot sun, sprinkled with tanned and toned single bodies, makes it almost impossible to pass up the temptation presented. We are all human beings, and we will do things we might regret in certain situations. It does not mean one person does not deeply care for the other, or one is not in love with the other. It merely means that given a certain scenario, people are likely to act on impulse.

Kristin Delorantis is a sophomore broadcast journalism major from Mansfield.
She can be reached at (k.delorantis@student.tcu.edu)

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