It’s true that a villain makes for brilliant reality TV, but at what cost to the contestant’s mental health?
Anyone following the current season of Married at First Sight Australia will grit their teeth when they hear the name Olivia Frazer.
Her facial expressions alone reduce me to a boiling pot of rage.
There’s no denying she’s… unpleasant, shall we say.
The final night of the couple’s retreat (series 9, episode 23) was extremely hard to watch.
But have the producers stuck this season’s bullseye on her? Is she the target that we’re all supposed to hate? Have we willingly walked into the trap of clever editing like little sheep being herded into a barn?
It’s easy for us to sit on our sofas and furiously tweet the ways we’d like to wipe the smirk off of her face – I’ve thought of a couple myself.
But then I remembered how quickly the tune can change when people are targeted. .
Suddenly, pitchforks become lanterns, and tweets of hatred become reminders that we never know what somebody is going through.
Caroline Flack and Mike Thalassitis who were both scrutinised by the public at some point, and are extreme examples of what can happen when people are spotlighted in this way.
I suggest the show removes the red lasered dot from Liv’s forehead.
If history has taught us anything, it’s that we could all be a little bit kinder (that includes you though, Olivia).
