90 Day Fiancé

Some of the past seasons were really entertaining, and many of the cast members were not clout chasers as they are today. Many of the scenes today are so heavily scripted that it insults our intelligence. This may be my last season of watching. Would like to see another network take a show like this back to a natural level of real people, and real problems. Not the outwardly manufactured garbage the show is now producing.

Four seasons in, I just became aware of this show's existence. After watching two episodes, I think it is mostly sad.

The concept is that individuals from the U.S., who have a long-distance relationship with people they may not have met, get engaged. When their fiancees come to the U.S. on K-1 visas, they have 90 days to get married--or they have to leave the country, by law.

The trend in dating-for-marriage shows seems to be speeding up the process. "The Bachelor" gives its participants mere weeks to make a life-long connection. "Spouse House" requires participants to become engaged or risk being evicted from the house/show. "90-day Fiancé" uses immigration law to accelerate the ticking clock for its five couples.

What really makes this concept perilous for participants is the real and obvious risk of "catfishing". It is very much like offering someone money if they get married to a person they know very little about. Yes, there are declarations of love, but viewers can clearly see that some relationships are very suspect.

In the end, viewers get train wrecks or love stories, both of which are interesting viewing. There is also plenty of drama, based on the anxieties of the participants, which viewers feel vicariously.

There are several interesting things about this show. Finding out the motives of the people involved keeps you watching. Is the foreigner in it for the money, or is there true love involved? Seeing the different way people live is always interesting and this show has a lot of different characters. The entire process of getting a K-1 Visa is covered in 90 Day Fiance'.

I don't review programming often. First and foremost, "reality TV" I hate to break it to y'all is mostly scripted and manipulated in post to fit the narrative the shows producers want. That being said, it's even more crazy they get these people to do it. I am in a state of bewilderment. I've never experienced a dialectic so strongly, my extreme level of embarrassment for these people walks hand in hand with my extreme level of intrigue a mix that left me uncomfortably comfortable. I've read that the subjects of these "reality" programs, do not receive compensation. (at least not from the producing network) I have thought about this more than I care to admit and I just can't figure out why anyone would participate on what is essentially a worldwide television show that makes the people participating look as bad as they do for our enjoyment. This is not a complaint however because it is unnervingly captivating. I can't shake the feeling that there couldn't possibly be this many ignorant, oblivious walking cringe emitters and its all an act... but that is another reason I ended up watching the whole damn series, because I wanted to catch them slipping and pull a Truman show gotcha.

As much as I watch it and at times enjoy it, it's still amazing how Americans travel across the world for love which is fine and all, but OMG can you all PLEASE LEARN ABOUT THE CUSTOMS AND CULTURE OF THE PEOPLE IN THAT COUNTRY. Going away so far away for love is beautiful, but it's trouble some that the majority of them knows absolutely nothing about the country, which makes it so hard to communicate and understand each other. This is something that annoys me, because yes I am from a different country dating an American and at times I am amazed on how much he's so lost about my country and customs SMH. Word of advice please do your homework before you buy your ticket.