Are Love is Blind’s Deepti and Shake a Classic Case of Internalized Racism?
The reality show’s Indian couple has lit up the internet after professing to previously dating only blond(e)s, their attraction fizzling days after their engagement.
For fans of reality television — including those who consider it merely a guilty pleasure — this may very well be a golden age, especially in romance and dating shows. The genre has gifted us an embarrassment of riches, and messy gems such as The Bachelor, Love Island, Too Hot to Handle, Dating Around, 90 Day Fiancé, and, of course, Love is Blind.
It’s the latter that has inspired a small but significant departure in format. The concept is simple: 15 men and 15 women spend 10 days meeting each other speed-dating style, except they’re seated in separate rooms called “pods” and can’t see each other. The silliest part, because there has to be one, is that by the end of each season, those who’ve chosen each other get engaged, go on vacation, meet each other’s families, and, naturally, get married.
Needless to say, when Love is Blind premiered on February 13, 2020, likely in part due to the pandemic, it quickly became Netflix’s most popular series at the time. You couldn’t spend an hour scrolling through Twitter or Instagram without people talking about the show, the couples, those hideous golden goblets they’re all forced to drink out of, and all the drama. Since the second season premiered earlier this month — timed for Valentine’s Day, of course — that fervor remains, largely due to one particular couple: Deeps and Shake.