Reality TV phenomenon “90 Day Fiancé” kicked off its 10th season last Sunday. We got to meet the lucky internationals who got a K-1 visa and 90 days in America to decide whether they will marry their American fiancés or call it off and go back home.
In a vintage “90 Day Fiancé” moment, Jasmine explained what she — a Kardashian knock-off — saw in Gino, a man 20 years her senior who lives in Canton, Michigan: “He has the belly fat, the flamingo legs, the sharky nose, the nonexistent lips, it’s kind of my thing.”
This mix of brutal honesty, questionable motives, and slow-motion trainwrecks is the heart of “90 Day Fiancé.” The show’s dramatic tension derives from obvious imbalances in these relationships: a beautiful immigrant and a frumpy American, a Third World resident eyeing an American suburb. Seemingly every season, at least one concerned friend asks, “Do you think he’s just in it for the green card?” This simple formula made “90 Day Fiancé” into TLC’s flagship program, but it has become a liability.
Reality TV from a Politically Incorrect Era
The unspoken assumptions of the drama — that beauty standards are real, that America is a desirable destination, that age might be a meaningful relationship factor — are no longer politically correct. It’s fat-shaming. It’s ageist. These immigrants aren’t from the “Third World.” It’s the “Southern Hemisphere” — no better, no worse than the USA. And to entertain the thought that these immigrants may be self-seeking
