 "Photo: Courtesy of ABC")
America's love affair with dating reality television shows typically ends like most of the relationships forged in the phony, filmed situations: with deep regret, shame and the desire to have the wasted time refunded. From Rock of Love to Joe Millionaire, the concept of manufacturing the perfect match on cable nearly always falls as flat as Flavor Flav's current career.
Recently though, ABC took a slightly more calculated take on the television genre. "Dating in the Dark," which started on July 20, looks at what brings people together and keeps them together in a more practical way. Though it is obviously very manufactured and nothing like falling in love in the real world, this novel idea puts a new spin on the phrase blind date.
Here's the setup - three men and three women enter a house looking to find love. However, each gender only inhabits one side of the house and the two sexes can only meet up in a pitch-black dark room in the middle, monitored by infrared cameras. After having a group meeting, each woman is allowed to ask one man on a date based only upon what the men said and the sound of their voice. After one round of dates the host, Rossi Morreale, reveals that the producers purposefully chose three compatible couples based on their extensive surveys. After a date with their "ideal match" the contestants get a "free date." The interesting part is that most people end up zeroing in on the person who was handpicked for them based on points of compatibility.
Most of the dates in the dark get off to an awkward start, but tend to lean towards either emotional dishing on each person's life's story or participation in some sort of physical activity to initiate jumping in to groping a near-stranger who has been dubbed "perfect" for them. Watching people putt golf balls in the dark seems like the perfect excuse for a guy to cozy up behind a woman.
On the side, there are activities like smelling the opposite sex's shirts to get a pheromone reading, as well as having a police sketch artist draw up what each person thinks the person they are dating looks like.
Truly though, the most interesting part of "Dating in the Dark" is watching what happens when the contestants really find out if love is blind. After getting to know someone sans sight, each person is revealed to their potential significant other. Some people worry that the person they're interested in will not meet their standards of physical attractiveness, while others get insecure and pray that their looks are up to par.
The agonizing that occurs after the reveals centers on whether or not the same level of desire exists with the addition of a body and face to match with a personality. The sociological experiment comes to a head when each person decides if they'll meet up with their date again on an outdoor porch, indicating a desire to date in the real world. Some guys and girls prove how shallow they are and walk away from people they previously bonded with, felt up and made out with in the dark. Others discuss how someone's looks might grow on them since they have already seen how good or kind the person is. There are even people who choose not to date someone because they are uncomfortable with just how far our of their league the person is.
The bottom line for "Dating in the Dark" is that audiences get to observe a variety of different avenues, each that answers the question of how important physical attraction is, in a different way. Conflicting interests of love and lust are always interesting to watch, in a somewhat classier fashion than watching former Playboy bunnies gyrating for Bret Michaels.
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