The Hidden Catholic Message in Netflix's Love Is Blind

Of all the shows that dominate our television ratings today, few are worse than the Netflix hit Love Is Blind. This show has just about every vice expected in a successful show of today's culture, including promiscuity, debauchery, gossip, cohabitation, and the list could go on. However, one element of this show is surprisingly Catholic, namely dating as the intentional discernment and preparation period for marriage.

For those unfamiliar with Love Is Blind, the premise of the show is a group of men and women who participate in a social experiment to find their spouse. The cast goes on a series of blind dates, blind in the truest sense, as they never actually see the person they are falling for until they propose at the end of ten days. After this reveal, they continue to speed towards marriage over the next three weeks, where they are sent on a honeymoon-style vacation, return to their hometown together and are placed in an apartment by production. They live here while returning to work, family, friends, and wedding planning. The couple's journey culminates in a "wedding ceremony," where the couples then decide, based on their four weeks of dating, if they want to go through with the marriage or break up and return to the dating pool to continue their search for their future spouse. 

From that brief synopsis, there are clearly quite a few aspects that could be topics of conversation in light of Catholic philosophy and theology. However, for this article, I want to focus on what the show unintentionally gets right, which is dating as an active process of discernment and preparation leading to the tangible model of self-giving love, i.e. marriage. It is no secret that the number of marriages is dropping drastically, both in the secular world and, more seriously, in the Church. While there are many reasons for this, one of the leading factors is that the dating and courtship process leading up to marriage has been watered down.

Dating has become such a normal part of young people's lives that it has lost its place as a period of preparation and has become an end in and of itself. Young people today are encouraged to date as often and casually as possible, usually with the approach of "seeing where it goes." This passive mindset has created a culture where young people willingly submit themselves to a kind of relationship limbo. This attitude leads to a courtship process that reduces the vocation of marriage to the default reaction that is seemingly stumbled into after an arbitrary amount of time has passed rather than an outward-facing acceptance of the call to be the foundation on which all other vocations find their place of nourishment. Gone are the days of asking, "Am I who I need to be to love my future spouse well?" and "Is my partner the one with whom I wish to cultivate the next generation of the domestic Church?"

So, what is the takeaway? Don't be fooled by the temptations of our time that dating is simply a period of insignificant decision-making akin to test driving a new car or a waiting game to see if you and your potential spouse can cohabitate in a monotonous existence together. Instead, enter into the realm of dating and courtship with a deep love for the sacrament of marriage, which is a call to holiness and responsibility, by which an example of radical spousal devotion strengthens the Church. Do not waste time in the dating process by merely letting the days come and go until marriage seems convenient, but instead resolve to use this beautiful time to let Christ purify you and your partner to become a couple that will hopefully one day be a great witness to Jesus' love for one another and His Church.