S Reignite

  Love Island used to be what some planned their summer’s around. Making sure they were free at 9pm Sunday to Friday, watching in groups, live-tweeting rapidly. But for years, the British reality show has been losing it’s grip on the nation.  It’s seemingly reached it’s peak this year as the American version of the show has become the focus of social media discourse. Even the American bombshell on the British series is the focus of the villa.   Since the seventh season of Love Island USA started in June it has been dominating everyones social feeds as viewers sared clips of sweet but more often questionable actions by the couples. Most of the conversation surrounded the outbursts of islander Huda during her time on the villa as well as a now viral meme with her, revealing to fellow islander Nic that she is a mother. Even people in the UK have been weighing in despite the fact the series isn’t available to watch yet. The Americans continued to be the topic of conversa...

Channel 4's lateset reality show adventure,presented to the contestants as a popularity contest called the Favourite instead was rigged by it's celebrity panel to ensure the show's underdog Josh, won.  And if Josh wins everyone wins. Across the eight episode series - British reality TV alumni; Love Island's Amber Rose Gil,  I'm a Celeb's Vicky Patterson and TOWIE's Pete Wicks worked with Radio DJ Nick Grimshaw to manipulate the show to ensure Bournemouth wrestler Josh won the series. Unlike the othe contestants on the series Josh was quiet , understated and didn't desire to be centre of attention. Making him the obvious underdog in the show. Poised as a show aiming to change the narrative of what a reality Star is, each day the celeb panel worked to put the game in Josh's favour which meant give him an upper hand in challenges or making ti harder for other contestants. This is a less Truman Show version to Amazon's Jury Duty which too sees a ki...

  MrBeast is one of the most popular YouTubers on the video platform with over 154 million subscribers on his main channel alone and I find his videos …. incredibly boring. I used to watch his videos at the height of the Team Trees project which was a campaign that saw the influencer plant trees for every dollar donated. But quickly I grew bored of his videos. The big production videos MrBeast and his team create are an impressive feat but often when I try to watch a video I end up clicking off because I’m not interested nor invested in the people starring in the videos. Many of MrBeast’s, real name Jimmy Donaldson, videos feature his subscribers who he regularly gifts substantial amounts of money. The only somewhat constant in the videos are MrBeast himself and his childhood friends who operate as supporters and jovial distractions for those competing in challenges. But still for me these big budget videos lacked personality.   Despite the tens of videos I’ve watched by...

  Earlier this month, the 65 th annual Grammy awards took place in Los Angeles and saw former member of One Direction and now successful solo artist, Harry Styles win Album of the Year for his third album Harry’s House . After he won there was immediate debate online about whether Beyoncé’s sixth album Renaissance was snubbed for the award. This argument was fuelled by fans who noted Beyoncé has never won the Album of the Year Grammy despite her influential albums Beyoncé (2013) and Lemonade (2016) being nominated in this category. In my opinion Beyoncé isn’t being snubbed by the Recording Academy, she is being pigeonholed. Although Beyoncé is the most decorated female artist in Grammy history, many of her wins have come in the R&B categories including, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It), which to me is clearly a pop song. Adding to this, in the summer when Renaissance lead single Break My Soul came out, I was surprised t...

  After watching the first British series of Married at First Sight, I thought it was one of the most authentic dating shows. The reality show aims to scientifically match applicants with someone they believe could be a suitable partner but the two only meet for the first time on their wedding day. From this day they attempt to build a connection and see if they can make it as a married couple. Married at First Sight UK series seven cast The selection process for the first season took over a year, there were only three couples, whose relationships were supported by five experts. I then went on to watch a couple of the early American seasons and the format was similar, although Americans reality TV stars seem naturally better at creating drama than the Brits. But as the show continued to expand globally, with more couples getting involved each season, it became less clear how authentic the selection process was and I became less interested in the programme. It doesn’t help th...

  When I went to watch an early screening of The Woman King , one of the trailers they showed before the movie was for Sky Atlantic’s new six-part series This England which satirises the actions of the British government during the pandemic. Poster for This England. Credit: Gadgetonus Firstly, the trailer has confirmed one of my long-held beliefs – when they say that the previews have been selected based on the movie you are watching, that is a complete lie. Secondly, I question the industry’s desire to rush to produce media about recent current affairs. The government flouting their own Covid-19 guidelines in incidents which included Dominic Cummings driving to Durham while experiencing Covid symptoms and the revelation that the then Prime Minister Boris Johnson, attended multiple large gatherings, one of which was to celebrate own birthday, are recent events from within the last two years. This means that these incidents are still fresh in the minds of the British public...

'You can't turn the paparazzi on and off ' As always, the paparazzi choose not to see the impact of their intrusive tactics on those in the spotlight in HBO Max documentary The Princess. The Princess poster Credit: Yahoo News Prior to Diana Spencer being formally engaged to Prince Charles, the press was at her door questioning her closely about what marriage to the Prince of Wales would mean. Even then Diana knew not to tell the enquiring journalists much. 25 years after her unfortunate death there are an inordinate number of documentaries focused on the life and death of Princess of the Wales. Spoilt for choice and questioning the motivations behind every documentary, I choose the one I saw first, The Princess directed by Ed Perkins. Perkins film unsurprisingly has no interviews with people in or close to the royal family sharing their love for Lady Di, instead it is crafted from paparazzi footage (obtained at all costs) and public appearances by the royal family. The over...

  'This self-worth is the most important thing you can develop for yourself, that any of us can develop. And it can't wait until you reach your goals.’ – Grace Beverley Grace Beverley’s self-help book illustrates how the 25-year-old was able to juggle her Oxford University degree, social media success and two new businesses but the brief self-care section shows that she admittedly hasn’t mastered mindfulness. I first became aware of Grace through watching her University of Oxford vlogs on YouTube. Her channel at the time was named GraceFitUK as the original focus of her channel was to showcase her fitness journey. Her growing platform later expanded to include other content like travel vlogs and clothing hauls.  When watching her videos, I sometimes felt she was overextending herself, trying to meet her university deadlines, working with brands, and travelling the world. With her channel now being renamed and revamped to highlight her growing businesses, Tala and Shreddy, you ...

  On 23 rd February, Manchester United drew with Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League matchup, thanks to a goal from substitute and emerging star Anthony Elanga. Before the kick-off United took a knee, as they and all other Premier League teams have been this season, as a gesture against racism in all forms but especially within football. Their opponents however choose to stand, which the BT commentator suggested was in solidarity with the cause. These contrasting choices serve as a reminder that are different ways for players to show that they are against racism within their sport, yet in British sport kneeling is currently being heralded as the only way. I’ve long be against the decision made by the Premier League to kneel before kick-off as I don’t believe forced activism benefits anybody. What often happens in the PL games I’ve watched this season, is that after kneeling players quickly jump up and begin the match. Rarely is time given for the players...

  On the 13 of December businessman and new Dragons’ Den investor Steven Bartlett uploaded an almost two-hour podcast interview with former Love Islander and newly appointed creative director of Pretty Little Thing, Molly Mae Hague to his YouTube channel, The Diary of a CEO. The pair discuss Hague’s success, her ambitions and relationship with boxer Tommy Fury. I, like the rest of the internet, have not watched the full interview but at the start of the year Molly’s comments became the centre of controversy. The social media influencer claimed that everybody has the same 24 hours in the day and so are then able, via hard work, to reach the same level of success that she has. Although she makes a brief mention to the different circumstances that mean we all don’t start on a level playing field, this wasn’t enough for most online who believe Molly failed to acknowledge the role that luck, like appearing on hit reality TV show Love Island and both her white and pretty privilege h...

                                                                'What a fine thing capital punishment is' – Fagin Before Rita Ora was flouting lockdown rules by having a birthday party and flying to Egypt, she was out filming Twist , with permission I assume.  The modern day adaption of novel Oliver Twist overuses camera tricks and roof jumping and brings nothing of value to Dickens’ classic. Oliver, called Twist by friends, has lived on the streets for a large part of his life. When trying to escape from his latest run in with the police, he meets fellow rascals Batesey and Dodge who invite him to join their criminal family. The age of Twist and his newfound friends is ambiguous. They look like twenty-year-olds and behave like teenagers. Along with “The Charmer”, Red, Batesey and Dodge are the oldest children in Fagin’...

  After being out of reach for Americans for one year, The Office (US  ) is now available for Americans through NBC owned streaming service Peacock. Based on Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s short lived British original , the mockumentary style show is centred around colleagues at Dunder Miflin Paper Company and all their office antics, spearheaded by their loveable but unqualified manager Michael Scott.  Each character having their own quirks is one the many things that has allowed the US version to out live its inspiration and have a large cult following since its inception. Every aspect of the show is well thought out and laugh out loud funny. The details they choose to remember and emphasise are ones that we are accustomed to other shows forgetting. Casually, Meredith mentions that her son Jake has a face tattoo in season eight and this detail is remembered for the rest of his scattered appearances on the show. This is a detail that may not have been notic...