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Too Hot to Handle4/30/2020 Written by: Zachary Kujath Well it seems I have a beat now, and somehow, it’s trashy, love and relationship-based reality TV. But this is what quarantine does to all of us. Not only are we forced to stay home more and fill that time with things like new Netflix shows, but there’s also less new content to keep us entertained. So we take what we can get. Too Hot to Handle is a Netflix love and dating reality competition show that heard every complaint people had about the genre and said, “What if we did all of that, but more?” The show found the hottest, dumbest, and most commitment-fearing group of singles they could and put them on an island, with the promise of $100,000 if they could refrain from sexual contact for the next months, and any infractions of the rules would pull dollar values from a collective prize pool. So they’re all in this together, with the aim of teaching the participants how to have stronger emotional connections with romantic partners. Now, if you grew up a youth group kid like me, you’re probably thinking about how you should be collecting quite a bit of back payment on this kind of deal, but this was not so simple for the contestants of this show. In fact, on the FIRST DAY, the contestants had lost $3000 of the prize money to an ill-advised kiss on the beach. What are you willing to miss out on for a good time?Here’s the thing: no one wants to read a blog post about my opinions about sex. It’s a legalistic, rules-y conversation that in general does nothing more than put people down and divide us over what’s really a small issue in the grand scheme of things. But this show provides an excellent picture of what it’s like to live life on earth for an eternal reward. One of the most common frustrations among Christians, especially young Christians, is the seemingly long road to gratification that it often looks like others are skipping past to have a part of here and now. And the way I see it, the contestants on Too Hot to Handle, and the way they dealt with their circumstances, can be an excellent insight into what we might have to look forward to, and the pitfalls we can avoid. The show was full of villains, but none received my vitriol quite like the Florida girl, Haley. Haley never made a connection with anyone, save fellow mean girl Francesca. After a slight in the early days of the process, Haley plotted a vindictive kiss with another contestant so they could lose everyone else money. Haley missed the point of the show. She lounged on an island having fun with a friend, but never accomplished much on the show, and was eventually removed from the show before the prize was handed out. Haley is a lot like those people that young Christians are so often jealous of. She had a good time, maybe even a better time than some of those people trying to follow the rules. But in the end, Haley missed out on the cash reward, and it seems likely she missed any personal growth the show could have offered her. In the same way, getting wrapped up in what the world has to offer leads to an eternity devoid of the reward that has been promised. But that would be a real downer of a think piece. Why are you seeking God? One of the most interesting figures on the show was British football player Kelz. Dubbed “The Accountant” by his cast-mates and the producers, Kelz was focused on the money as soon as he learned about the prize. Kelz displayed an unwavering commitment to the rules, spending much of the early time on the island only around the other guys so as to avoid temptation. But while Kelz followed the rules, he missed out on a lot of the early lessons on the show. Kelz’s story reminds me of the story of the morning after Jesus fed the 5,000. After the miracle of the loaves and fish, the disciples set across the sea to Capernaum, leaving Jesus to follow them walking on the water through the storm. The next day, having landed on the opposite shore, they are met by the crowds Jesus fed the day before. But Jesus’s reaction is one that likely caught those that followed him across the sea of guard. He says “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.” (John 6:26 ESV) Jesus is calling out their motives, saying that they followed him, but not out of any faith. Instead, they were looking to get a little more food from Jesus. In the same way, Kelz followed the rules. He did technically accomplish the mission in front of him, and he eventually received the reward at the end of the show. However, he missed out on much of the personal growth, and some of the rewards of the show. Kelz generally failed to interact with Francesca when they had a date, instead being so concerned with not breaking the rules that they didn’t find any deeper connection. Throughout the second half of the show, contestants were occasionally allowed to break the rules with the permission of the disembodied AI Lana, a permission she would grant after moments of personal growth and genuine connection. However, even following all of the rules, Kelz was never given that permission. While Kelz did share in the final cash prize, he never got the chance to share a kiss with any of the other contestants, and left the show without connecting with anyone in a meaningful way. The process of redemptionIf the show had any heroes, they were probably meant to be Francesca and Harry. And if you’re an astute reader, you probably recognize Francesca as a mean girl referenced before. These two would probably not have been chosen as favorites in the early going. Those $3000 lost on the first day? That was Harry and Francesca. Haley’s vindictive kiss to lose everyone else money? Francesca was the other half of that exchange. These two did not exactly make shining examples of themselves in the early going. But a few episodes in, the two started making conscious efforts to connect on a deeper, emotional level. While they had lost some money in the early going, they found a connection throughout the show, and were not only rewarded with a chance to kiss, but also got to win back the money they lost for the whole group by spending a night together in the private suite without breaking any rules. And, according to the follow-up reports, the two are still dating a year later, and are in the beginning stages of planning a wedding.
See, Francesca and Harry were far from perfect. They lost the group money, they fought with each other, and they were often otherwise insufferable. But they fully received the rewards of the show. Not only did they both win the cash prize, but the two got the chance to briefly be relieved of the rules, and found a connection that, so far, seems to have lasted. In the same way, engaging with the world in the way we are encouraged to can allow us to experience both the eternal rewards we long for, and the fullest extent of the rich life we can have on Earth. There is a middle ground of reconciliation between complete avoidance of guidelines set out for us and rigid adherence to the most legalistic version of every rule. Slight failures are not immediate condemnations. Instead, the things on the Earth have been placed there so that we can experience a full and complete life, one meant to be beautiful and eventually point us to the eternal reward we’ve been promised.
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