When did we decide that love, or at least its reality television simulacrum, should be blind to the criminal records of potential spouses? The latest scandal to engulf the Australian franchise of Married at First Sight reveals a grotesque failure of safeguarding: participants were not informed of their partners’ criminal histories. This is not merely a lapse in production ethics; it is a symptom of a culture that prioritises dramatic spectacle over the basic dignity and safety of individuals.
We are witnessing the intellectual decadence of a society that treats marriage as a game show and background checks as an optional extra. The Victorians, for all their prudishness, understood the importance of reputation and character references. Today, we are left with a televised farce where the only thing more shocking than the revelation of a partner’s past is the producers’ willingness to gamble with human lives for ratings.
The safeguarding row is not a bug; it is a feature of a system that has lost its moral compass. Unless we return to a sense of social responsibility, we will continue to sacrifice real people on the altar of entertainment.
