Reactions to Huda and Chris in the Love Island finale make me scared of y'all
Musings on Huda and Chris in the Love Island USA finale
Like many others this summer, I tuned in (as much as I could) to Love Island USA. I felt drawn toward watching Season 7 because people kept saying it wasn’t as good as Season 6. Viewers had issues with the following:
male-centered behavior, despite the constant use of the word “sisterhood”
cliquey behavior
disproportional levels of hate, especially racism, towards Islanders who made mistakes
poor background checks on Islanders who said racial slurs
the stan culture cultivated by other viewers
The finale was a huge indicator of the toxicity of stan culture, as Huda Mustafa and Chris Seeley were voted one of the final four couples, despite the active decline of their connection. Fans who favored Taylor Williams and Clarke Carraway, or Chelley Bissainthe and Ace Greene, argued that the votes for Huda and Chris were wasted since the other two couples were more solid.
More importantly, the votes for Huda and Chris—due to her popularity—turned out to be inconsiderate towards Huda’s mental health. The two ended things before America found out who the winners were. Thus, Huda went through more broadcasted emotional turmoil, instead of leaving a little early to see her precious daughter.
Before anyone makes conclusions about what I think after seeing that awful date, I will lay it out as explicitly as possible:
I do not believe that one person in the pairing is unproblematic. Both Chris and Huda have problems and need to work on them in therapy (badly)!
(content warning: strong, vulgar language)
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Huda has been on Love Island much longer than Chris, and viewers have seen her badmouth female bombshells, especially ones who got cozy with former match Jeremiah. She also swore at Jeremiah and called bombshells the b-word when talking to other Day 1-Islanders. Both Jeremiah and Chris pointed out that she speaks to them or bosses them around as if they’re children. Huda seems to have a series of wounds from her past, resulting in her unhealthy behavior.
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However, Huda's need to work on herself does not justify Chris’s behavior during the last few episodes. His actions were not strikingly emotionally intelligent or mature; he just sounded calm. While his frustrations with Huda interrupting him and reserving physical affection for the bedroom are understandable, he continued to stay with her after their PDA issues weren’t resolved.
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Instead of ending things as soon as he realized the misalignment, Chris withdrew emotionally to the point where Huda asked him to “acknowledge [her] more” in the mornings. He continued to discuss his issues with Bryan and other Islanders. Chris even asked his mother and sister if they had any criticism for his connection with Huda and expressed shock when they had nothing to say.
When Islanders shared their “peaks” the night before their final dates, Chris mentioned seeing his relatives and playing basketball with the boys. He then said, “I don’t have another one,” after asking himself about more “peak” experiences. Many also pointed out their concern about Chris throwing a pillow in Huda’s face, due to her relatively fresh nose job, during the pillow fight before bedtime.
What set alarms off in my brain during the date was when Chris kept saying he knows how Huda feels about their connection and should “just say it.” Huda eventually said that they should be friends, but it’s pretty clear that Chris mutually wanted to end it. He also walked off, came back to Huda to ask why she was crying, insisted the decision to split was her own, walked away, came back to ask if she was coming back with him, and told her he won’t carry her over the water and up the rocky steps. Whether or not he should have carried Huda was heavily debated online. Some argued that it’s not romantic, but respectful, and others said Huda “doesn’t deserve chivalry.”
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Urging someone to speak on their thoughts about the viability of your connection in this case seems like a way to avoid breaking it off yourself. I am not a licensed psychologist, but I’m pretty certain that pressuring someone to break up with you by withdrawing and telling them to end things indirectly—and telling others you’d never marry them—is not aligned with the secure attachment style that Chris fans claim he has.
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Viewers’ defensiveness towards Chris seems rooted in hatred for Huda, which is concerning during this right-leaning shift in U.S. politics. It ironically reveals the prevalence of abuse culture, despite efforts like #MeToo. Again, I am not arguing that Huda is a victim here, but saying she deserves mistreatment because of past bad deeds reminds me of the perfect victim myth. Recently, many have justified Diddy abusing Cassie or dismissed her trauma because she engaged in “freak offs” and benefited from Diddy’s wealth through gifts and trips. Diddy was also charged with two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, but had no sex trafficking charges, meaning that the law sees Cassie as a prostitute, too.
Season 7 of Love Island USA once again confirms that the obsession with public figures is very much out of hand. Huda staying on the Island longer than necessary is a manifestation of everyday people seeing public figures as commodities and characters rather than humans. On the other hand, these parasocial relationships highlight misogynistic and male-centered sentiment among predominantly female fans. For instance, the argument that Huda “deserves” that treatment from Chris absolves him from accountability while dogpiling on her in the name of it. Viewers calling her a liar and self-victimizer after she mentioned being sexually abused by her father on the Call Her Daddy podcast is another example of this faux-accountability.
Hopefully, Peacock and the executive producers behind the show will stand by their pre-finale statement about showing Islanders respect as we watch the reunion and future seasons. It would not only quell haters online (and signs of being okay with harming the unlikeable) but also encourage people to have some more sense.
⚠️PSA: Hateful comments will result in consequences⚠️
Thanks so much for this! Really interesting read. I have just watched the show, and I am so curious - is Nicolandria a real thing? Or was it pushed and forced by the public? Might me an interesting topic to write about!