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The Unwatchable.

Source: The Sun - https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/nintchdbpict000351308634.jpg?strip=all&w=960

I don't know if your perception of a good evening's entertainment is watching people with intellectual disabilities being mocked on television? It certainly isn't mine.

Channel Four's The Undateables advertises itself as a "documentary series following people with challenging conditions who are looking for love." The title itself portrays the protagonists of this show as having such "challenging conditions" to the extent that they are rendered "undateable". According to Wikipedia, a spokesperson for the show defended criticism about the show's condescending name, stating that it is the public's perception that these people are 'undateable'. I do not identify as a member of the public, if this is the case. Furthermore, if this is the genuine public perception, would it not perhaps be more constructive, and more fundamentally human to challenge the public's narrow-minded, ignorant view? This show doesn't seem to attempt to do this.

The name is only the start. It seems to me that The Undateables sets up vulnerable people with intellectual disabilities for the purposes of entertainment. The show feeds off the naivety of its stars, The daters, in all their vulnerability, often do not realise that they are acting in a way which may appear comical. These moments of unintentional humour are penetrated into our Facebook feeds, in a desperate attempt to fish for likes.

Furthermore, doubt has been raised as to whether people with certain intellectual disabilities may be able to give fully thought-through consent to appear on the show. This might sound like a patronising viewpoint, but it is a genuine concern which was raised by a doctor and member of the British Medical Association who is also the mother of an autistic child.

"How do these programmes' producers ensure that participants who have autism or intellectual impairment can give truly informed consent to this potential consequence of them becoming reality TV stars?" - Dr Rachael Pickering

If the purpose of this show is not to mock disabled people and make their normal conduct into a form of entertainment, what is it?

To promote awareness about disabilities? - This is probable, and I'm sure it is thought-provoking for viewers.

To change people's perceptions about disabilities? - This could be a side-effect of the show, as such, but I don't think it is what the show really aims to do. We must bear in mind the view of the show's the spokesperson which I referred to earlier: that the public's perceive people with intellectual disabilities to be 'undateable'.

How would you like to be set-up, ridiculed and mocked, all for the benefit of somebody else to chuckle at your vulnerability? The answer to this question says all you need to know about The Undateables.

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