Love Bri or hate her on Love is Blind Season 10, it’s disturbing how many fans are coming for her instead of redirecting their energy on the actual problem here: Chris.
For those who need a recap, Bri and Chris are contestants in the latest season of Love is Blind. Bri and Chris connected in the pods, but didn’t end up together. Chris got engaged to Jess. And Bri got engaged to Connor. When they made it out of the pods, things seemed to be going great for the couples, despite some normal getting to know you hiccups.
Then the latest batch of episodes came out and we got to see Chris’ true colors. In an exchange that is so infuriating, Chris tells Jess that he’s basically not attracted to her while harping on and on about how he doesn’t want to sound like an asshole. He says, “I date people who f*cking do, like CrossFit and sh*t.” When Jess asked for clarification he added: “It’s just, like, somebody who does f*cking Pilates every day.”
Jess dipped after this exchange. It was disrespectful to her, the journey she went on in the pods, and the time they invested in each other. So she packed up her stuff, with the knowledge that she would be ok even if she wasn’t at the moment. And what did Chris do? He created an Instagram, went out with his friends to a strip club, and then hit up his second pick from the pods aka Bri. The problem was that Bri was still very much into Connor and Connor was supposedly Chris’ friend.
When the reunion time came around, everyone met up at a local bowling alley in Ohio. And right from the jump, it was clear that everyone knew what Chris had done. It was clear when anyone talked to Chris, every conversation seeming to skirt around what happened for an awkward moment. And it became even more abundantly clear when Jess arrived and the women showered her with compliments about how amazing she looked.
Later on in the night Chris finally worked up the audacity to talk to Bri. And it’s entirely uncomfortable. Bri was being too accommodating when it came to Chris’ excuses as to why it didn’t work out with Jess. And Chris absolutely had too much drink. What follows is Chris harping on and on about how he’s a better pick for Bri than the man she left the pods with. And he does this because he wants to change Bri’s mind but even worse, he thinks he’s such a prize that Bri would be a fool to say no to his offer.
MORE: Let’s go back to the beginning of this journey. Read our breakdown of Love is Blind Season 10 Episodes 1-6!
This is where the internet surprised me. Because yes, I knew fans would be uncomfortable with Bri not shutting Chris down right quick, just like I was honestly. But I didn’t expect the kind of hate Bri was getting. People were mad that she wasn’t defending Jess as vehemently as Amber was to Chris’ face. They were also mad that Bri talked to him in the first place with Ashley and Priyanka while seemingly trying to find some sort of middle ground as to why Chris made the decisions he did.
To be clear, this isn’t a defense of Bri post. This is me calling out the fans who had plenty of smoke for Bri about her not being a “girl’s girl” but were quiet when it came to calling out Chris. Bri wasn’t the one who broke Jess’ heart and stole her opportunity to find someone she wanted to marry. Chris is the one who made this mess because he felt intimidated by Jess and he wanted her to feel small so he didn’t have to confront why he felt intimidated by her in the first place.
As viewers, Love is Blind is fun for us. We don’t have to experience the ups and downs because we’re just looking on in at other people’s lives. There’s a disconnect between us and them. But our reactions to what happens on this show says a lot about the audience Love is Blind is serving. And reducing what Chris did to Jess to a joke about how “he’s not even tall enough to be acting like this” while dragging Bri, who didn’t cause the damage in the first place, reeks of misogyny.
This contempt for Bri has manifested into fans policing her reactions, suggesting that she likes the drama because she’s letting Chris talk, and calling her names. And these reactions have the added element of fans closing ranks and saying they never trusted Bri in the first place or trust women like her. But again, where is that heat for Chris? Why aren’t these fans calling out his drinking, how he’s disrespecting Bri, but also Connor, Jess, and the other cast members who entered this dating show that ends with marriage?
Also, why is no one calling out Netflix for letting this uncomfortable conversation go on in the first place? Because I don’t know about you, but I’ve been around inebriated men. Men I knew. But also men that were making me uncomfortable and that I didn’t want to upset because I wasn’t sure what they would do. It didn’t matter if it was a public place. You move with caution. That’s what the Bri and Chris conversation was giving in Love is Blind Season 10 Episode 9. And Netflix just kept filming like they did during that uncomfortable moment in Season 9 when Joe was drunk and Madison was freaked out.
At the end of the day, instead of fans dismissing what Chris did with jokes and then coming in hot on Bri because reasons, de-center yourself and analyze why you hold such contempt for “the other woman” Chris is now chasing. You don’t have to defend Chris. He’s not going to pick you and we certainly don’t want Jess to give him another chance. And you’re not Bri. Who knows what you would’ve done or how you would’ve reacted when facing an inebriated man who makes it clear that he wants you and is willing to destroy what he has with another to have you.
Love is Blind Season 10 Episodes 1-9 are available on Netflix. New episodes premiere next Wednesday, February 25.
