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Published in:
2020 | OriginalPaper | Chapter
6. Anxiety and Eroticism on the Desert Island: Dear Esther and Love Island
Author : Barney Samson
Published in: Desert Islands and the Liquid Modern
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
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Abstract
This chapter argues that the 2013 video game Dear Esther and the reality television show Love Island (2015–present) constitute supreme representations of liquid modernity. The texts exemplify complementary aspects of liquid modernity: the underdetermination of contemporary identity and subjectivity, and seductive techniques of social control, structured by consumerism. In Dear Esther, the player-character inhabits a desert island without an avatar, antagonists or explicit aims. The interaction with space is confined to exploration. The game is articulated primarily by underdetermination: rather than constructing a strong subject position, Dear Esther models identity as being inescapably fluid. Love Island offers erotic pleasure, fragmenting and objectifying the human body. The show’s format prioritises choice and radical consumerism, constructing human relationships as unreliable, insecure and anxious.