In the last week, dozens of clips have gone viral on networks, in which you can see what appears to be a strange reality show in which men and women look for a partner, but seeing the suitors completely naked. Well, it is a real program, which has arrived in Spain thanks to the Max platform, and which has already caused controversy and trouble in its wake.
It’s called ‘Naked Attraction’, and its format seems to have taken the typical reality show conventions we’re used to to the limit. Physical appearance has always played a fundamental role in the most famous reality shows focused on finding a partner, but on this occasion, Naked Attraction crosses borders by showing the candidates completely naked, and placed in display cases as if they were a Neapolitan chocolate bar in a pastry shop. it was about.
Sometimes even covering the heads of the suitors, and initially avoiding dialogue, so that the contestant can choose which people they would be interested in meeting based on the physical attraction they feel towards the person in front of them.
Presented by Marta Flich in her Spanish version, Naked Attraction is a format created by the British network Channel 4, which has already had 12 seasons in the United Kingdom, and has also been adapted in Germany, Sweden and Italy. In it, complexes and shyness are left behind and the contestants will abandon any fear of appearing before the cameras as God brought them into the world. All of this, in an environment that encourages maximum respect for all body types, avoiding negative comments and focusing, instead, on the positive characteristics of each person’s body.
However, the body positive tone that the program acquires does not free it from having sowed controversy for its proposal, which arrived in our country on May 22. Thus, the Institute of Social Policy (IPSE), a pro-family citizen entity with headquarters in Andalusia and Castilla y León, defender of Christian symbols and the “indissoluble unity of Spain”, has formally requested Max to withdraw the show from its programming.
According to the letter sent to Max from the conservative entity, which claims to represent more than 100,000 Christian families, Naked Attraction has an “aggressive character and is decontextualized from what sexuality really entails. We consider that this program hurts and causes damage to the image of the woman as well as the men who also appear naked, really decontextualizing what love or sexuality is as a surrender and not a game or a whim of the moment…”, the text contains.
But the criticism not only comes from the Institute, but many network users are surprised by the audacity of the format, even though it has been broadcast in other countries for years. “There is no limit to anything anymore,” says one user. “There is no need to entertain this infectious rabble that rots the minds of children, adults and the elderly,” he comments. other. There are also many who take it with humor, and already share memes with the most surreal moments of the program.
Marta Flich defends the format
The host of the program, Marta Flich, known in Spain for her work on Telecinco or Cuatro, defended the program through a post on Instagram last Sunday, indicating that the “casting was made up of men and women of different ages, races, bodies, sexual orientations and motivations. In that healthy environment, the program addressed body positivity, that all bodies are beautiful and talking calmly about it. The topic was accompanied with some small scientific pills on why we are more attracted to one physical feature than another and anecdotes of the style. From this perspective it is easy to deduce that there was no sexualization or objectification. We all lived the experience naturally and had a really good time. Pure healthy entertainment. “Very fun,” she says.
Flich calls the comments that ask for their broadcast to be canceled as “immaturity,” and regrets that attention is paid to the issue while ignoring other more regrettable issues that we “live with,” such as “sexist violence, murders, wars, inequality, suicides or lynchings,” commented the presenter.
