Kumari Shreya
Narrated by Heather Graham, Hulu’s ‘Love in Fairhope’ follows five different women as they navigate their love lives while also trying to figure out their own wants and needs when it comes to other aspects of life. The gripping journeys of each one of the cast members have helped the reality series gain much praise. However, there are certain aspects of the show that make one wonder just how much of the series is true to life and if certain moments were scripted to create a more dramatic effect.
Is Love in Fairhope Scripted?
We believe that ‘Love in Fairhope’ is partially scripted, given the way that certain events play out in the show. That is not to devalue the experiences that the women featured in the show have had as of writing, but it is the presentation of these events that makes one wonder if the footage of the events that we do get to see is as raw as one might think. After all, a dramatic recreation of real-life moments or a simple embellishment might not take away from the truth of the story, but that does not stop it from being scripted to an extent.
Hulu itself has talked about the show as a “uniquely unscripted series that expands upon the conventional boundaries of the genre by embracing a bit of Hollywood magic.” Set in the charming town of Fairhope, Alabama, the series does do a good job at telling the stories of its cast members, but the movie magic element does make some moments feel a bit too unrealistic. One glaring example of this would be the last moments in Mya Jo Williams’ journey in season 1.
As Mya Jo ascends the elevator, there is Nick standing right in front of her at the top. While the moment is certainly heart-fluttering and defining, it is also obvious that capturing it exactly how we see it in the show might have certainly taken up some setting. Not only did Nick have to know exactly which airport Mya Jo’s flight would take off from (because there are no direct flights to Miami, Florida, from Fairhope), but it is unlikely that Mya Jo would not have known that something was up given the camera angles of the events that take place. Additionally, her last-moment decision to not go forward with her plan to move by turning back right at the last moment also gives a certain cinematic feeling to the whole arc.
Bear in mind that Mya Jo is not the only one whose life is seen to be full of dramatic moments straight out of a captivating romantic movie. In other words, there is indeed an undeniable Hollywood magic that, while separating the show from others in the genre, also makes it obvious that some of what we see might be scripted. While that doesn’t necessarily mean that the various women’s experiences during their on-screen journeys are not real, there is also a certain amount of cinematic elements that are hard to miss.
While ‘Love is Fairhope’ does seem to be partially scripted, it also allows viewers to see real-life stories in a fairytale setting. Interstingly, one of the Executive Producers of the show is none other than the beloved Reese Witherspoon, which not only adds to the credibility of the series but also hypes up the show’s undeniable Southern Charm. While the cinematic way of the presentation of the Hulu series may take away from the sort of “realism” that we have come to expect from other projects within the genre, it does add a unique flair to the unfolding stories that we see on the screen.
