Common Sense Media Review
By Melissa Camacho
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Cross-border marriage series has mature themes, drinking.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
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90-Day Fiance
What's the Story?
90-DAY FIANCE is a reality docuseries that follows select cross-border couples as they spend the first 90 days together in the United States. Five men from different parts of the country are engaged to women they met while abroad or online. Their fiances, who come from towns in Columbia, Brazil, Russia, the Ukraine, and the Philippines, are now in the United States on K-1 visas (a 90-day visa for foreign fiances of American citizens), and are living with them. By law, the couple must marry within the 90-day period, or the brides-to-be will be deported. Faced with culture shock, language barriers, and the suspicions of the groom-to-be's family and friends, each woman must determine if 90 days is enough time to really know if she should make the life-changing commitment and tie the knot with the man she loves.
Is It Any Good?
90-Day Fiance highlights the complicated world of cross-border relationships, which are never as romantic as portrayed on TV and in films thanks to the range of personal, cultural, and bureaucratic challenges they pose in real life. But as cameras capture the various ups-and downs from each couple's 90-day journey, much of the show feels like a series of fish-out-of-water stories as the women attempt to acclimate to their their husband-to-be's culture and way of life.
The motives of the grooms-to-be are rarely questioned, but the concerns raised about each fiance's motives (which usually have something to do with obtaining American citizenship), are often steeped in unspoken stereotypes about women from various countries around the world. The result is a voyeuristic series that is sometimes very uncomfortable to watch.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the way the TV and movies portray international romances. Is it really possible to know someone well-enough to marry them during a brief encounter? What are some of the stereotypes that exist about people from other countries who move to the United States to marry an American? Does this series perpetuate these generalizations, or challenge them?
What are some of the challenges couples face when each person comes from a different country? Is it harder for foreigners to come to the United States to get relocate to the US to get married than it is for American citizens to get married and live abroad?
TV Details
- Premiere date : January 12, 2014
- Network : TLC
- Genre : Reality TV
- TV rating :
- Last updated : September 24, 2022
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