With an impressive twenty-two seasons, you’ll be hard-pressed to come across someone who hasn’t at least heard of the infamous reality-show-meets-dating-game-meets-sorority-house, all-in-one mess called “The Bachelor.” It’s addictive in the most mindless way ever and I find myself looking forward to Monday nights where I get to curl up and watch an attractive single guy go on a date with ten-plus people.
If you’ve somehow escaped the relentless grip of this show, I’ll give you a quick rundown. The season starts off with a hot, young, fit, successful (almost exclusively white) man looking for love amid a pool of equally hot, young, fit, successful (slightly more diverse) group of about 30 women. These women all live in a mansion for the duration of the season and seem to always have a fully made-up face and an excess of off-the-shoulder tops. Every episode has a rose ceremony where the guy dramatically asks if each chosen girl will accept his rose. Those without roses get sent home. To win, the girl has to get the guy to fall in love with her and propose in the final episode. There are a lot of tears and screaming. It’s fantastic but horrible (also somehow therapeutic).
It’s a show that is so centered on this flashy, materialistic love that it’s hard to not, well, love it. I love seeing people in love, even if it has been filtered through multiple takes with violin music played over it. The destination dates spent on private, chartered boats off the coast of Spain, dinner for two in an Italian vineyard, ski trips in the Alps… it’s a modern-day fairy tale if you can get past the fact that he’s actively dating fifteen other girls on the side.
However (and there’s always a “however”), this show is so problematic on so many levels. Let’s just take a minute for the gender roles perpetrated on this show. All the crying, emotional women who immediately fall in love with the man they met ten minutes ago and then spend the next six weeks competing for his attention. If they get kicked off, it appears their lives have ended, along with their dreams of their prince getting down on one knee. It gets catty and petty, a lot due to the skillful editing team paid to get viewers. I frequently have to ask myself, “is this real?” And honestly, I have no idea. Take it with a grain of salt, right?
This show also completely undermines the importance of marriage and of the relationship needed to make it work. It displays this skewed idea of love, based solely on six weeks of dating (constantly on camera) and minimal one-on-one time. Totally unrealistic standards to make a proper marriage work, in my (single, unmarried) opinion. Not the best message sent to young girls.
This show also completely undermines the importance of marriage and of the relationship needed to make it work. It displays this skewed idea of love, based solely on six weeks of dating (constantly on camera) and minimal one-on-one time. Totally unrealistic standards to make a proper marriage work, in my (single, unmarried) opinion. Not the best message sent to young girls.
And then there’s the issue of diversity on the show. I mentioned race earlier, which has seemed to have been brought up, with the first African-American woman lead on the sister show, “The Bachelorette” last season. Hopefully, this trend continues. Obviously, this show only encompasses heterosexual relationships, which is getting a little dull. I personally would love to diversity in the sexualities portrayed. Maybe Ellen could host… Food for thought.
Even with all of the above, it’s entertainment, plain and simple. Each episode is dramatic and emotional, with the right amount of sugar and spice, so to speak. Some seasons are better than others, but It’s always just fun to watch. Do I have an issue with this show? Absolutely. Will I continue to complain every time I watch? Yessir. Will I tune in every Monday? Heck yes.
Because at the end of the day, I’m dreaming of my Prince Charming to show up at my door to ask, “will you accept this rose?”