Love can be found anywhere—in coffee shops, parks, and libraries—but there is one place which trumps the rest. What better place to woo, court, and fall in love than in the public eye on reality television? For the average person, taking part in the dating scene leaves one vulnerable to rejection and ridicule; with a slew of televised dating shows, people have the opportunity to be an active participant in someone else’s love life without the risk of being burned.
The allure of a true, heart-warming love story—though its likelihood of coming to fruition may be next to nothing—is remarkable. Drawing a valuable lesson from The Hunger Games, whether or not the average American is similar to the one today or becomes violent and elitist, the promise of a love story is universally appealing. A driving force behind the popularity of dating shows is the concept, not the end result, of attaining love; for all the gushy, sentimental benefits a good love story has to offer, most viewers realize that dating shows do not usually lead to sustainable relationships. Between ten seasons of “The Bachelorette” and 19 seasons of “The Bachelor,” only one couple has made the long journey to the altar. With the potential for helping one find his or her soul mate, a dating show’s lack of long-term relationship success seems to make no mark on its popularity.
The crux of almost any successful television show is its ability to generate drama. From sensationalized news reporting to sustaining a perpetual on-again-off-again on-screen relationship in a fictional show, drama inevitably sells. Regardless of their artistic shortcomings, most dating shows score high on the drama quotient, offering viewers a chance to revel in the romantic inadequacies of some participants and root for the success of other participants. Despite the melodrama and exaggeration which characterizes many dating shows, the ones which pull in the most viewers contain at least a ray of sincerity, giving viewers a push to invest in the show.
Amidst the drama of drunken rants and broken promises, almost all successful dating shows contain two stereotypical contestants: the resident clown and the unbearable gold-digger. With these two types of contestants, not only is there a guarantee of nonstop drama, but viewers may feel more positive about the outcomes of their own dating attempts.
The often overly dramatized nature of dating shows causes viewers to disbelieve the “reality” of reality dating shows, preventing dating shows from having a significant effect on dating patterns. However, some scientific studies, such as a study in the 2007 Journal of Communication, report a correlation with viewers of dating shows and people who believe that dating is a game and perceive women as objects.
While the drama and sentimentality of dating shows holds power over certain audiences, maybe the presence of millions of watchful eyes and dozens of cameras makes the local coffee shop a better location to find love than national television.