After two and a half months of courtship between Ben Higgins and his 25-ish suitors, his journey has come to an end. As I sat in my friend’s living room eating snacks while mindlessly absorbing “Bachelor” drama, I realized that I had reached a new low. Sure, “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette” as franchises do wink at themselves if you pay attention to how editing and staging factors into the show at large. And yes, I’ll admit that, because of this, those devoted fans and occasional viewers of the program can recognize that the show is more for entertainment than for defining the true meaning of love. But, there is still something wrong about how it captures viewers and flips ideas of dating, love and matrimony.
The finale of the most recent season opens, as per usual, with a shot of the live audience girding their loins for the “wild ride” that host Chris Harrison promises will happen to this year’s contestant, Ben Higgins. Let the bad stunts and producer intervention begin.
I venture that it begins at the start of the season, but I’ll spare you the drab particulars and keep it pithy. Let’s rewind two episodes before the live finale. Ben has told two of the three final women that he loves them. This reeked of producer intervention. I’m guessing it went down like this:
1) Our favorite bachelor tells one contestant he really loves her.
2)This is a red flag for producers. If he professes his love to only one of three women, then the show is ruined for the next two weeks, because everyone knows who will “win” Ben’s heart.
3)The producers probably wriggled their way in-between some relationships, telling Ben to say “I love you” to another one as well so the guessing game continues. Fine.
Let’s consider the effect this has on these girls. Both women find out about his supposed love for the other, and his only justification for choosing to marry one (Lauren B) over the other (JoJo Fletcher) is because he “loved Lauren B more.” I just can’t accept that. What peeved me even more was the fact that he said he would still marry JoJo after he dumped her on the altar. Ben chooses Lauren and the two are seemingly content.
After this pre recorded hubbub, viewers are transported back to the image of the live audience, Ben, his new fiance, and Chris Harrison. Then things really start to fall apart. Ben’s pastor was there for a weird gimmick, offering Ben a chance to keep his word when he said he was “ready to be married as soon as possible” to his fiance once she was revealed. He declined. When asked what he was excited about for his future relationship, Ben repeatedly said that he just wanted to “show his new fiancé off”.
With my belly full of cheese and crackers I sat complaining about who Ben chose, which dress I liked better, and general flab about nothing important. “Get it together Ben. How dense can you be,” I breathed out. After several weeks removed from the whole series, however, I’d like to tell all Bachelor viewers to get it together, too. Don’t get me wrong. There is an entertainment factor that plays into shows like these, and it’s ok to watch them. I am among you who feed into this kind of garbage. But there is a point when this becomes just too much. While we don’t admit to following those same practices or saying those same things, it rests with us subliminally.
There is no easy way to recognize this subliminal set of ideals, let alone actively avoid them if we ourselves deny having them. My petition is simply to think through every action autonomously. Don’t let a glamorized show like “The Bachelor” or “The Bachelorette” make you change your views.
Image credits: Hollywoodlife.com, sheknows.com