The Bachelor, as a TV show, as a dating experiment… as a whole… isn’t particularly smart.
But of course, you know that.
Putting women in a house, pitting them against each other in the tireless pursuit of a single man and cherry-picking quotes to make sure they fit a certain character profile isn’t necessarily making us smarter, making the world better, nor does it make us any kinder.
And yet, the ratings argue we don’t particularly care. Trash TV? Ha, yeah, we’ll watch it. Scripted catf ights? Oh, for sure, we’ll roll our eyes, but only during the ad breaks. After all, if our pupils are facing the back of our heads during the drama, we miss the drama, and no one wants lost drama.
For some, it’s trash TV serving as the ultimate guilty pleasure. For others, it’s just that, with a sprinkling of healthy piss-taking alongside it. Because there is something to be said about looking at the construct that is reality television, peeling the layers back, being smart about considering what’s put in front of us and not mindlessly falling victim to the producers’ carefully crafted masterpiece.
Michelle Andrews and I de-construct all this Bachelor-related drama on Bach Chat. Post continues…
And so, with the new season of The Bachelor upon us, the story arcs, the characters, the scripts are more pronounced than ever. The season is enveloped by a totally different mood, where three mean girls – a self-described “clique” – demand more airtime than the love story Channel 10 purport to be the real end game. And although drama has always had its place within the confines of the Bachelor mansion, this year it’s pervasive – like every episode will be dogged by the very worst stereotype of catty women.
Top Comments
As much as I can't stand all the (manufactured) bitchiness in these reality-style shows, i have to admit that if everyone was nice to and about everyone else, all the time, it would be boring television.
This is the reason why I don't watch these types of shows. It brings back memories from the bullies at high school. I find it incredible that there is still this type of behaviour going on as adults, can we see this behaviour for what it is, juvenile, petty & selfish, predatory behaviour, how is this acceptable from women of their age, how is this a good example for young people?
Thank you! I have been saying this for years! I've never understood the appeal of these kind of shows including Survivor, make over shows, and those silly house hunting shows that are clearly staged. Those shows really do not reflect reality all that well and more often than not as you said show the worst of human nature and set a bad example for young eyes. Give me a good crime drama any day, at least those are obvious fantasy.