I have been watching the Bachelor and Bachelorette shows for a few seasons. That a man or a woman could potentially find true love in this show is troubling, particularly because it is contrived. There is no magic or synchronicity. You go on the show. You fall in love. That is what happens. It kind of kills the mystery, doesn’t it?
Another problem is that throughout the process, the group gets smaller and smaller as the show heads towards the finale, and this means that the individual dubbed the bachelor or bachelorette will end up getting close with more than one potential mate. When the group is small, the dates are longer and the feelings are seemingly deeper. However, the bachelor or bachelorette at some point is down to two suitors and he or she often has romantic feelings for both. When the final decision is made, is the bachelor really choosing between two women he is in love with?
There are lots of problems with the show. There is artificiality, pretentiousness, competition, and backstabbing. Still, we can’t stop watching. But at the crux of the matter is that if this show is really about getting two people together for a lasting marriage, should someone be led to a handful of relationships where he will finally decide who is best in a specific time frame? Does love work like that? Even if it is possible to find love in this artificial situation, one has to wonder when the bachelor or bachelorette gets down to the two final choices if in fact he or she is in love with both, bringing up the whole question of the nature of romantic love. How does one measure love, and how do they decide who to pick? Is it real love? Are they choosing due to the show’s expectations? It is the only place where love is regimented by deadlines.
It is easy to say that the show is ridiculous. It is. But the contestants seem to experience real relationships and some do go on to marry. My question is, when it gets down to choosing the better of the two, is the bachelor or bachelorette really deciding between two people they are truly in love with?
