This is something I never thought I would be doing: writing an article on The Bachelorette. I have been an adamant hater of The Bachelor franchise from the very beginning. The whole scenario was a nightmare to me. The idea of twenty-five catty women fighting for the affection of one man made me cringe and I hated the complete unrealistic “reality” of the show. How could one of these 25 producer-selected women/men be this person’s true love? No one can fall in love with someone on TV. The thing that confused me the most was how women all over the country watched this and believed that this show is truly reality. To me, the whole thing just didn’t make sense.
One summer in middle school, I decided to watch The Bachelorette with an entirely negative attitude. I critiqued every little thing about the show, making the experience excruciating for my poor sister who honestly just wanted to enjoy it. After my failed attempt to see what the majority of the female population was so enthralled about, I gave up.
It wasn’t until recently that I was reintroduced to the world of The Bachelorette. During my first year at UNC, I was exposed to all sorts of people. Most of them included sorority girls who religiously watched The Bachelor and Bachelorette franchises. Now, you may be thinking, Wow, this girl is seriously stereotyping sorority girls, not all of us watch those shows. I am here to tell you that all stereotypes come from some sort of truth and this truth just happens to be that a whole ton of sorority girls watch both of these shows. We all watch them for different reasons, but ultimately we make up a large part of the show’s viewers.
I am here to tell you that I now watch The Bachelorette. Call it what you will: peer pressure, or just pure curiosity. Actually you can definitely call it both of those things because peer pressure is hella real and this whole thing is fascinating to me. I also see this experience as an anthropological endeavor. I am watching the show with a fresh outlook and positive attitude. So, without further ado, here is this newbie’s first thoughts on The Bachelorette.
First, let’s talk about JoJo. I love her. I first saw her on the finale of The Bachelor (yes, I only watched the finale of last season, shoot me). My heart was instantly broken when Ben proposed to the blonde girl (so insignificant I don’t even remember her name) and not JoJo. So sad, and from the reaction of the people I was watching it with, so unexpected. I’m always one to root for the underdog so right away I thought, Yes, girl. Get back on the unicorn you rode in on and find your happily ever after. So after watching the first episode of The Bachelorette, I love her even more. This girl is my spirit animal. She goes through out the show like I would: constantly commenting on the guys’ butts. Yes. She is not afraid to make those amazing comments about their rumps and I loved her for that. Overall, JoJo seems pretty “real” and down to earth, so I like her. Good choice ABC.
Now let’s talk about the insignificant guys. Honestly, I doubt that any of these guys will be good enough for the awesomeness that is JoJo Fletcher. I was pretty disappointed with the men. While filling in my bracket the first week (purely for anthropological purposes), I filled in seven names of guys I actually liked and ended up guessing for the rest. Not very impressive if you ask me. Right away, these are the guys who I deem suitable for JoJo’s affection: Alex, Ali, Jordan, Grant, Robby, James Taylor (obviously for this Tar Heel), and Wells. All of them seem like good contenders. You may be thinking, Wells? Seriously? Don’t you tell me that you do not secretly wish a guy would woo you with an a cappella group. It’s romantic and you would be honored. My favorite underdog from the whole group is definitely Evan, the pastor turned erectile dysfunction specialist. That’s just fantastic and completely unbelievable to even type. Like, wow. I would love to sit him down and ask him a few questions about that life decision.
After last night's episode, my feelings for the men grew stronger and even more confusing. Let's start with Chad. I hate Chad. Chad is the worst. Chad was a jerk to all of the guys and pretty much ate all of the food. Goodbye Chad. From the whole fiasco that ensued during last night's show, Alex proved to be an overly sensitive guy who needs to do his own thing and not worry about Chad. Alex's behavior made him go down a few pegs on my bracket. Anyway, the biggest shock of the night was that Chad got a rose (obviously because the producers don't have enough faith in the other contestants to create drama this season). Whatever. I’m over it.
My current choice for the winner is obvious: JoJo herself, because the only person that can be good enough for you is you.
Here are my "field notes" from the first night:
