"The Bachelor" has always confused me. There are so many strange aspects of the show. Despite this, I decided to give it a try this season. Somehow, it has become one of the most popular shows in the nation and I wanted to understand why.
First of all, the fact that someone is supposed to choose their future wife or husband from a group of 28 individuals is mindblowing. There are 28 individuals who auditioned for the show for reasons like fame, fortune, exposure, and supposedly love. Basically, you’re supposed to find your soulmate in a group of 28 people, not to mention that this happens over the course of eight weeks. Within eight weeks, you meet 28 people and at the end, marry one of them. What?
Then, there's fact that the bachelor is dating so many people at the same time. In this season, the girls continuously complained about how other girls were getting more time with him. In the few minutes they get, the girls would be opening up about the deepest, darkest moments of their lives. Not only were they opening up to Ben, but they were opening up to the world. At the end of the night, after revealing your innermost feelings, Ben still had the option to simply send you home. What are these girls even competing for? Competing to see who will reveal the juiciest secret? Which girl will get the audience to love her the most?
The proposal is the strangest part of the show. Marriage, to most people, is an extremely serious commitment. It means you’re bound for life, and you love your partner on a special level. However, Ben claimed to love both finalists. He told both of the girls he was in love with them -- without the other knowing. He did this all within a week of becoming engaged. How is Lauren B. (his fiancé), OK with any of this? She was willing to marry a man who had been telling another women he loved her the day before? No matter how staged the show is, a proposal and marriage is on the line. That’s something they have to live with. Even if they get divorced, that marriage will always hang over their heads. Marriage is a big deal. How is it that a show can make marriage into a game?
Finally, how is it a source of amusement for people to watch one girl get denied an engagement and have the same man turn around and propose to another girl? While JoJo (runner-up) was told she would not be engaged by the man who admitted he loved her and whom she had also admitted she was in love with. While she got the news and broke down and headed home, Lauren B. got a proposal and beautiful engagement ring. JoJo will be the next bachelorette which makes audiences question her motives. How long will Lauren B. and Ben last? How genuine was their relationship? Why is marriage considered a game? How much do their proposals matter and what message does this show send about the seriousness and commitment of marriage and love? Maybe I will never understand why this show is so popular, but I know that’s not how “love” is supposed to work.
