In today’s world, reality television has become the biggest hit on the small screen. The Bachelor/Bachelorette has taken America by the heartstrings and has quickly became the most popular show for thousands of women and men. For those who are not familiar, the Bachelor/Bachelorette is a reality television hit that stars either a single man or woman looking for love. This person is then filmed for weeks dating twenty five people of the opposite sex. The bachelor or bachelorette will go on several dates, sometimes with two or more men at the same date, and decide who she connects with most. The bachelor/bachelorette then narrows down the contestants through a Rose Ceremony until his or her “true love” is found. Typically the losing female of the Bachelor is chosen to be the next Bachelorette. The sole purpose of the show is to find a soul mate.
The world is drooling over the cast, placing bets on their projected winner, obsessing over these “romantic getaways” the Bachelor or Bachelorette has with their contestants. Thanks to ABC, there have been twenty seasons of the Bachelor and twelve seasons of the Bachelorette. That is thirty two different attempts for someone to find love while America watches.
To me, the Bachelor and Bachelorette are not television shows I want to watch. Yes, the shows do a wonderful job at entertaining its viewers, but it does a horrible job at depicting how love really should be. Now don’t get me wrong, there have been successful marriages that have come out of these shows. Most of the winners are still with their Bachelor or Bachelorette. But in my opinion, marriage and love work together, but are not the same thing.
The entire theme of the shows are for someone to find true love through a process designed by TV show writers and producers. How can someone find their destined true love through a group of twenty five strangers? I find many flaws in the show and it truly saddens me to know that thousands of viewers actually believe the show depicts true love. Now, could someone find their soul mate through the show? Absolutely, anything is possible. But it is very unlikely that every person who has ever been the Bachelor or Bachelorette has found the person they are destined to be with.
To me, true love is found in the most unlikely places. Love finds you, not you find it. For years, I have seen true love in my own home, work places, schools, and other places. I have grown up watching how love blossoms and taught what love should be like. I do not feed into the hype and excitement of the show because I believe real love is not found on a game show. The Bachelorette and Bachelor gives false hope on how one should go about finding love or how love is built. I believe that love is not a gamble and should not be for the world to watch every week. So for those who watch the show, I really hope you believe love is not found on a game show but by who God has planned for you.
