After 14 years and 3 spin-offs, the Bachelor franchise is as successful as ever. Last night, thefinale of Joelle "JoJo" Fletcher's season pulled in an astounding 8.1 million viewers. 381 episodes later (including spin-offs), how are we not sick of this formulaic and artificial "reality" show?

A lot of people think The Bachelor is disgusting, sexist and racist, which I absolutely agree with. I find that the franchise is undeniably lacking the diversity that exists within our country--there has never been a person of color as the bachelor or bachelorette. The franchise continues to portray women in a very negative fashion--stressing the archetypal unstable and hysterical female. The most recent placeholder was Olivia from Ben's season. However, their obvious prejudices did not prevent 8.1 million people from watching as JoJo gave out her final rose. What does this say about our society?

I stopped believing in the authenticity of the show a while back and I can no longer fully indulge in its splendor every Monday night. But that's not to say I don't enjoy watching as the contestants gallivant across the world, leaving behind their mental faculties at each location.

It's fascinating how we can watch and find pleasure in other people's (feigned) misery. I love watching the contestants' breakdowns for my own embarrassing and selfish reasons. For one, it makes me feel more in control over my own life. Watching it is like watching a train wreck--as much as I want to, I can't bring myself to look away. I imagine this is why others watch too--it's an escape from our realities into the artificial "realities" of others. If we momentarily suspend our disbelief, we watch as others act out some of our wildest fantasies.

This season was particularly difficult to watch. JoJo and Jordan were so obviously in it for the fame. The other contestants never even had a chance as they were up against Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers' more unsuccessful, feminine, and fame-seeking brother, Jordan. JoJo saw an opportunity to prolong her fifteen minutes of fame and ran with it.

Lifetime's UnReal has given the world an inside look into the production of reality shows, i.e., The Bachelor. We watch as the almost sociopathic producers use means of manipulation and exploitation to control how the contestants behave on camera. In the first season, a producer goes as far as to switch a contestant's antidepressants with sugar pills, resulting in the contestant's suicide. In the pursuit of great television, the producers lose their awareness of humanity, and essentially control the contestants as if they were puppets.

Similarly, on this season of The Bachelorette, the producers transformed one contestant, Chad, into a villain. Bachelor nation joined together by a common hatred of Chad. More importantly, the franchise profited from his erratic and psychotic behavior. They marketed Chad as a brand to entice viewers to watch JoJo's season as well as the upcoming season of Bachelor in Paradise, where he sends another contestant to the hospital. They used his (possibly feigned) mental instability to their own advantage. Hopefully he was given a lengthy sum to willingly become America's most hated man.

I'd like to say that my sole purpose for watching is to laugh at its absurdity, but I cannot deny there is a part of me that enjoys watching the dates. As fake as the romance is, who hasn't dreamed of the fairy tale that they are living?