Since its first season aired in 2002, ABC's hit series The Bachelor has continued continued to grow in popularity. The show has accumulated a huge following, a fan base called "bachelor nation," which tirelessly follows the show, hanging onto every episode. I like many other teenage girls have fallen victim to the alluring spell of this drama-filled, "love story," but can we even call it that?

For those of you who may not know what The Bachelor is all about, let me give you a little background information. The show begins with around 20-30 women, all fighting for the attention of one man: the bachelor. They go through a tedious cycle of dates, (both group and one-on-ones,) cocktail parties and rose ceremonies, aiming to receive a rose and last another week. If they stay, they have a chance being the woman getting proposed to during the show's "dramatic 3 hour finale." The women stir up drama with one another, and seemingly experience every cliche that could possibly be associated with romance.

My question, is how someone can fall "deeply in love" with another person in a little over 2 months, and be completely confident in a proposal when they barely know their newly titled fiancé. The women get no more than a few one-on-one dates each with the prospective man, and when they do, their every move is followed by a camera. Their interactions are clearly scripted, with the idea of what makes "good TV" placed behind every spoken word. How could anyone develop a serious relationship under all of this, and why would anyone subject themselves to that kind of pressure?

The Bachelor focuses on every cliche notion of romance. From passionately kissing in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, to the very focal point of the show, (a rose,) this series feels like its plot came straight out of a romance novel. As interesting as this may be to watch sometimes, it's simply not reality. The couples are not exposed to the pressures of the real world as they date, and have no idea of knowing how they will work together once they are not playing a part in a show scripted to help them find romance.

I wonder about the extent to which producers and writers play a part in the drama and the unrealistically sappy dialogue that takes place on the show. There is no way that two ordinary people's natural speech patterns are straight out of telenovela. In my opinion, the feelings that are found on The Bachelor are not love. They may mimic what it feels like to be in love, but when they are on the show, it does not seem like those feelings are authentic.

Now this is not to say that if their relationship continues love will not develop along the way, but the fake notion of the "love" that is found on the show is simply not reality.