They say that true love can be found anywhere, but on a reality television show? Really? These were my first thoughts when I first heard about the concept behind the shows The Bachelor and The Bachelorette a few years ago. I thought these shows were ridiculous, and was very skeptical as to how these people thought they could find the person they wanted to spend the rest of their lives with in this unusual setting, choosing their love out of a group of about 25 “contestants”, all vying to win the “prize” of the Bachelor or Bachelorette’s love. So, safe to say, I had never seen an episode of these shows until about two weeks ago.
My experience started as the 17th season of The Bachelor began, and between hearing about it from my friends, reading online that an average of 7 million viewers tune in every week, reading tweets about it, and seeing various Facebook statuses about the first episode and Bachelor Sean Lowe, I decided I would give the show a chance, if only just to see what all the craze was all about. After only the first episode, and I hate to say this, I was hooked!
This show pretty much epitomized a guilty pleasure for me. I found the group of girls vying for Sean’s attention from the second they saw him absolutely hilarious, and actually found myself nervous to see who would get sent home the first week. The cattiness of the girls fighting over Sean this season is quite entertaining, seeing as they constantly try to belittle each other and raise themselves up in Sean’s eyes, fighting for the much desired roses, which ensure their position on the show and in the “contest” for yet another week.
Senior Emma Wilkinson, a fan of the show, says, “The Bachelor is the definition of a guilty pleasure. You see 25 women pining for the same guy…and with these 25 women living in the same house, there’s tons of cattiness and drama that goes on. And of course, every year, you hope that the girl you pick as your favorite wins!”
However, my skepticism about the actual goal of the show has not changed. As amusing as the show may be, I still don’t think that the methods are very effective in order to find true love. And the statistics back my observations up, as in the 24 combined seasons of both The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, 12.5% of the couples, or a full three couples are still together to this day. If this doesn’t prove that this means of finding love really does not work to that end, I’m not sure what does. However, the show itself? Hilarious and pretty addicting, I must admit!
