War of the roses
On May 22nd, ABC’s flagship reality show The Bachelorette will begin its 13th season. Airing on City TV in Canada, fans will watch as the titular bachelorette dates – and possibly chooses a mate – from a pool of 25 theoretically eligible men. A spinoff of The Bachelor, The Bachelorette premiered to mega ratings in 2003. Millions of people watched rapturously as then 30-year-old Trista Sutter (nee Rehn) searched for love, and ultimately found it with a nice firefighter named Ryan.
In the intervening years since the show’s debut, its formula has stayed largely the same: a conventionally beautiful woman (who probably competed unsuccessfully on the previous season of The Bachelor) is installed in a Los Angeles mansion. She is made over prior to filming, provided with hair extensions and a collection of sparkly, floor-length dresses. Next, she is required to spend several weeks getting to know a collection of muscular gentlemen, who are often named Josh. They go on romantic dates in exotic locations, typically while sporting bathing suits. Hot tubs feature prominently in The Bachelorette’s brand of courtship.
Each contestant comes with his own heartbreaking story – which is presumably enhanced in the editing room. Past contestants have been widowers, divorcées and army men scarred by their time in battle. Such personal details are exploited for dramatic effect, only revealed as sentimental music plays in the background.
Sharing one’s intimate secrets after a skydiving date or a helicopter ride is meant to establish intimacy, but no amount of sharing can guarantee a guy won’t get sent home. Each week, more contestants are eliminated at something called “A Rose Ceremony.” It’s called that because the men who are chosen to stay on receive – you guessed it – a rose.
Eventually, our leading lady narrows the field down to one lucky guy (on this show, monogamy is a given). The victorious man wins the right to propose. Heaven forbid they allow The Bachelorette to initiate a proposal herself! Sometimes the engagement leads to an actual marriage – and sometimes it doesn’t. About half the supposedly happy couples break up without tying the knot. This breakup usually occurs after a year of monetizing their relationship through paid endorsements.
The show is a televised spectacle of traditional, heterosexual gender roles; a retrograde fairytale about the romance of finding one’s soul mate after a handful of dates – with a slew of cameras conveniently along for the ride. Despite this backwards brand of romance, the series remains popular as hell. Last year, over eight million viewers tuned into the finale to watch JoJo Fletcher get proposed to by former NFL player Jordan Rodgers. The big moment took place on a private beach, and involved a gigantic Neil Lane engagement ring that was provided by producers.
The series isn’t remarkable for its high ratings alone. It has a rabid fanbase too. Followers of The Bachelor and Bachelorette have formed a community called “Bachelor Nation.” Members of Bachelor Nation throw viewing parties, live tweet episodes and consume countless magazine articles about the franchise. In addition, the series has spawned a cottage industry of podcasts dissecting each episode, from Juliet Litman’s Bachelor Party to the Huffington Post’s Here to Make Friends. Oh, and of course every entertainment site, from The AV Club to Vulture, publishes recaps.
If reading and listening to detailed analyses of each episode isn’t enough to satiate you, there’s always a Bachelorette fantasy league. Such leagues operate exactly like your baseball fantasy league, except, instead of ball players, you’re drafting bros from the show.
The Bachelor and Bachelorette Empire is so prominent, it has even inspired scripted television. Unreal, a Lifetime drama set to air its third season, was created by former Bachelor producer Sarah Gertrude Shapiro. Unreal takes place on the set of a fictitious reality dating show entitled Everlasting. Obviously, viewers suspect The Show Within a Show reflects the reality of the show Shapiro helped produce.
After a dozen previous seasons, savvy pop culture consumers know it’s not so much a show about love, but rather a grotesque parody of society’s master narratives on true love. It leans into myths about love at first sight, and effectively trivializes romance by turning candlelit dinners or helicopter rides at sunset into banal tropes. It’s a series that mocks romance by exhibiting it at its most unrealistic extremes; it uses hyperbole to sell paper towels at commercial breaks.
While the show’s blueprint has remained largely unaltered since its inception, Season 13 brings one much anticipated change: attorney Rachel Lindsay is the series’ first black Bachelorette. No, that’s not a typo. There was literally a black president before there was a black Bachelorette. Now I wonder how long we’ll have to wait for an openly gay Bachelorette? I wouldn’t recommend holding your breath.