What is it about The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, and their spinoffs that have people believing it is an ideal setting for meeting Mr/Ms Right? Ditto Married at First Sight?
We are talking reality television here. An artificial environment, lots of competition and in no way does it compare with meeting someone on a normal footing outside in the real world.
To begin with, you have a couple of dozen hopefuls trying their damnedest to make the right impression on the “star” of the show, while outfoxing the rest of the contestants, and the whole sordid affair takes place in an artificial environment of cocktail parties and the kind of “dates” only the very wealthy can pull off in real life. They are cooped up in a harbourside mansion/tropical island setting for several weeks and the only member of the opposite sex they encounter during those weeks is the “star” (except on the island thingy, lots of opposites there) on the lookout to meet someone; with view to relationship. Hence all those attractive options falling all over themselves (and the “star”) in the hope of snaring his/her attention and no one ever says “multiple partners” which is what this really is.
The “star” meanwhile, has a really good time.
But in the real world, who would tolerate a situation where the person they were dating was also dating so many others at the same time? At a guess, I’d say none. But reality television being what it is, some of the wannabes have discovered the possibilities a slot on a reality television show can offer; such as a lucrative media career, even if they don’t manage to get the guy/girl. What has convinced me that many view this type of TV as a springboard to bigger and better things is the number of reality show contestants who have scored such placements as a result of appearing on one of them. No experience, no qualifications, no having to work their way up in the field, they just have to either look good, appeal to the viewers or both and…viola! Media Star! If they also score the Bachelor/Bachelorette as well? That’s a bonus. It has definitely had an influence on other hopefuls vying to make the same jump.
Call me a cynic if you wish, but my back-up is the number of narcissistic ex-reality show types now calling themselves a “brand” and expecting doors to open for them all over the industry and getting downright antsy if they don’t. Like one of the women from the last season of Married at First Sight, who is having issues with the fact that high-end fashion houses, cosmetic companies and the media in general are not beating a path to her door. If anything, the feedback has been a bit negative. I think she fully expected to become everyone’s favourite overnight but celebrity appears to have eluded her. The viewers didn’t like the type of person she appeared to be and I think that may have been a factor here. She not alone though, her co-stars look to be in the same boat; no offers, and obscurity staring them in the face. But they’re trying hard.
Okay, reality shows based around “romantic” hook-ups can be entertaining. up to a point. Viewers like the drama, but with contestants now seeing it as a free-for-all on the partner level and a chance to get television exposure, I find myself questioning their motives more and more. Add in that they get paid while appearing on the show and some have even made it a kind of career (finding their way into the spinoffs) and I have some serious doubts about their commitment to potential Mr/Ms Rights. The other thing I find myself querying is why they have to resort to reality TV to “find love” in the first place? Too shallow to form an enduring relationship in real life?
Could be.