On The Bachelor (Or, How I Stopped Worrying and...nah, I'm still worrying)

My sister watches The Bachelor (Australia).

I am currently living with said sibling, so? Now, I watch The Bachelor (Australia).

"Hay quorl" #beige

Before this, I had never had the pleasure of catching an episode of this somewhat cultural zeitgeist, mainly due to not bothering to have free-to-air TV and not being interested enough to "procure" it in other ways. In the past, I've liked me some reality TV - I remember being very invested in Casey Donovan's turn on Australian Idol, and occasionally Big Brother in the beginning. As I got older, and as foreign TV became more easily "procured", I simply stopped watching reality TV as a whole. My reintroduction to the genre has left me a little baffled, a lot intrigued and mostly conflicted.

I get the on-paper concept of The Bachelor - hot guy with semi-bland personality gets to live a wet dream of dating 16 hot women. But it's so much more than that. The dating aspect, and The Bachelor himself, often take a backseat to the real shit show - Hot Women vs Hot Women: Now in Prime Time!

It's a feminist nightmare and a cultural studies student's dream.

There's no middle ground on The Bachelor. The women are effectively edited into tight little constructs; easy-to-read personality stereotypes that colour ninety minutes of your life, twice a week on Channel Ten. There's the Bitch, the Sporty One, the Quirky One, the One Who Is Impossibly Normal So You Don't Actually See Her At All (sorry, Rachel). They're characters, plied with alcohol and shoved into an impossible situation for your enjoyment.

It sucks you in, because it's designed to.

Two sides to every Emily. (Source)

Current contestant Emily Simms has broken protocol by calling out the producers of the show for portraying her as something she believes she's not - the Villain, the Bitch, the Boring Princess. It's smart editing and sneaky asides - her "war" with forerunner (the Quirky One) Heather Maltman and other girls in the house is perfect fodder for the proverbial water cooler because it's a TV narrative from the Gods. Hot, high maintenance bitchy girl hates hot, down-to-earth quirky girl? Your opinions are made for you with one use of the slice tool in Final Cut Pro.

As a lover of good, OTT dramatic TV, it's fun to watch. As a feminist, it's frustrating and embarrassing. My sister and I have these strange exchanges while watching it - "ohmigod, I can't stand Emily." "Yeah, she's a bitch." "It's probably all editing, though." "Oh, totally, which sucks. She's probably just strong and knows what she wants."

Maybe I'm overthinking. Maybe that's exactly what it is - a problematic mess we ultimately enjoy (while feeling guilty for doing so); and that's okay.

Still, I can't say I will continue watching this season. The suspension of belief is too hard, as is the knowledge I'm contributing to the ratings. It's not me being self-righteous; you can enjoy problematic things while knowing they're problematic. But these are real women, with real personalities, I'd prefer to watch that show. The Bachelor: Everyone is Nice and Interesting For Who They Are.

The simple fact is, it's time to stop pitting women against each other for entertainment. The boy's club that is the film and TV industry needs to start acknowledging that using women as caricatures is lazy and uninspired.

A pipe dream, maybe. After all, that's not good TV, right?

EDIT: While writing this, it was revealed that Emily and Bec Chin (who admitted to meeting Bachelor Sam before filming) have left the house due to bullying. Good on them.

Posted in feminism, The Bachelor AU, TV