Sunday, March 11, 2012

Falling In Love VS. The "Idea" of Falling In Love

"Ben, I'm falling in love with you". -- The words that spill out on national television from more than one girl.

Many of you may be familiar with the hit television reality series "The Bachelor".  If not, lets break this down.  There is one eligible Bachelor, who happens to be Ben Flajnik this season, that is looking to fall in love.  There then are  25  women who have romantic interests and are looking for "the one".  These women all live in the same house for the duration of the show, all while Ben picks and chooses the women he wants to take on individual and group dates.  The women's goal is to win his heart over and receive a "rose" at the end of the night.  A rose means you stay, no rose means your sent home immediately.  By showing their "passion" and "interest" in Ben, these girls are doing everything they can to win over his young heart.  BUT, are these girls actually interested in falling in love with Ben, or are they in "love" with the idea of being on national television?  As all of the drama unfolds, we as viewers, learn more and more about who these girls are really week.  Each girl tries to squeeze out the juicy details of another girl that could ruin their chance to take it all.
The expectation this show is trying to portray is that every girl can fall in love with some handsome, young, man out there in a matter of weeks...but in reality, we all know these feelings are questionable.  The past seasons of "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" have proven this fact.  Many sources have updates on all of our past couples, and unfortunately, the outcome of the "love" in this show hasn't proven to be too promising.
The season finale of "The Bachelor" airs this Monday.  Ben will have to make a decision between the beloved Courtney, a model whom none of the girls this season got along with, and Lynzi, a cute, down home country girl ready to move on in her life.

A sneak preview at what's to come this Monday...


3 comments:

  1. Although I'm a male and it is somewhat embarrassing to admit, I find myself somewhat intrigued to watch The Bachelor/Bachelorette every time I see my Mom tuning in. That, along with the fact that it still remains on the air year in and year out, signifies people enjoy this show, and shows alike. Personally, I do not buy that there are countless people "in love" on the show, although I'm sure there are a few genuine males and females that cycle through the show from time to time. I do think that most of the personalities on the show are indeed "in love" with being on national television, but I also think that us viewers are "in love" with the notion that we are actually witnessing real love and emotion. We like to tell ourselves that everything on the show is genuine because we drool at the thought of true love. This is similar to why so many of us enjoy love stories, whether it be in print, film, or music form. Love is a concept that I believe exists, but in the case of The Bachelor, I think it is definitely sugar coated and mostly false.

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  2. This is so true! I just watched the season finale last night actually and was just thinking back to how many couples after the show actually end up getting married and lasting. I couldn't think back to many, maybe a couple from the past several seasons. I think the idea of "love" on this show definitely has a lot to do with just being on national TV instead. They people are in love with being popular and well known in the world.

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  3. I totally agree with what you are saying in this post! I have been watching The Bachelor for many years now (bad habit), and I have realized that a large majority of the contestants do not remain in a relationship after the end of the show. While I do believe there are many sincere people on the show who really are looking for love, a televised competition to win the heart of one person is probably not the most ideal way to do so. A lot of the things that happen on the show are clearly more dramatized and dragged out for the sake of entertainment and business. Furthermore, I'm not really sure it's possible for one person to genuinely be in love with two or more other people simultaneously. For those few couples that have lasted, it does go to show that The Bachelor CAN work. But overall, I have found that the show is mostly for entertainment purposes and many of the people who are on the show are there for the spotlight; not to find their "one true love".

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