Everyone knows what The Bachelor is. The dates, the drama, and the ‘love’ pull people into the show where contestants try and find their future spouse. It sure is an odd way to find the one for you, but is it ethical? Many contestants admit that being on the show takes a large toll on their physical and emotional wellbeing. To prep for the show, many contestants follow rigorous diets and exercise plans to slim down because they believe that is what the bachelor will want. During the show, the contestants are constantly drinking, acting, and fighting with one another to win the love of the one bachelor. Sure, you chose to participate on the show, but many people do not realize until afterwards how tough it actually is. In an interview with an old contestant, Kaitlyn, she tells about how when you’re a contestant, many people go into debt and lose their jobs just for the chance to date the bachelor. Contestants do not get paid a penny and are buying fancy dresses, jewelry, and shoes in order to impress the bachelor. Also, Kaitlyn talks about how many people lose their jobs after being on the Bachelor because they need to take so much time off of work in order to film the show. There are many drawbacks to this seemingly glamorous life.
In addition to going into debt, being constantly exposed to drama, and taking a physical toll on your health, your life must become an open book. You tell the bachelor, on national television, some of the deepest things about your life because he has to get to know you in an absurdly short amount of time. You are also quite frequently humiliated. For example, two weeks ago during this season, a contestant exploded a bottle of champagne on herself as she was trying to take a stressful chug. The poor, sad girl has now become a meme. It’s hard to think of all the negatives of actually being on the show because many contestants become social media influencers afterwards. They appear so put together and beautiful, but no one really knows what they have been through and how it affected them. Past contestants say they found and married their true love from meeting each other on the show, but more frequently, the couples stay together for the publicity. The entirety of the show is a very strange phenomenon. Imagine meeting your spouse on a national television show that humiliates you and highlights your flaws.
You bring up some interesting points about the Bachelor; I did not know the extent of financial consequences. One thing that I think could help strengthen the post is if you mentioned the reading that sparked your interest in the topic. How does it relate to what we have learned in class about ethics?
ReplyDeleteThis is a creative topic. As a viewer of the show, I have never thought about the ethics behind it particularly to the physical toll and society's standards of beauty for women. I definitely see how your examples can relate to Harry Frankfort's reading "Truth, lies, and Bullshit". I think your argument and insight could be strengthened by adding more concrete evidence from in-class readings.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a fascinating topic. You did a great job stepping back
ReplyDeleteand making the readers think about something that most viewers of the show most likely don’t think about. The financial and emotional consequences are one that we often don’t consider when we are screaming at the TV or tweeting away thoughts on the episode. To further emphasize some points, you should definitely try to tie it back to one of the readings about ethics. You bring up so many good points and make readers think about the show from a new perspective, and it would be an even better blog if you could relate it back to the class a bit more.
As someone who enjoys these types of shows the subject drew me in immediately. I'll admit that I like to poke fun at the "trashiness" of everything that's going on, but its also important to remember that these are real people, and things shown on TV are manipulated to make us feel a certain way whether or not its true. Your writing shows that you have a genuine interest in the topic and that's great. The pictures you include help to support your points. Only thing I would suggest is to include some concepts from the readings. I think some would certainly fit into this topic and wold make for a more well-rounded post.
ReplyDeleteI am certainly guilty of having watched both the Bachelor and Bachelorette, and I can certainly understand why this is probably a huge issue. You bring up some great points of the image that contestants create of themselves in order to impress a person that they have never even met before and know nothing about. The idea of it is absurd, but it really does allow people to be whoever they want on TV in order to create a television persona. This could be related to Frankfurt's article about bullshitters and their intention to misconstrue realities in order to benefit themselves. I definitely think you should find a way to integrate some of the content we discussed in class and read, as it could really strengthen your argument even more. I am completely convinced that this really is a big issue in the media and information technology in general, not only with these kinds of reality TV shows, but with the idea of people wanting to reinvent themselves for media in general. Overall, great idea and start for what could be an extremely compelling argument.
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