The Bachelor

My girlfriend - addicted to American soap operas - wanted to watch this, so I thought maybe I should too. The concept is simple: get a bunch of attractive and neurotic young women who want to compete for the affections of some adonis and take them on one-on-ones with Mr. God's Gift to Women while the camera follows them and lets the viewer observe all the interesting and melodramatic moments (well most of them - we don't get to witness the sex). It creates a lot of questions - for example, why would women want to enter a show like this in the first place? What do they think is in it for them and what is really in it for them? It all looks good visually - the producers have seen to that - but it is also tacky, shallow and exploitative. It speaks a lot about America.

Is the dating scene REALLY this BAD that one must resort to competing on a 'reality television show' in order to find that 'perfect match'?

Apparently so, according to ABC's "THE BACHELOR", an embarrassing and degrading 'entertainment' show where 15 single women are courted by 'Alex', a 31 year-old handsome, professional successful bachelor who must decide which lady (if at all) he prefers to be his wedded bride.

While FOX already conquered the smutty side of this premise with the exploitative and ground-breaking "WHO WANTS TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE" which ended in complete disaster (it was found out later that the groom had a violent domestic history - the wife filed for an annulment less than a few days later after the special aired on television), "THE BACHELOR" is a more mature approach to basically the same deal. In this case, Alex is not a millionaire, but he is professionally secure.

In reality, with looks combined, Alex would make the perfect catch for a single woman. As it yet goes to show that television still cannot grasp the meaning of the word 'reality', the fifteen women chosen to compete in this adventure are all young attractive in-shape ladies. If this was in fact a 'reality' show, all the women would be of different body shapes and sizes, ages and some may even be considered unattractive to general society. All the women featured in "THE BACHELOR" are between the ages of 20-30 and appear to be as man-hungry as those who would attend a male strip-joint.

I find it very hard to believe that all these women have trouble finding a reasonable date in 'the real world' that they had to resort to appearing on this television show in hopes of match-making with Mr. Alex. In this day and age, if life appears to be this terrible and trite for these women, "THE BACHELOR" really makes my life seem hopeless and meaningless.

"THE BACHELOR" is a show one can do without watching. It can be considered a guilty pleasure, but I find this kind of 'reality' rather sickening.

Whoever Alex decides to marry, I hope we get to see the spin-off, "THE DIVORCE". Now that would be true reality.

Is the dating scene really that bad?? Are these women trying to tell me that they can't find a decent guy without the help of a "reality" show?? So this bachelor can't find a decent woman? Give me a break!! I can't figure out why pathetic shows like these get such good ratings. I hope these people enjoy their 15 minutes of fame. I could care less if he picks any of them, and it's too bad more of the viewing public doesn't feel the same way.

I'm honestly baffled that this show lasted this long. We all know that reality tv is scripted, and not really reality at all. Dating multiple women at once and finding instant love is so far fetched it's not even funny. Most of the relationships don't last. It is just pure garbage.

Who really is more pathetic? The people that watch this show or the people that participate in it? Thankfully this is America, and we have the freedom do BOTH if we want to. And yes, the show is awful and the women always succeed in making themselves look like low-class high school girls by the end of the season premier. But hey, at least when you watch it, you can be thankful that you don't have to be there in the middle of it. No matter how bad your life seems, it could always be worse!

You know the story: 25 bimbettes vie for the love of one man. The bachelor, suave and well-to-do, dates the girls (in groups and sometimes one-on-one), and at the end of every episode he eliminates some of them. It's hilarious how serious these girls get within the first few episodes. When they're not gushing about the bachelor to the camera privately or talking about how much they want to become Mrs. <fill in the blank with bachelor's name>, they're trying to find ways to stab each other in the back and sling mud.

I'll admit I've watched all three seasons. Yes, I've been insulted and told I have no life before, but don't I have the right to watch what I want in evening after I've worked a hard day at work and already put the kids to bed? That's why this is America, folks.

The women on this show are hilarious sometimes, and I find myself often wondering if any of them are truly over the age of 16. They behave like little children, 99% of them talk like valley girls, and they all look the same...all beauty, no brains. As for the bachelor himself, the three men who have had the honor so far to pick their "bride" from among these ladies are also pretty generic...tall, dark, handsome, elegant, well-off (one of them we know for a fact is a millionaire), and making out as much as possible with all the ladies before the time comes, near the end of the series, that a ring must be purchased and an engagement proposed. So far the series is 3 for 3 in accepted proposals, but only 1 for 3 when it comes to relationships after the end of the series. I'm not surprised.

All in all, like pretty much all reality shows, this one is awful...so awful it's good and bringing in millions of ratings each season. The executives at ABC are laughing all the way to the bank.