Tuesday, May 22, 2007

'Bachelor': Who am I kidding?

OK, I just watched the finale of "The Bachelor" again. And I while my last post was from my head, I realized I should have responded from my gut.

I think I was trying to justify why I watch the show with all that talk of microcosms and relatable situations and such. While all that stuff may be true, c'mon. It's not really why I, or other people, watch.

We want to see cat fights and bad cocktail dress choices and bikini-clad romps in hot tubs and awkward make-out sessions. We want to try to guess which of the chicks will put out (or won't, and get canned for it). We want to watch the trips home, and see the insides of other people's houses, how they dress, what they eat, if they drink liquor or not and if they have good manners.

I watched the "Bachelor" finale last night with five people, and we analyzed everything. We cursed the (brilliant) editing because from commercial break to commercial break, we bounced between "It's Bevin!" No, it's Tessa!" "No, dang, he's going with Bevin!" "No, it's gotta be Tessa!" I had a tension tummyache for most of the show and several of us threatened to cry. The final rose ceremony, where Andy had to send Bevin home, was so real and so awful, we could barely watch. She cried. He cried. She was so devastated she couldn't speak. We went silent with sympathy. When he picked Tessa, we squealed with glee. We sighed as they murmued "I love you!" to each other over and over, and he picked her up and swung her around.

It was an emotional roller coaster. And I loved it -- and I'll be watching the "After the Final Rose" show tonight.

You know what? At our cores, most of us are romantics. Even though logically we know better, we adore the "love at first sight, love conquers all, love between beautiful people that ends with gorgeous diamond engagement rings and happily ever after" fantasy. "The Bachelor" taps into that -- and I for one, eat it up with a big spoon.

There. I feel much better now.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Men are dying all around the world to preserve our freedom to remain the least informed, most narcissistic group of individuals on Earth.

What is the value of these shows?

To show you some fantasy life you'll never have?

Guess what? These trolls won't either.

What happens when the hair and make-up folks leave? What about when these wannabe actors actually have to take responsibility for their lives?

Porno is much better.

At least you know when someone's getting dic$ed.

These past 30 years have produced the biggest group of bedwetting ne'er-do-wells the world has ever seen.

This column is becoming as irrelevant as Jimmy Carter and Tonya "The Party Lesbian" Jamison.

Anonymous said...

I won't take the tone as the other commenter, but I do think shows like that trivialize the idea of love and marriage. Maybe that's something you girls can talk about next?

Anonymous said...

Deirdre, geezzzz, enough, if this is the kind of thing you write in your personal journal or diary, your children and grandchildren will need an electrical shock to keep them awake! Tell us that you have more depth in you than this. Please! The title of your entry was "Who am I kidding?", Obviously you have pulled the wool over someones eyes at the Observer into thinking you can write.!

Anonymous said...

The editors could have a 22-year-old coed write these blogs items with the same result. Deirdre, shouldn't you have a level of mature reality at this point? "To see if they drink liquor" or "which girls put out"??!! Does the phrase "older and wiser" mean anything to you? Or are you one of those shallow women who will hold on to their passing youth because somewhere, somehow, you bought in to the fact that responsible, mature, and thoughtful were boring characteristics? When are you going to grow up?

Anonymous said...

Sorry, I meant "bought into the idea", not fact.

Anonymous said...

I've got to say, I'm always surprised that someone in their 30s would still have an interest in these things-I'm not being a snob because I have a very peurile sense of humor, but The Bachelor? It perpetuates the worst stereotypes of women. I am not going to give you a hard time, because we all watch crap TV at times - but this show is really crap in so many ugly stereotypical ways I don't want to support it. Guess what America?! If you are a single woman, you are pathetic! Crap, crap, crap.

Anonymous said...

I agree with the rest of the,bloggers. What's with the HTML tags?... anyway it seems as if the column you wrote, is all about your personal opinions. (which is sad). I also find that if the sun news, your sister paper. Would get some people that can really write a chance (even if they do have to emport them) instead of hiring local untalented writers, then maybe just maybe that rag and this one could be salvaged. By the way why are all the news papers so long in length? especially the sun news, my God, it's like trying to read a rolled up carpet.

Anonymous said...

I have never had the chance to read
a newspaper that was the busiest collection of rhetoric in all my life, I guess there is a first time for everything. That goes double for the sun news.

Anonymous said...

I also thought the same thing. She must have a good connection to get this job and write like a boy crazy 19-year-old college student. See at 19 that type of behaviour is endearing, while on a 30-something "ripe" woman it is not a good journalist imagine to put out there. You seen desperate for a man and gulible to believe "reality tv" as reality. No man would want to be near you with your current attitude, since men can smell your desperation to have a relationship'; they run like gazelles.