Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Bachelor Irony

I've watched The Bachelor, a show on ABC, for four or five seasons now, and I was excited when Juan Pablo was chosen as the latest bachelor. Why? Cause he was hot. He had an animal magnetism that became apparent even when he was shown speaking on camera less than any other guy on the Bachelorette. His accent -- he was raised in Venzuela -- limited his on-camera time.
So, like millions of women around the country, I was sold on Juan Pablo simply because of his looks, his smile, the light in his eyes.

At the beginning of the season, with 27 girls and one bachelor, the activities and the interactions were interesting, wondering who would stand out, who would get cut. None of the women were especially onerous this season -- no one to hate. Sometimes the women got a little snarky, but overall they were well behaved.
And Juan Pablo seemed pretty straightforward. When one of the girls got drunk and made a fool of herself, he sent her home the next morning, explaining that as a father, he couldn't bring someone unstable into his household.
I thought Juan Pablo was fairly honest with the women. In the beginning, I may not have noticed that he didn't have a lot of intelligent conversation because he was busy listening to the women's stories. He definitely had chemistry with some of them.
For the first time since I've been watching, it became obvious fairly early in that he slept with one of the women during a romp in the ocean. He later regretted that and told the woman he regretted it. That was pretty selfish on his part. Nothing either of them could do about it afterward.
During the season finale Monday evening, I read a book while Juan Pablo had his final dates with two beautiful blonde women. The words, the women, the families...it just didn't catch my attention.
Juan Pablo, a Latin man with expected sexist tendencies, had shown himself to be fairly shallow. The conversation shown between him and the women consisted of him telling the women how pretty or sexy they were. Things didn't seem to go much deeper.
And now, there's an outcry that Juan Pablo was in it for the fame, for the sex. Stories abound on the web. Here's one from CNN. Juan Pable didn't tell the woman he picked that he loved her, only "liked her a lot." Truthfully, how many people, dating only one other person, can know in 10 weeks whether they love someone.
Here's a picture from Conde Nast showing Juan Pablo with his top choice Nikki.
The irony to me is that people are angry that Juan Pablo was superficial, when they picked Juan Pablo for superficial reasons -- simply because he was handsome.
We rooted for him to become the bachelor because he was beautiful then we're disappointed that he picked women who were beautiful.
We kinda got what we asked for.

6 comments:

grammajudyb said...

One of the reasons I do not watch. All that hype and then the outcry when it's over! Don't tell me that pretty boy has trouble finding dates! I'm pretty much done with all the reality shows, they have gone downhill in my opinion. Ok, I'm off my soapbox now!

Paulita said...

I'm glad I wasn't the only one on a soapbox this morning.

Kristie W. said...

You know you made a really good point!! I watched on and off this season. I was disappointed with the outcome since I thought his "honesty" was more him being rude/callous and getting away with it. Your point makes total sense. Hopefully Andi's season will be better quality wise!

Paulita said...

Kristie, I can't even understand why Andi is doing it. Wasn't her point that the entire situation doesn't work?

Just Me said...

I confess I am reality tv junkie; well I have shows I've been loyal to for years (Project Runway, Top Chef, Flipping Out. I still watch Survivor (although I'm not sure why).

I watched a couple seasons of the Bachelor but I could not get past a group of girls making out and swapping spit with the same guy. I know, I'm a prude.

I thought for the girls it became more of contest; to not get kicked off and to win. I didn't see any of the women decide 'we have no chemistry, he's not for me'.

I think they're all on the show to for the exposure and possible fame. Maybe get a show of their own or be the next Bachelorette.

So having said all that ... sounds like Pablo was just being honest. How can you seriously fall in love within the restraints of a tv show, so far from everyday life.

I truly did enjoy your posting and I was right there with you getting caught up in the story line the way I do with my shows.



Sally Tharpe Rowles said...

Paulita, I would have never guessed that you were a Bachelor follower ….good commentary on the whole thing!

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