On Monday night, I joined millions of my fellow Americans in watching the 17th season opener of ABC's, The Bachelor. I'm sure I'm not the only one who, at least at first, found this concept of elimination-style love hunting extremely shallow and well, boring. However, I found myself feeling both fascinated and appalled as I watched 26 (an apparently earth-shattering twist to the normative 25) beautiful women battle for the attention of, however cute he may be, a total stranger. I was surprised at how many indications I found in regards to the Kingdom and the Empire. For example, God's gift of sexuality and his gift of humans being attracted to other humans are made blatantly obvious on this show. Other evidences of the Kingdom are viewed when Sean Lowe, this season's Bachelor, makes it clear to both the women and the audience that he is a very family-oriented guy and is an active member of the Fellow of Christian Athletes organization. In addition, the wonderful diversity that humans were created with was put on full display during each woman's awkward/creative/obnoxious first self-introduction to Sean.
However, the Empire's attempts to twist the Kingdom are overwhelmingly apparent in this show. During this episode, the women were forced to contend for private time with Sean as a kind of 26-on-1 date night. Women quickly became very envious of one another and even catty at the suggestion that they might leave the show on the very first night. A couple of women were not sober during the entire event, and one woman (who was rather feisty even before becoming intoxicated) proudly exclaimed to America, "I totally hope Sean rips my clothes off and spanks me." Frankly, I think evidence of the Kingdom's existence glowed gloriously in the fact that this particular woman did not receive a rose. Anyway, it is of my observation that the lust that inhabits the Empire is what keeps this show on the air. Lustful desires of the contestants keep them in constant, distrustful combat, and all of this high-scale drama is much to the appeal of the mostly female audience- most of which are probably guilty of possessing even slightly lustful thoughts towards the attractive protagonist of the show. I mean, if the audience didn't like him at all, why would they be watching?
I will reluctantly admit that I found myself very entertained as I egotistically judged each female contestant who volunteered a potential 9 weeks of her life for a chance at "true love". I was constantly forced to remind myself that while the saneness of people who find it rational for a man to date over 20 women at once is questionable at best, the people I should be actively critical towards are those behind the scenes. It is always a possibility that the producers of this show genuinely believe that Sean and one of the individuals will find genuine love and fight to keep themselves from being ripped apart. It is possible, I suppose, that the producers are simply showing the world what happened on the set and nothing more. Do I believe in that possibility? Absolutely not. The producers must have so so so much footage of every woman, but they arrange only certain clips (probably not even chronologically) to carefully manipulate which women the audience views as "nice" and/or "good" and which girls are viewed as, well, witchy (for lack of a better word). Cheering and jeering teams form, and as an audience member, I am tempted to believe that I know every detail of what is going on in the lives of contestants when in fact, I probably know almost nothing of the actual situation. I don't know what happens when the cameras aren't rolling, and I certainly don't know the content of the footage not aired. I think that the opinions formed about the women contending on The Bachelor is propaganda at its finest.
In addition, The Bachelor also encourages me to believe that "love" is simply a passionate emotion that once lit, will remain aflame forever. I am discouraged from thinking about when the bachelor and the lady he chooses return to the real world. I am being tempted to believe that solid, worthwhile relationships are "just meant to be" and do not require hard work. The producers conveniently fail to make clear that the vast majority of Bachelor couples break up soon after returning to the real world: a place where they inevitably face speculation, tabloid gossip, and the reality of having to literally relive their rocky history and watch the show week by week.
How is the way that The Bachelor presents love different than the way the Bible teaches about love?
How do you think the flawless appearances of the contestants contribute to what the show suggests about relationships?
Some of the women seemed more focused on receiving a rose than actually getting to know Sean. How does this situation parallel your relationship with God? What are the "roses" in your life?
Excellent analysis, Kim! I appreciate how you point out the complex qualities of the show, the producers AND the audience. There's a section of Colossians Remixed coming up in which Walsh and Keesmaat make a case for sexual promiscuity as another form of consumerism--I think it will really resonate with your thoughts here.
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