TV Bachelor

I'm watching the new season of The Bachelor which features Brad Womack, a dude who didn't fall in love via game show three years ago. You see this is Brad's second attempt on the show. During season 11, Brad let the last two remaining girls go and he left alone. He says that he went home and became a broken man. He asks, "How could I not have found somebody?" Indeed. How could it be that on a game show designed to surround one guy with 12 or so gorgeous, nearly infallible women, all of whom are automatically in love with him from the start, and he doesn't get to, you know, have one of them? It's a shame.

Brad Womack isn't really a bad guy. I'm sure he does have issues with commitment (as about 99% of American males do). I'm sure he really does want to find someone, to fall in love, and to self-actualize. This show is just another example of reality TV reshaping the entire human landscape that makes up the contestants. I mean, there is a shot where Womack is talking about how his stoicism and manly physique are a facade and the B-Roll cuts to him flexing his pecks while walking shirtless through a park!

Here's another weird thing about reality TV: no one ever acknowledges the fact that they are on a reality TV show, at least not anything overt. When the girls see Brad, they are shocked. One even slaps him. They question if he's really changed, if he's ready to commit. But what none of them ask is, "Why would you let him back on the show? Why did you choose him as the next Bachelor?" And that's a fair question but those 4th wall-breakers are strictly forbidden. No one would ask that because the answer would invariably be horrible.

Ironically, one contestant, a recent divorcee, is discussing her distaste for the dating scene because "everyone plays games". You realize you're going on a game show, yes? The show is manipulating in the best way: it manipulates the audience and the contestants, especially the psychological mindjob on Brad. I mean here's a guy who couldn't decide on true love on a game show, goes to therapy for three years, and then the show gets him back for more. I'm wondering how much they paid off his therapist so he would endorse the decision to return to the show.