Nobody has ever accused me of liking highbrow television. Hence my secret addiction: The Bachelor and its numerous spinoffs. Well that and lifetime movies, but that’s its own creature.

The Bachelor, while amazingly entertaining and highly addictive, maintains its position as the lowest of low hanging fruit for America to joke about. Especially for the men that laugh at the women who cannot help but to sit back and soak up the most dramatic season yet, and the women who declare with pride that they don’t watch because of how dumbit is. Yet, The Bachelor remains relevant as a reminder that this is the state of romance in the twenty first century. 

            While I admittedly do fully enjoy The Bachelor and am sure to tune in every Monday night, I find myself always commenting on the drama between the women, the hilarious lack of jobs the contestants have (someone literally once out their job as “Never been kissed” and another as “Sloth”), and the sheer stupidity of the conversations and depth these people are capable of, rather than the romantic connections that actually do form. Each woman on the show, with maybe a couple of exceptions, focuses on trying to solidify themselves as a certain character in the narrative. They come up with quirky entrances such as showing up in animal costume or a cop car as a way to highlight themselves and make them stand out to not only themselves but also to America (because face it, half these women just want the Instagram followers so they can get detox tea brand deals). 

The Bachelor is supposed to be a show about love, yet it markets itself as a show centered around drama. Every promo depicts girls sobbing or arguing with one another with a couple clips of the titular bachelor shirtless or kissing a contestant as a way to stay true to its roots – the romance.

At a time when the youth of the United States seems to value physical intimacy over emotional and mental relationships, The Bachelor provides the ultimate exemplification of the extremities of this situation: the women on the show are hand-picked by the producers for their looks and their ability to stir the pot. Consistently, a decent amount of the women seem to spend more time creating drama amongst one another rather than getting to know their purported one true love, the bachelor. The narratives around the dramas between the women on the show are the ones that get the most screen time and are heavily promoted in commercials and advertisements.  

            Every season, the drama remains at the forefront of my attention while the love fades away. Is it just my cynical mind refusing to believe that love occurs here, or do the producers themselves know that love does not sell in this day in age but drama sure does. In the age of dating apps, hookup culture, and spilling the tea, love is no longer on the forefront of our minds. The romantics of today are disappearing as the next person out there gets ghosted. And this type of society is reflected in our media. Romantic comedies are dying off; The Bachelor no longer emphasizes love and genuine connections but rather the drama of the antics between the women. In our society as a whole, love is slipping away as drama remains at the forefront of society’s focus.

By Lilly Delehanty

Duke Student, pink purveyor and resident expert on surviving and thriving.