ABC’s ‘The Bachelor’ & ‘Bachelorette’ Series Offers The Ultimate Insult

ABC’s ‘The Bachelor’ & ‘Bachelorette’ Series Offers The Ultimate Insult

by Cheryl Lakes

When my best friend’s boyfriend of four years, whom she thought would eventually propose, suddenly stopped calling, answering his phone, and showing up, she almost lost her mind.  When she finally cornered him face to face at his job after three weeks of ghosting her, he told her he’d been depressed about family matters and just wanted some time to be alone.  Two weeks later, he married another woman in another state.  As of this writing, she is still taking Valium to sleep at night and drinking a fifth of vodka every day on the weekends.

When I watch ABC’s “The Bachelorette”  on television, my mind is simply blown at the confusing egos of the men and women who gather together to compete for one good looking guy or girl and then end up crying later in the show, when they are not chosen to be the one.

These men and women are not chicken heads either.  They are beautiful, handsome, attractive, academically smart, sexy, and mostly accomplished.  Yet, they put themselves in a national spotlight to be rejected by a guy or girl whom they have openly competed for in a “wedding contest.”  The goal of this show is for this one guy or girl through a series of shows, to pick one man or woman out of 20-30 contestants to ultimately become a bride or groom. 

As I watch this show regularly, I’m always flabbergasted at the ridiculousness of these men and women who bestow devouring kisses on someone who they know is going next door to the next contestant when their time is up. 

I’ve watched men and women cry when they get in the car for the final ride out and verbalize openly their “shock” over why they weren’t chosen.  I’m in awe that so many desirable men and women are willing to go on TV to suffer the indignity of possibly being rejected in front of millions of witnesses. Like my friend, most people can’t take rejection privately, but enduring it publicly is a whole different matter.