A Rant

After six torturous weeks of watching ABC's The Bachelorette, I've come to the conclusion that this show is degrading to everyone. That's right, I said it.

I'm a reality show junkie but this season has become so shameful, that I'm embarrassed not only for the bachelorette, but the sorry men who are waiting in the wings every week, hoping for a little bit of face sucking time.

If you don't know the premise, let me sum up. A desperate, dejected girl looking for love among a group of equally desperate guys, none of whom can seem to find someone the old fashioned way (Match.com), thrown together for our viewing pleasure.

This season our lovely bachelorette (Ashley, the dental student) was forewarned that one of the bachelors (the Now Infamous Bentley who will henceforth be referred to as The NIB) had less than honorable intentions (no, not sex, they can get that during the "overnight" date portion of the competition). Apparently, The NIB was just in it for the exposure, ahem, free advertising he hoped to bring to his business.* So who do you suppose poor Ashley was particularly smitten with? Yep. The NIB.
 

After several weeks of pretend fawning and confiding on camera that he'd rather the bachelorette had been anyone but Ashely, The NIB decided he just "didn't give a shit about her" and hit the road, leaving her heartbroken and sobbing under a blanket in the dark.

Good riddance, I thought, until Ashley confessed two weeks later to the show's pimp host that she just couldn't move forward because she'd gotten no closure with The NIB. She even felt guilty about mentally "cheating" on the remaining guys, although making out with each of them in turn while in full view of the others never seems to weigh on her mind at all.

I've always understood the appeal of the bad boy in fiction, wanting what you can't have or know isn't good for you, it just annoys me to see it play out for real. I'm officially swearing off The Bachelorette.** I'm replacing its time slot on Monday nights with writing.

Have you ever given up a guilty pleasure for writing? Ever been obsessed with a bad boy? A bad girl?


*I wonder who taught him douchebaggery translates to sales?

**Please, please, please someone tell me who wins in the end. I might die if I don't know. Seriously.