Every Monday morning brings a weekend hangover and imminent disappointment; especially during the summer. Most people spend their long summer days at the pool, lake, or beach soaking up the sunshine and enjoying some much needed time with friends and family. There is not a whole lot better than a summer weekend, and not many things more depressing than walking straight back to your office on Monday when your mind is still peering out over clear waters.
For Bachelorette fans; however, this particular hangover doesn’t start until Tuesday morning. All of us have one thing in mind keeping us going during that long Monday workday: The Bachelorette starts in just a few hours. For those of you who are not fans, tonight is our Superbowl. Andi Dorfman will be handing out her final rose to either Josh or Nick. My particular enthusiasm for this show cannot be understated. I am and will always be a HUGE fan of the franchise. The reality show proves an interesting social experiment, and a premise that is wholly improbable. The delicious drama filled in those 120 minutes are my favorite 120 of television. I can’t help it.
The Bachelorette community is abuzz this morning asking, who will Andi pick? Personally, I have had a hunch that Andi would choose Josh Murray from the moment I realized he was both a former UGA baseball player and Aaron Murray’s brother. Let’s be honest, Andi has admittedly always chased the athlete; she is a big Georgia fan (as evidenced by the stone bulldog outside her parents’ front door caught on film in the first episode); and Josh is physically Andi’s type. Nick has a seemingly insurmountable task ahead of him in convincing Andi that their “mental connection” is enough to trump the obvious physical attraction she has for Josh. Perhaps it is the editing, but I haven’t seen true depth to their relationship. It seems as if it is in a stall pattern, held together by the magic of a wealthy franchise and magical and unrealistic romantic dates.
I suppose that is the inherent problem with the Bachelor and Bachelorette. The show promises its final two true love and helps to grow their relationship through exotic travel, candlelit dinners in castles, death-defying adventures, and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of stylist-chosen designer threads. This season alone, the contestants have traveled to the south of France, Italy, Belgium, and now to the Dominican Republic for the upcoming proposal(s). Most married couples may have an opportunity to travel to one of these destinations. It always makes me chortle when two contestants have a date that they walk around a foreign city market and make the comment, “this is something we would do in normal life.”
Yeah: because most American married couples walk around Marseilles looking for gourmet ingredients to cook a huge meal and then have a follow-up conversation at a quaint French bistro.
The Bachelor and Bachelorette has absolutely no basis in reality, and I don’t watch the show with expectations that the manufactured romance will produce true abiding love. I watch it because it gives me the promise of pure, unadulterated entertainment. That is the trouble with my favorite show; if these contestants are sincere in their search for love (which, I would venture to say, is a very slim percentage), viewers are getting a kick out of watching the bachelor or bachelorette kiss their way through their dating pool into an engagement. This is not real life.
It is not natural to wait and wonder whether the girl or guy that you’re dating is pushing physical limits with your roommate. It is unlikely that your engagement will make it to marriage, as most fans have sighed in disappointment at most of the final couples breaking up a few months or years after the gorgeous proposal. Some couples defy the odds, but the final rose is a thorny subject for most: pun intended.
The show, unfortunately, sets these couples up for the ultimate “Monday morning hangover,” as they settle back into their real lives. Finances suddenly become an issue as most people cannot afford to block off the golden gate bridge for a romantic dinner over the bay (dag nabbit!). Compatibility becomes an issue as well. Unfortunately, it is really easy to mistake chemistry for compatibility. Lust is a powerful motivator that usually ends in supreme disappointment. Most contestants would be wiser to choose the guy or girl with whom they get butterflies in their head, but most choose the one who gives them butterflies in their tummy (or lower). The show practically baits these men and women to go with their gut through the elaborate fantasy suites. This is an issue as sex alone cannot sustain a marriage.
So, who will Andi choose? I am just as excited as the next Bachelorette fan. I just hope that once the lights and cameras are off of the final couple, their love will be able to survive the storm that is sure to follow leaving the safety of the show.