It’s Sept. 3, and my eyes are eagerly glued to the screen with a bowl of popcorn next to me. After a summer of watching one of America’s most beloved reality TV shows, The Bachelorette, I am ready to see “The Final Rose,” an update on how America’s favorite couple has been doing.
The Bachelorette revolves around a single bachelorette (usually a contestant from a previous season of The Bachelor) and 25 eligible bachelors vying for her love and attention. The season consists of going on multiple types of dates, including one-on-one and group dates, over eight to 10 weeks in different domestic and international locations. At the end of each week, the bachelorette gives out roses to the men she favors during the highly anticipated rose ceremony. The men who don’t receive roses get sent home. In the season finale, the bachelorette chooses one of the final two men to become her fiance.
This season’s bachelorette is Jenn Tran, the first Asian American contestant ever in the show’s history. She was released from the final six girls on the 28th season of The Bachelor. Many were excited at finally having Asian representation on National Television, myself included. As a first-generation Vietnamese Asian American, I feel elated that there is finally someone of the same ethnicity as me on the big screen, especially on a show as influential as this. However, there were many concerns about Tran’s position on the show, as many didn’t want her to be the new Bachelorette.
The producers and the show itself had made it seem like two other past contestants, Maria Georgas and Daisy Kent, were the top choices going into the new season. Because of this, many were unsatisfied when Tran was revealed to be the top choice, feeling that she was a last-minute call due to the other two declining the offer. Many had gone on to say that Jenn was picked “just because she was Asian,” proudly displaying their disapproval all over social media.
Not only was Jenn placed in a position where she wasn’t the “preferred” candidate of the season, but because of these rumors and the consistent bullying online, Jenn felt insecure about being the new Bachelorette, and about whether she could fill the position she was given and prove herself to be good enough for America.
Needless to say, my jaw dropped when I saw “The Final Rose,” where it is revealed that Devin Strader, the final contestant picked, had ghosted Jenn the moment the show finished, followed Maria Georgas on Instagram, and ended their relationship two months later over a phone call. This episode affirmed the fact that the showrunners had not re-casted the initial group of contestants who were there for Maria, leaving Jenn stuck with men who didn’t even want her as a choice. Jenn was further humiliated when the show made her watch the proposal between her and Devin, leaving millions of Americans to watch her break down sobbing on live TV.
As an Asian American, I’m deeply angered at the type of season the producers had given Jenn, as if she wasn’t important and her season was just an afterthought in their minds. It’s a slap in the face to learn that Devin was into Maria the whole time and not Jenn, reaffirming the belief that as a person of color, your place in society is secondary to white women. Asian women have historically been portrayed unfairly, often as submissive and forced within the confines of typical Asian stereotypes, resulting in being stuck as side characters or in minor roles. The few times that we’ve had major roles, they’ve been butchered by companies that don’t care about the fact that Asian Americans are people, too. Congratulations to Jenn Tran for representing her community on the show and being chosen as the bachelorette.
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