Fair warning *SPOILERS AHEAD*
Disclaimer: This is fully my own opinion.
So as many of my close friends know The Bachelor infuriates me on so many levels but alas, I still catch myself watching it every Monday night. If you haven’t seen this seasons finale boy is it full of grade a reality TV drama.
*WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD*
So as many now know Arie proposed to Becca K but then broke off the engagement. It was this event that prompted a 3 hrs and two-night finale. Many during this episode were up in arms in about the outcome. #BachelorNation had a heyday on Twitter :
Yes, what Arie did to Becca was terrible. Honestly, that moment between her and Arie should have been in private.
Becca and the other girls on the show deserve better when it comes to finding “the one”. Quite frankly, I’m not as infuriated at Arie as many people are after the finale. Given the circumstance and nature of the show, it’s hard for me to be mad at him. Yes, what he did was awful, inexcusable and he shouldn’t have gotten engaged in the first place. What gets me is people putting a lot of blame on him for letting it air like it was his sole choice. Like Arie had the rubber stamp and let this go through on his own and logically, at least what I know about the legality of reality tv and the entertainment business, that’s not the case.
The whole time I was watching this and seeing people react on twitter in real time I thought to myself “What payoff did ABC producers give both Arie AND Becca to get their consent to air this on T.V. ?” You might be thinking woah, girl, what are you saying?
Legally speaking, like with all reality tv shows, there are NDAs and numerous contracts that participants sign giving the consent for a network to film and release the footage of them. This protects the networks from being sued. So in other terms BOTH Arie and Becca had to give consent for the producers to even let the footage air without facing a legal suit for emotional distress. Because face it having your engagement being broken off on national tv is well, emotionally distressing.
Now if you look back at the finale with that in mind, ignoring the fact of what Arie did, you begin to think more critically of the finale and a whole new reason to why the finale was infuriating comes to light.
My theory is it’s all one big publicity stunt. Just hear me out.
If the rumors are true and Becca is the next Bachelorette then this the most well thought out post break-up marketing stunt that could be pulled. What if part of the agreement that this unedited finale aired was that Becca would be the next Bachelorette?
It would make sense. People are furious at how the season played out. Many feel sorry for her and want her to be the next Bachelorette after all Becca deserves a happy ending. As much as people criticized the show for airing the footage and “exporting” Becca’s heartbreak for ratings this would have to be a well thought out marketing stunt for the next season of Bachelorette. I doubt The Batchelor would air this and build up the hype without having a long-term game plan in the making for the next season. After all the reality is that people, despite criticizing the show for exploiting heartbreak for pain, will still tune in and watch Becca be the Bachelorette in hopes that she will find her love and get her well deserved a happy ending. We route for her because we feel for her and that’s where the show gets us and always gets us.
The reasons why I’m infuriated about the finale is not from Arie’s actions. Instead, I’m infuriated by the lack of moral responsibility that comes with these shows and those involved in it from the contestants to the producers. I’m playing devil’s advocate by saying that Arie is not at total fault here. He did what he had to do, which is have a hard conversation, he just had cameras around to catch every second of it. Yes, he made a choice but so did Becca and she handled it with maturity and grace. I think within the scope The Bachelor everyone should be held accountable for how the finale played out. Maybe one thing we can take away from this finale is that as viewers we should think more critically beyond the contestants and their actions of the show.
That’s just my two cents and yes, I’ll still tune in tomorrow to see how this unfolds.