The Bachelor, Bachelorette Love is Blind, and Love Island are all similar TV shows with the same layout- the contestants have to pay for things like clothes, plane tickets, etc- just to get the chance to find ‘love’ with someone they have never met.
Reality TV shows teach young women that going about romance publicly, leading on thirty other people until that person decides they aren’t good enough, cutting down the competition until only one remains. These shows teach young women that’s the right way to find who they’re going to marry.
These TV shows are very unrealistic; although the Bachelor has been airing for twenty-three seasons, only two couples from the show are still together. In thirty seasons of the Bachelor and Bachelorette, only around twelve of those couples are still married.
Along with being thought of as a show for “gold-diggers,” many people think of these shows as overly dramatic. “The only reason I watch the Bachelor is because I think it’s funny how dramatic it is,” Senior Claire Isbell expressed. “The girls that go on the show really only want to be with someone who has a lot of money and is attractive.”
Many people who have been on reality love TV shows don’t have good things to say about the shows. Leonie McSorley appeared on Ex on the Beach in 2017. “They definitely sell you a dream and put a lot of pressure on you, like: This is your one chance and if you don’t do what we’re suggesting then there’s no point in you being on this show, you’re probably going to get sent home,” she expressed. “It’s a manipulative environment.”
TV shows like this are often staged. The contestants are constantly being watched by an audience, so they act differently. On top of that, the dates are being influenced by the producers, to make the show the perfect amount of dramatic to be aired.
The locations of the dates are very unrealistic. If the contestants go on exotic dates like bridge jumping in Europe, then after the show concludes, there will be no substance left within the relationship. If they don’t go on a typical date, or even grocery shop together, then there is no foundation to the relationship.
Speaking of dates, the conversations held during the dates lack depth; most of them are the typical ‘How are you?’ ‘I want to find love’ and ‘I can see myself potentially falling for you.’ On a normal date, after the first few are out of the way, is when you go into depth with the conversations. This is when they would find out each other’s fears, hopes and other life goals.
Reality TV shows create unrealistic ideals for a relationship. They put ideas of what a relationship should look like in people’s heads, and end up promoting love based purely off of sex and looks, instead of getting to know important things about the other person.
