why do i watch this crap?: the bachelorette

I've decided that being bored and jobless has resulted in two things (aside from the assumed pseudo-poverty, loneliness, and "no good" reputation): I watch a lot of mostly stupid TV and I want to blog always. Oh, and that I have very little to actually blog about, so three things. Either way, this led to the 2 am conclusion that an occasional part of my blog will be entries called "why do i watch this crap?" (for some reason I like to boycott capitals in my titles), and what better way to start that off than talking about The Bachelorette.

why i've ended up watching it

For some reason, since last summer, The Bachelorette has become a ritual for not only me and my family, but for Kay to come over as well. We spend every Monday night sitting in the general vicinity of this show, often rolling our eyes, while we secretly relish the deliciously formulated drama, emo sulking (often over a balcony railing), and fake giggling. Oh, and hot men of course. 

what i don't like about it

This show is by far the absolute top of my list of very stupid shows that I inexplicably watch, right above Toddlers in Tiaras. Though very (VERY) slightly less personally offending than The Bachelor, The Bachelorette stands for everything I'm against. Aside from the fact that its contestants(??) drop the F word ("forever") about a zillion times an episode, they spend the entirety of their on-air time trying to convince us that they think this TV show is not only a valid but an infallible avenue to true-love-and-happy-marriage. This not only strongly counters my belief that pretty much nothing results in the much hyped true-love-and-happy-marriage life, but also shocks me that The Bachelorette and her subjects don't vomit when they hear themselves say it, let alone each other. It sounds more like a big party of delusionals and pathological liars than suitors and their meat princess.

In all honesty, I could go on forever about why I strongly dislike The Bachelorette, from the very first obligatory suitor video-biography featuring his manliness, his dog, and his echoed story of falling in love with a manufactured character on the previous season of The Bachelor, to that same suitor's fit of rage/sorrow/assholeness as he doesn't receive The Rose. (The rose, by the way, that I bet most of them would have been too insecure to receive from a girl were they not on a TV show). In addition to its large serving of cheese is the, of course, blatant heterosexism and hegemonic masculinity blasted across the screen. (That's a line I should copy and paste for the next crappy TV show review, because, sadly, it rarely changes).

what i do like about it
It did take me a bit to try to figure out what I enjoy about The Bachelorette, and I have decided on two things (other than how much I enjoy a good critique): hot men, Canadiana.

As previously mentioned, I do appreciate the amount of attractive that is on this show. And Ali (seen above) does seem to find clever ways to get them mostly naked through promises of her love (or at least knowing their name). But really, you can find that most places on TV, and hopefully in less delusional men.

The show, especially last season, does seem to have a large portion of Canadian content. Last season, The Bachelorette herself was actually a Canadian, leading to a lot of the show actually being filmed in Canada! This season three of the guys have been Canadian, one of whom left early, and two of whom were immediately deemed the villains, which is interesting. On top of this, this week's episode's naked men featurette (cleverly disguised as "group dates" - if that isn't a day-time TV innuendo I don't know what is) was filming a Barenaked Ladies music video! I say kudos to BNL for shamelessly exploiting these Americans' true search for love as a plug for their new album and Canadian music.

It's gotta be good for something, right?