I came here to say this.
My wife forces me to watch and for the first few years of our marriage I accepted it as a great trade off to leverage some extra time playing video games. Now I'm considering gouging my eyes out with a spoon to save me from having to watch this shit any more.
If you watch The Bachelor(ette) as if the producers are torturing a bunch of narcissists, it's actually pretty entertaining. I also think it's funny when some of the people on there are clearly acting and start almost cracking up during arguments.
"This season on the Bachelor, it's Guaranteed to be the most SHOCKiNG sEaSoN wEvE evER filmed" Proceeds to recycle the same shit from all 20 seasons and spin offs. My personal fsvorites are the " I Didn't think it would be this hard to watch a girl I'm falling for kiss other dudes"
There's probably a Bingo-themed drinking game out there with all of the clichés on it. Could be pretty fun. My favorite is when some guy goes to the Bachelorette and says "some guys aren't here for the right reasons", and they build an entire episode around that. Every single season.
Best one by far is ‘I could definitely see myself falling in love with him/her.’ Which means exactly NOTHING. I could definitely see myself winning the powerball so tf what.
That one's up there for sure. The guys that always pull that shit, ALWAYS get sent home. Why they don't just keep their mouths shut is beyond me.
Here I am, discussing a show I try and erase from my memory at 10pm every Monday on Reddit. Time to go outside.
The only way I can enjoy it is through sarcastic remarks, laughing at people's misery, and providing general commentary. Since it's not appreciated I typically get sent away to play video games.
My husband has gotten me into some of these shows. We watched Too Hot to Handle and I spent a lot a time yelling at the tv. I think he enjoys my frustration at how stupid people are.
And that is, in its own way, tragic. There is simply nothing, not one thing, about the bachelor/ette that reflects how real life relationships actually work. And yet, years and years of watching these shows has gradually morphed my wife’s (and many people’s) expectations for how relationships work.
The whole franchise normalizes a contrived, scripted, “Apprentice” style of backstabbing and bus-under-throwing that over time changes the world view of its followers.
How people actually think healthy relationships work is being affected by this constant message that pitting multiple suitors against each other and deceiving all but one. And then that one winner will never again be affected by the trauma and unnatural abuse they just went through in order to win your hand… it’s just insanity, presented in a format that confuses the steady viewers into thinking that relationship dynamic is sustainable.
It’s jumped the shark - and I dunno it’s kinda refreshing to see it just embrace that fact. The last episode literally said, verbatim “stay tuned and see how the drama unfolds when we come back” - like they aren’t even hiding that it’s a drama-fueled lame fest - but it’s way better than Chris Harrison’s overt attempts to make it “real.” The two new women hosts are entertaining to watch speak out loud all the stuff the audience is thinking.
So ya - it’s still cringe, but now they kind of own it.
Maybe petition your wife to switch it out for Big Brother. Not technically a dating reality show, but BB has the highest successful marriage rate than any other reality show in history.
Go figure; you lock several people on a compound for three months, with no outside interactions, no job to go to, no books, no tv, etc. and the people that get warm fuzzies for each other get the opportunity to know each other better than they would in the outside world, with nothing to entertain them but the company of the person they’re attracted to.
The upside for you is: at least you’ll get to see some physical and mental competitions, although fair warning at least one contestant per season will make you unreasonably angry with their annoying personality.
What I used to do was set up a small cheap TV on the coffee table and plug the Xbox in there during trash reality time. We would be on the couch together and could chat, but I've got a headphone and am gaming instead of scrolling on my phone avoiding that crap.
Whenever someone says they willingly watch the Bachelor I kind of tune out. If you really think watching a gaggle of narcissists fight over another narcissist is entertaining we have vastly different interests and values.
I don't understand how basically everyone knows how fake it is, that they cut scenes together in ways that didn't happen, that they starve the contestants and get them drunk, that the contestants are mostly acting and just want their 15 minutes of fame, and that they manufacture drama, but the viewers still somehow like it. It's like they can just shut off the part of their brain reminding them how it's all fake. Maybe it's a personality trait, but whenever I watch something like that I can't just stop thinking about how some reaction they cut to is just someone with a blank face and probably wasn't even from the same conversation, etc. (which to me is actually the most fun part about watching to be honest, trying to imagine how they decide what to cut together).
It's just become more of a tradition , I stomach it for her because she loves it. I don't mind and it makes her happy, it's one of the few shows we still have time to sit down and watch together.
Some women (men too, maybe? but I've only had experience with women) think that you're not "spending time together" if you're not actually doing the same thing -- just being in the same room/near each other is not enough.
Gaming laptop. I got one but my GF does not force me to watch anything I dont want to. That Dyson Sphere isnt going to build itself. I do watch the occasional 'horror' movie with her here and there but I despise most of those.
My SIL is staying with us for a month while her foray apaartment is being readied. She watches these garbage shows. She is a well educated person with a Masters Degree but somehow like this crap. These are just garbage shows for garbage people made by garbage people starring garbage people.
Somehow people watch them thinking they are better then thr people on them. No by watching this it tells me what kind of person someone really is and ibwent no part of them.
Lol. Luckily we moved back close to some of my wives friends, so they can watch it together while I play video games during that time.
Not only did I used to have to watch it, but then I would immediately have to watch a recap on the Instagram story of a comedian she liked. Literally 25-30 worth of him screaming (cuz he’s from “BOCAAA”!) at the tv about what this dude looks like or what this girl was wearing, etc.
In truth, he’s actually a hilarious person, and his standups are amazing. But I hate having to sit through his Instagram story bachelorette reviews.
So it could be better… but it could be worse. Good luck out there lol
Holy mackerel, I am in the same situation. I play on my ipad when it's on and if I ever make a comment about how fake and silly the whole thing is, she shushes me and gives me angry face.
691
u/Winstonsir 27d ago
I came here to say this. My wife forces me to watch and for the first few years of our marriage I accepted it as a great trade off to leverage some extra time playing video games. Now I'm considering gouging my eyes out with a spoon to save me from having to watch this shit any more.