Reality TV: The Final Rose--or Not

Just when you think reality TV can’t get more unreal, “The Bachelor” might as well have passed out dead roses instead of red roses. Don’t get me wrong, I believe in love. I just don’t believe love happens because a producer chooses a group of attractive women to act like idiots over one eligible male. The Bachelor in question doesn’t seem to have many requirements, including a stable personality.

I’m not much of a Reality TV fan. I used to watch people eat spiders and leap off tall buildings on Fear Factor while I fed Jim at the nursing home. Not for a million dollars would I jump between skyscrapers or dive into a tank of snakes.

Survivor has never interested me. I watched the Great Race a few seasons and found it to be entertaining at times. American Idol is my favorite! At least that requires a degree of talent. Thank goodness Tatiana got sent home because she gets on my nerves.

I’ve become bored with the multitude of bachelors over the years and admit that several seasons have slipped by when I haven’t watched a single episode. I could just barf if I watch one more hot tub scene or a woman wailing and gnashing her teeth because, “I’ll always love him, but he didn’t give me a rose!” Get real. How do you fall in love with a shallow, one-dimensional player who is coming on to twenty-four other women at the same time?

The camera caught all the details of the dramatic, long-goodbye when Molly got the boot. Her tragic and crushed figure rode into the sunset in a limousine. Tears glistened on her cheeks and her eyes brimmed. “He’s making a big mistake,” she sobs.

Jason shows his own anguish by bawling his eyes out before he regains his composure in time to fall on one knee and propose to Melissa. They jump into the water wearing their good clothes. I suppose ruined outfits are a small price to pay for the artistic value of the happy couple and little boy, Ty, frolicking in the water.

Jason proves to be fickle-hearted and dumps his fiancé on national TV to re-choose his second choice, Molly. He said he just couldn’t quit thinking about Molly. Thinking is not Jason’s strong suit.

Melissa, needless to say, is a little ticked at him. She speaks of herself in the third person, which makes you wonder about her stability. The drama continues when Molly comes out and learns of the new developments in the love triangle. Molly could have been a credit to all womankind had she looked him in the eye and said, “I am SO over you!” Instead her caught-in-the-headlights eyes dart as if she expects someone to yell, “Just kidding!” The show ends with Molly and Jason falling into each other’s arms and locking lips.

Do any of these people know what love is? Maybe, but more likely not. No pressure, but fall in love and propose by the final episode. I think it’s more likely the bachelor just tosses a coin. It’s a game, and the choice doesn’t really matter. He doesn’t plan to really marry the girl anyway and by the time the final episode airs, the happy couple is no longer a couple anymore.

Yes, I believe in love and I believe in reality, but I’m skeptical that love and Reality TV are a marriage made in heaven.