The Bachelor has been a hit television program since the first day it aired across the nation. The show just wrapped up its 21st season, with the two hour finale amassing a whopping 9.5 million viewers. Even the post-game special “The Bachelor: After the Final Rose”, put up numbers of 9.2 million viewers.
There is some intrigue to people about the fray of competing for love in a storybook fashion. In any case, the show isn't tailored for everyone. Young and old alike watch, even a man such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
The retired legend wrote a column for The Hollywood Reporter about the show and offered his thoughts on what he considers a narrow ideal that's ruining romance.
The show's mantra repeated by most cast members that ‘everyone deserves love' ain’t necessarily so. You’re not even in the running for love unless you fit a very narrow ideal of Ken and Barbie doll physical beauty.
Not only did the big man slam the show for having a shallow version of what love really is, but also says its appearance of diversity is predictable and typical.
The lack of racial diversity has already been commented on. If you’re black on The Bachelor or The Bachelorette, you’re usually kept around as a courtesy for a few weeks before being ejected.
Looking beneath the surface, Abdul-Jabbar leans on the site of a romantic, traditional, and wants no part of what The Bachelor is offering.
The Bachelor/Bachelorette shows could be an informative social mirror that exposes the basic cracks in how Americans glamorize romance and as such could be part of the cure. A cautionary tale for the pitfalls of fantacizing romance rather than balancing heart and brain in choosing a partner
If he had his way, the shows wouldn't see the light of day for being one big lie according to the way he explains it.
What makes it all the more intriguing is that you find yourself agreeing with his well thought out points. Nothing will change as a result of the article, but Abdul-Jabbar is just being himself as he always has been.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar pens column on #TheBachelor: "There is an insidious darkness beneath the fairytale" https://t.co/v6cVeXWCLP pic.twitter.com/XJxEXKrccr
— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) January 3, 2017
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