It's OK! - and a commentary on PC-ness

well, i know I'm just a little bit late to the party but since I was on spring break this week I obviously took used that time wisely and watched the entire season of the bachelor. 

 

i have NEVER watched the bachelor or the bachelorette. the only season i watched was with ben flajnik (?) and that's just because i was stealing cable at the time and I only got like 4 channels and that was all that was on on monday nights -- also i thought courtney (was that her name?) was perfectly catty. 

 

Let's be real folks: The Bachelor is sad! Any woman who is going on that show is trying to become a reality tv star. Do I think some women really want to fall in love? Yes. But I think that's a perk to the show, I don't think anyone really goes on thinking they will live happily ever after with this person. Everyone makes fun of these shows and the success rate is terrible. Soooo, yeah. 

I wanted to know what was so controversial about this Bachelor (besides his off-show comments, obv) and I just really didn't see it. Also, he is Venezuelan so I was like, heyyy baby.

Ok, I thought it was annoying how he constantly used Camila as an excuse and I thought it was ridiculous what he said to Claire after their little jaunt in the ocean .... but why did she stay? It's hard for me to feel sympathetic towards someone who was so offended by someone but still stuck with it till the end and only when he said he wasn't going to propose to her, then she has a total change of heart towards him. I would THINK that these women would be happy that he told them all of these things to their faces and they didn't hear about it for the first time while watching the show though. I mean, that's just me. But if he had only said to the camera - Shit, I shouldn't have done that - and then Claire saw that, wouldn't she have been more upset? Or is that just me?

But, while we're still on Claire, can we talk about this?

WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY was this OK? I can't.

I obviously loved Sharleen and Andi. I have never watched these shows before but I don't THINK it's normal for contestants to decide -- I don't like you. I just think that is so much more realistic than all these other women who are cryinggg cryinggg, especially after like a couple weeks and no single date! How can you be this upset??? 

I definitely thought the women on the "women tell all" special were sour grapes, I guess that's to be expected, but it's annoying to me. The only women who can say anything are Sharleen, Andi, and Claire because they're the only women who said these things during the show. Don't act like your life is over because you got kicked off this show and then a few months later be like, "Oh yeah he was the worst."

 

Also, I do think that the fact that he was not raised in this country and the fact that English is not his first language IS significant. First of all, he lives in Miami, and anyone who has been to Miami knows that you can straight up speak Spanish 100% of the time. Secondly, and more importantly, other countries do not have the same political correctness ideology that we have here. I'm not making excuses but I think it's really unrealistic to expect people who were raised in different cultures to adhere to our ideas about what's appropriate in certain contexts. Do I think JP could have been more diplomatic in how he handled certain situations, obviously. But as a second-language speaker myself, it's not always easy and ESPECIALLY if you are in situations where you are nervous/anxious/upset do you have any idea how much more difficult it becomes to express yourself? 

I'm not willing to say that it's because he's Latino because my experience with people from all over the world tells me that WE are the ones that are the minority here! My stepdad is from England and the stuff he used to say to me and my sister would make us mad at him for a week! His mom used to make comments all the time about my mom's weight like that was normal and appropriate. I was in Turkey this summer and the first thing our Turkish captain asked one of the girls on the trip was "What part of Africa [she] was from?" (She was Black). Obviously, my mouth dropped at this comment but the girl (from England) just laughed it off. I don't really know what the right way is, but I do know that people's INTENTIONS matter so much more than their words. If someone's intentions are malicious, then that's one thing, but if not then I think that does really matter.

I also think it is really admirable that JP didn't just propose to Nikki because that's what the show expected of him. Someone who is a regular watcher, tell me, does it ALWAYS end in a proposal?? That just seems so crazy to me! And honestly, I do think JP would have proposed if Sharleen had stayed. He did talk about wanting to get engaged and his future wife and blahbittyblah but I feel like that was all before Sharleen left. So yeah, maybe if in his mind he's thinking "Sharleen is the one" and then she leaves halfway through he just wasn't ready to propose to Nikki. I also think it's ridiculous to become engaged after two months when the total time spent together was what? 1 week? And during all that time that person was dating a million other girls? 

 

 this girl. smh.

But yeah, I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir. 

Anyways, I thought it was an interesting season. I liked JP. I think he is human and makes mistakes. I also think people are being really harsh about Nikki ... she didn't strike me as someone who was a pushover .. I just think the ending was probably the most realistic ending of all the seasons. 

And now that I've spent an outrageous amount of time on discussing The Bachelor, I'm out to enjoy my last night of spring break!!