For better or for worse, America is hooked on The Bachelor. The long-running matchmaking experiment, which brings together one handsome young single man and 32 neurotic women in the hopes of fostering matrimonial bliss, has proven one of the most successful franchises in the history of reality TV. With age-defying host Chris Harrison in tow, the show’s team has figured out the perfect formula of exotic destinations, outlandish dates, and emotionally unstable—and often intoxicated—bachelorettes to create a phenomenon that continues to thrive despite its meager nuptial success rate. Nevertheless, The Bachelor strikes a chord with viewers because, at its heart, it presents America with an idyllic image of true love (at least while the cameras are rolling) that in some small way mirrors all of our hopes for our own fairytale endings.
In this week’s episode, bachelor Ben Flajnik took the remaining 13 hopefuls to Park City, Utah to spend some quality time in the great outdoors. Blonde bombshell Rachel is invited on the first one-on-one date, and despite her guardedness, she and Ben manage to have a great time on their helicopter/canoe excursion. On the group horseback riding/fly fishing date, Courtney overcomes her L.A. model lifestyle and catches the only fish of the day, and in winning the rose proves that when you look like a Vogue model, catching a fish is just as easy as catching a man. The final date of the week went to Jennifer, who, after jumping into a watery crater, getting caught in a rainstorm, and awkwardly dancing to a not-so-intimate live performance by Clay Walker, got a rose.
All in all, the episode had every element for success necessary to keep viewers tuned in for episodes to come, as the couples head to Latin America for their international dates. You can bash the recipe, but if it works, why mess with a good setup?
There is, however, one obvious flaw in The Bachelor’s formula—in all 16 seasons of the show and seven seasons of its partner, The Bachelorette, not a single of the eponymous bachelors has been anything but white. While a handful of the potential matches have been minorities, few (with the notable exception of Roberto Martinez from season 6 of The Bachelorette) have made it past the first cocktail party. Regardless, the racial makeup of the contestants on the show in no way mirrors the increasingly diverse demographics of the United States. According to the 2010 census, 34 percent of the population is not white, and yet 100 percent of this season’s contestants are white—except Elyse, whose spray tan makes her look a little orange. With regard to the institution itself, the prevalence of interracial marriage in America is continuing to effect change in the demographics; roughly three percent of the population identified itself as multiracial on the 2010 census.
Executive producer Mike Fleiss claims the white-washed casting results are nothing more than coincidence. In a 2011 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Fleiss claimed that “we always want to cast for ethnic diversity,” but that, “for whatever reason, they don’t come forward. I wish they would.” Fleiss’s wishes may or may not be sincere, but the reality is that the racial makeup is self-reinforcing: Minorities aren’t going to feel inclined to sign up for a show that features an all-white cast. Other network reality-television stalwarts, like Survivor, America’s Next Top Model, The Amazing Race, and The Biggest Loser, have placed diversity at their core, featuring raciallyinclusive casts in the hopes of reaching out to the widest possible audience. The Bachelor, regardless of the producer’s claims, has failed to recognize the growing reality that American couples aren’t monochromatic. America was ready for a black president; it’s definitely ready for a black bachelor.
