Culture for Consumption and The Emerging Grossness of Bachelor in Paradise Australia
The last time I wrote about The Bachelor franchise at length, my relationship with the series was in a very different place. Being a fan of such an overwhelmingly straight, overwhelmingly white series has never been unproblematic: it's a constant acknowledgement of your part in the furthering of conservative and oppressive narratives. It was a more innocent time as well - I was cautiously optimistic about Rachel Lindsay's season as The Bachelorette heralding better representation! I hadn't yet seen her abysmal treatment at the hands of the media and the show itself, casting a Literal Racist Who Equated Black Lives Matter Activists With Terrorists. We also hadn't seen the appalling mishandling of the Bachelor in Paradise consent incident involving Corinne and Demario, in which race was neglected from the discussion and personality was used to dismiss allegations. Then came a season with a lead both difficult and boring, and I feel as though my relationship with the franchise is now that of an academic observer on the sidelines. I'm usually content to keep my mouth shut on what's happening on the show's many, many spin-offs, because there are so many people better situated and better qualified than I am to talk about it. Listen to the 2 Black Girls 1 Rose podcast, or read any one of the thousands of Bachelor related think-pieces that pop up every day! The Australian version - less so.
Bachelor in Paradise Australia premiered last week. If you're unfamiliar with the concept, so were most Australians! It's a bunch of former contestants looking for a surge in their internet celebrity hanging out in a beachside resort for an unknown amount of time, ostensibly with the goal of finding love. In the Australian version, they are in Fiji, and it's unclear if there have been any restrictions set on alcohol consumption because they do all seem wasted at every point in filming. A lot of fuss has been made in the media about how clearly they had to notify production of their giving consent to any sexual engagement (boo hoo, you had to give explicit consent). The Australian branch suffers from many of the same problems endemic to the global franchise, despite more amateurish production and a strangely higher budget locale. The problem lies in the lack of critique. With less viewership comes an audience whose criticism, while valid, is usually rooted in the by-the-minute. I love reading funny observations on Twitter about all of the identical looking men on the show, but where are my think-pieces? I want to read a recap that points out problems I hadn't noticed, not skirt by prominent problems.
As a show, Bachelor in Paradise isn't trouble free. The excess of alcohol combined with all that sun and some highly questionable personalities under the guise of their being "good for television" was always going to lead to problems. Take all of these disproportionately white contestants away from their homes and to somewhere that serves as an embodiment for the "exotic" to highlight their being out of place. Who's behind the bar? Most of the time, a good natured local. Surely we'll find humour in the clash between these drunk men and women and the one "other" presence who provides a point of difference and cultural clash. Entertain them on dates with faux cultural experiences (this is not the venue for me to rant about that whole chili thing with Carly and Evan) or a fun dance, because other cultures are there for consumption. We can watch them and laugh, or dance alongside them, but we can't integrate them into our television as a whole or treat them as anything other than performers. This is for our benefit.
Are there people watching that without feeling a deep sense of embarrassment? I don't claim to and would not want to speak for anyone other than myself, but this reflection of the way Australian culture will take over the physical space of another and demand a performance of culture reeks of the colonial influence we claim we've grown past. It's especially glaring when it's essentially the only presence of people of colour on your show. Lots of people (see Rachel Dubrofsky, Robin Boylorn, Emily Drew - I've taken to avoiding men in academia as well) have written about the role of race and representation with regards to Hall and hooks, and Bachelor in Paradise is something next level. Sometimes you might see a person, presumably staff at the resort, wandering through the frame! Occasionally the bartender gets a line! They might not be actively trying to convey the idea that people of colour exist to serve, but representation doesn't work in a linear fashion, and it's a stark contrast between a waiter by the pool and the three white women who hold their cocktails, bikini-clad. That's not to say that all of the cast members are white, or to erase anyone who is white-passing, but it's not hard to claim that there's a deep issue in casting that's gone for seasons with needing to diversify, and now it's come to a big white head.
Not content with being irritated by one thing, because I am an angry witch from the depths of the ocean, I'd like to make comment on the handling of sexuality in this particular iteration of the Bachelor brand.
While I am a white girl and can only hope to elevate other relevant voices with regards to race and speak from the point of view of passion and academia, I'm also a big ol' lady who likes ladies. I talk about this a lot, and many of the reviews on this blog revolve around the treatment of LGBT characters in film. It is hard for me to hold my tongue about the way bisexuality is used and abused by The Bachelor, obviously the straightest show in the world. There have been good moments - in my old post, I contrasted the fairly casual treatment of Jami's bisexuality reveal on the US Bachelor with the gross entrance of a bisexual contestant on Matty's season on Australia's Bachelor. I did not address the two former contestants from the Australian Bachelor, Richie's season, who had dated, because it felt like the media had fetishised that relationship enough. Now the former winner of that season is in a relationship with another winner, and it's hard to believe that a series so full of LGBT ladies was not hyper sexualised by the producers at the time. I understand why people don't come out while they're on TV. As Megan, one of the women from Richie's season, enters paradise, the dialogue all focuses on how many "options" she has; how exciting this all is.
She is a part of an environment where male-female dating is expected because of the structure of game progression (men give roses to women and vice versa) and suddenly an object of fascination with a role to play. Men want to talk to her about how hard it is to date women. We don't see explicit sexual content in the Australian version of the show, but if it's anything like my own experience as a bisexual woman, she'll get propositioned for a LOT of threesomes. Her own being "out" sets her as a goal post to be used for experimentation and objectification, and as another out bisexual woman, that was a level of familiarity I did not want to experience.
I am excited to have people on television who identify as bisexual. I wish the word "bisexual" was actually used, but I can handle it. I wish these bisexual women weren't defaulted to male-female relationships immediately, but I'm not about to deny the autonomy of the individual. Maybe stick enough bisexual people in the same place that someone's options aren't limited to men? Maybe don't treat a sexuality as a fun quirk that isn't something people get genuinely treated like garbage for?
This, like my other series of vaguely connected Bachelor thoughts, is not particularly well-written. It's an attempt to vocalise some things that get left out of a lot of discussions, mainly because there is no established discourse surrounding Australian Bachelor in Paradise. There are a lot of problems, none equal, all gross. I don't know if I was hoping that things might be better than the American version, because anything could be better than the way the last American season attempted to negate any form of responsibility for any involvement in any kind of non consensual situation. I'd love for any form of discussion to start, anywhere on the internet or in person, so please do get involved in that.
In the mean time, I'll go back to watching the very relaxing Terrace House and maybe look at how the fan culture surrounding it is extremely fetishistic with regards to Japan and particularly Japanese women. Or I could write about movies. Maybe I should just write about movies.
Bachelor in Paradise Australia premiered last week. If you're unfamiliar with the concept, so were most Australians! It's a bunch of former contestants looking for a surge in their internet celebrity hanging out in a beachside resort for an unknown amount of time, ostensibly with the goal of finding love. In the Australian version, they are in Fiji, and it's unclear if there have been any restrictions set on alcohol consumption because they do all seem wasted at every point in filming. A lot of fuss has been made in the media about how clearly they had to notify production of their giving consent to any sexual engagement (boo hoo, you had to give explicit consent). The Australian branch suffers from many of the same problems endemic to the global franchise, despite more amateurish production and a strangely higher budget locale. The problem lies in the lack of critique. With less viewership comes an audience whose criticism, while valid, is usually rooted in the by-the-minute. I love reading funny observations on Twitter about all of the identical looking men on the show, but where are my think-pieces? I want to read a recap that points out problems I hadn't noticed, not skirt by prominent problems.
As a show, Bachelor in Paradise isn't trouble free. The excess of alcohol combined with all that sun and some highly questionable personalities under the guise of their being "good for television" was always going to lead to problems. Take all of these disproportionately white contestants away from their homes and to somewhere that serves as an embodiment for the "exotic" to highlight their being out of place. Who's behind the bar? Most of the time, a good natured local. Surely we'll find humour in the clash between these drunk men and women and the one "other" presence who provides a point of difference and cultural clash. Entertain them on dates with faux cultural experiences (this is not the venue for me to rant about that whole chili thing with Carly and Evan) or a fun dance, because other cultures are there for consumption. We can watch them and laugh, or dance alongside them, but we can't integrate them into our television as a whole or treat them as anything other than performers. This is for our benefit.
Are there people watching that without feeling a deep sense of embarrassment? I don't claim to and would not want to speak for anyone other than myself, but this reflection of the way Australian culture will take over the physical space of another and demand a performance of culture reeks of the colonial influence we claim we've grown past. It's especially glaring when it's essentially the only presence of people of colour on your show. Lots of people (see Rachel Dubrofsky, Robin Boylorn, Emily Drew - I've taken to avoiding men in academia as well) have written about the role of race and representation with regards to Hall and hooks, and Bachelor in Paradise is something next level. Sometimes you might see a person, presumably staff at the resort, wandering through the frame! Occasionally the bartender gets a line! They might not be actively trying to convey the idea that people of colour exist to serve, but representation doesn't work in a linear fashion, and it's a stark contrast between a waiter by the pool and the three white women who hold their cocktails, bikini-clad. That's not to say that all of the cast members are white, or to erase anyone who is white-passing, but it's not hard to claim that there's a deep issue in casting that's gone for seasons with needing to diversify, and now it's come to a big white head.
Not content with being irritated by one thing, because I am an angry witch from the depths of the ocean, I'd like to make comment on the handling of sexuality in this particular iteration of the Bachelor brand.
While I am a white girl and can only hope to elevate other relevant voices with regards to race and speak from the point of view of passion and academia, I'm also a big ol' lady who likes ladies. I talk about this a lot, and many of the reviews on this blog revolve around the treatment of LGBT characters in film. It is hard for me to hold my tongue about the way bisexuality is used and abused by The Bachelor, obviously the straightest show in the world. There have been good moments - in my old post, I contrasted the fairly casual treatment of Jami's bisexuality reveal on the US Bachelor with the gross entrance of a bisexual contestant on Matty's season on Australia's Bachelor. I did not address the two former contestants from the Australian Bachelor, Richie's season, who had dated, because it felt like the media had fetishised that relationship enough. Now the former winner of that season is in a relationship with another winner, and it's hard to believe that a series so full of LGBT ladies was not hyper sexualised by the producers at the time. I understand why people don't come out while they're on TV. As Megan, one of the women from Richie's season, enters paradise, the dialogue all focuses on how many "options" she has; how exciting this all is.
She is a part of an environment where male-female dating is expected because of the structure of game progression (men give roses to women and vice versa) and suddenly an object of fascination with a role to play. Men want to talk to her about how hard it is to date women. We don't see explicit sexual content in the Australian version of the show, but if it's anything like my own experience as a bisexual woman, she'll get propositioned for a LOT of threesomes. Her own being "out" sets her as a goal post to be used for experimentation and objectification, and as another out bisexual woman, that was a level of familiarity I did not want to experience.
I am excited to have people on television who identify as bisexual. I wish the word "bisexual" was actually used, but I can handle it. I wish these bisexual women weren't defaulted to male-female relationships immediately, but I'm not about to deny the autonomy of the individual. Maybe stick enough bisexual people in the same place that someone's options aren't limited to men? Maybe don't treat a sexuality as a fun quirk that isn't something people get genuinely treated like garbage for?
This, like my other series of vaguely connected Bachelor thoughts, is not particularly well-written. It's an attempt to vocalise some things that get left out of a lot of discussions, mainly because there is no established discourse surrounding Australian Bachelor in Paradise. There are a lot of problems, none equal, all gross. I don't know if I was hoping that things might be better than the American version, because anything could be better than the way the last American season attempted to negate any form of responsibility for any involvement in any kind of non consensual situation. I'd love for any form of discussion to start, anywhere on the internet or in person, so please do get involved in that.
In the mean time, I'll go back to watching the very relaxing Terrace House and maybe look at how the fan culture surrounding it is extremely fetishistic with regards to Japan and particularly Japanese women. Or I could write about movies. Maybe I should just write about movies.
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