Sara Watches Stuff

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 fra...

It's no secret that I consume terrible, terrible content. I don't subscribe to "guilty pleasure" philosophy. I am open and honest about all of the rubbish I subject myself to, because I think it's more important that we confront the reasons why we enjoy or dislike certain media and that we have a lot more transparency in enjoyment and meaning with problematic content. I watch  Millionaire Matchmaker , but I am constantly debating whether or not my sickening voyeurism is outweighed by what is unavoidably support of a very damaging and exploitative show. These are decisions we need to be able to make, and we need to be aware of when enjoyment is outweighed by things that are far more important, and when shaming people for enjoying things is rooted in classicism or ableism or racism, etc. I have been watching  The Bachelor  franchise for a very long time. I remember my mother and I watching that weird British season, and the off-the-wall conclusion to Jason Mesnick...