Well, isn’t that just wonderful? Not only does Jason Mesnck get to date 25 beautiful women at the same time, but he also gets to pick one of these beauties as his one and only true love and propose to her after just six weeks of getting to know her on the popular reality show The Bachelor. And then, let us not forget about the men and women all vying for Tila Tequila’s heart on her MTV show. Not only do these men and women have a chance to find true love in a bisexual stripper named Tila, but they also get to publicly degrade and embarrass themselves in the process. What better way to find true, lasting love than to star in a reality dating TV show? Millions of viewers can’t be wrong; we watch this trash on TV every night. From reality dating TV shows to Internet dating, modern-day men and women are desensitizing themselves to true love and accepting a cheap imitation of love as normal emotions and feelings.
As star-studded and glamorous these TV shows may be, I strongly disagree that true, lasting, tender, passionate love can be found in such a public manner. I sat mesmerized to the TV show The Bachelor week after week. I watched as Jason fell in “love” with two beautiful women. I watched as he dumped Molly in the final episode and proposed to his “one true love”, Melissa. I just knew that this love would last forever. I mean, how could it not? Two beautiful people meet, fall in love, marry and live happily-ever-after, a real life fairy tale, right? But, in real life, as opposed to reality television, finding true love, nurturing it, and making it last a lifetime is simply not that easy. Flash forward six weeks and I, along with about twenty million other viewers, were treated to a bizarre “After The Rose Ceremony”, where Jason dumped Melissa on national TV and asked Molly for a second chance. Of course, Molly said yes, I mean, how could it not work a second time around? Even more bizarre and disturbing was watching Tila Tequilas MTV reality show where she admitted to being a bisexual and has a group of both men and women to choose from. Of course with such a large “dating pool” how could she not be successful in finding true love? These men and women degraded themselves by having Jell-O wrestling matches, washing Tila’s cars with their bodies, and making out with each other, all in the name of love. I wasn’t surprised when several months later, MTV gave Tila a second chance at love with a new show, all because the first true love she chose didn’t turn out as she wanted it to. I, along with every other impressionable teenage girl, want to find true love. These shows just further confuse an already confusing situation. The results of these shows, and others like them are a society of youth looking for love in all the wrong places.
Why do everyday people choose to appear on these types of shows? Reality shows contestants, producers, advertisers, and viewers all want to believe these so called “social experiments” work. Contestants are so desperate to find true love that they feel this is the best way to find exactly what they are looking for. As Jason Mesick said, “I get a great chance to meet 25 amazing women and I know one of them is going to be my wife.” Who couldn’t find true love with such odds? Really, I mean, come on, this statement was made before he even met any of the girls he was going to have to choose from. Molly, the girl Jason dumped on the show then asked for a second chance from on the after show, doesn’t understand why people are so quick to judge her. She said, “People are so quick to judge. We are real people who have jobs and families.” Of course, I completely understand how real people would want to embarrass themselves, their friends, and their families by appearing on these shows.
I am curious about how Melissa felt after being chosen as Jason’s one true love, then being dumped by him on national TV. She showed me, along with every other “Bachelor junkie” her insecurities on the show, after Molly returned from a one-on-one overnight date with Jason. She said, “I don’t like the way she smells like Jason, and I don’t like that she is wearing his pants”. I always thought that all women liked a good competition. Like in a sports arena, the best woman, (or man in Tila Tequilas case), will triumph and win. What kind of emotional damage is done to the girls who don’t get chosen? What kind of emotional damage is done to the girl who is chosen after watching her true love date other women in front of her, at the same time as her, and as passionately as he did with her?
Can true love be found in a dating reality show? Every fiber in my body tells me no. Opponents may disagree, but I’m sticking to my opinion. Finding love in a public forum is only a cheap imitation of love. Lives are being destroyed, in the name of love, everyday on trashy television shows everyday. Private, personal and heartfelt feelings of love can never be found in such a degrading manner.