A strange phenomenon has been occuring every Tuesday night in Founder’s third lobby this semester. “The Bachelor” TV show seems to be quite the event among some college students at Covenant College. Everyone gathers around as we wait for the next episode of drama to unfold.
In case you’re one of the few people who doesn’t take part in watching this program,
here’s a quick rundown of this infamous show. A bachelor starts the season off with a group of thirty women, from whom he must choose a wife. Throughout many individual and group dates in exotic locations, he slowly disposes of contestants. The elimination process of the show is what makes it so emotionally demanding for the competitors.
I want to suggest that watching “The Bachelor” isn’t necessarily a sin, but I do think it may not be helpful for our souls in the long run. Here are two reasons I think this:
First, “The Bachelor” warps our idea of love and marriage. We can’t promote commitment, purity, and loyalty when we endorse promiscuity and polyamory. The show promotes everything we fear for in our own romantic relationships. Not only that; we know the model for love they portray doesn’t work. Only 1 couple out of the 23 seasons of the show are still together.
Second, “The Bachelor” is unashamedly misogynistic. The whole show revolves around women desperately trying to win the bachelor’s favor. It involves a parade of manipulativeness, fights, and back-stabbing. The show is set up in such a way that all the women are hoping he’ll propose to them in the end. It teaches men that it’s okay to disrespect a woman as long as she’s okay with it. Everything on-screen is fabricated to portray women as offensive stereotypes. The crazy one, the virgin, the crybaby etc. The show is fundamentally anti-woman because its success is based on whether we, the viewers, like the bachelor and hate the women.
I don’t want to be hypocritical or judgmental in my attitude towards this phenomenon, so in lieu of seeming this way, I want to confess. I’ve watched every single episode of “The Bachelor” this season. Not only that, but I watched all of last year’s season, too. *Phew.* I’m glad to have that off my chest.
I think the real reason so many watch this show is because we’re starving for real connection and community. Our souls long to abide in community and when we can't find it, we turn a blind eye to imitations of the real thing and end up abiding in replacements that won't end up fulfilling us.
I don’t think I have a one-size-fits-all answer for whether it’s a sin to watch “The Bachelor.” My hope is that you’re encouraged to be circumspect and be considerate about what you spend your time abiding in. Ask yourself questions about what you’re watching and why you’re so drawn to it. What is the most helpful thing to spend your time doing? I’m praying that we all find the community and friendships that our souls desire and that we can spurn one another towards chasing after Christ. “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8).