reality mondays

I have been getting VERY into the Bachelor/Bachelorette, and I’m afraid there’s no turning back. I am so interested in what the show says about romance and gender roles, and I really feel for the people on the show–most of them, anyway. So when I saw a commercial for LIfetime’s new drama UnReal, a scripted show about the making of a reality dating show based on the Bachelor, I was hooked before the preview even finished. Lucky for me and you and everyone, UnReal airs right after the Bachelorette on Monday nights. So for three hours on Monday, I am in dramatic reality/really dramatic TV heaven.

Not only is it entertaining, it’s educational! Between the two shows I can finally piece together how real reality shows get made. Maybe. Probably.

So here’s what I learned this week:

the producers are right behind you
Both the Bachelorette and UnReal started with a breakdown. The Bachelorette picks up where it left off last week, with Kupah ranting and raving about how he doesn’t really even care about Kaitlyn but he doesn’t want to go home because they both like movie quotes??? He literally says there’s no connection between them and then gets mad that he can’t stay to continue to date her. (And this is a man on his best behavior, around people he just met and is trying to impress!)

During an interview on camera, Kaitlyn hears Kupah yelling and waving his arms around in a way I assume he thinks makes him look more manly (he is wrong). Kaitlyn, badass that she is, marches out to handle the situation. The camera follows her down the path and then comes across our loud, aggravated suitor–and a mysterious man in a purple blazer who jumps quickly out of the camera’s view.

bachelorette

I see you, producer.

I see you, and I see your work. Who knows what they said to Kupah to get him even more riled up and rant-y, but it worked. And did Kaitlyn go out there because of a little prodding, or because it was highly suggested to her?

UnReal suggests the latter. When producer Rachel comes back to work on a Bachelor-based reality show after having a breakdown on the finale of the last season, she jumps right back into the messy work of drumming up drama for TV. UnReal suggests that the cocktail meet and greets are a lot less fun than they end up looking. Most contestants stand around trying to talk to each other while waiting to get a few moments alone, but actually in front of a bunch of cameras, with the person they are all supposed to be dating. Plus, the producers are crawling around egging people on and manipulating every situation they can so that they can get the soundbites they need.

UnReal is a pretty dark look at what it takes to push people to breaking points for entertainment value. (And except for a tiny thing I have called compassion, I hate to say I think I’d be really good at this job.) The producers are watching and listening to everything, and they know what buttons to push to get the results they need. And they are probably standing just out of sight of every shot.

“It is not my fault that America is racist”
The Bachelor franchise is not exactly known for its diversity, and part of what set Kupah off was his supposed fear of being a token black person they keep around for a certain number of episodes. While it certainly looks like Kupah was sent home entirely for being an entitled jerk, UnReal makes it pretty clear that they don’t expect a person of color to make it to the final rose bracelet ceremony. A producer on UnReal blames this on America not wanting to watch it, but tell that to Empire’s audience, or Black-ish, or How to Get Away with Murder, or Scandal or…. The contestants are entirely chosen by the producers, and UnReal makes it look like they have a large part in steering at least the first few rounds of who stays and who goes. So if anyone wants to look at the real cause of its lack of diversity, they should start with the people putting on the show.

I’m already learning a lot about a (mostly not true) reality show by watching a (definitely nonfiction) behind-the-scenes drama and I can’t wait to learn more (possibly real) facts next week.

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