When ‘The Bachelorette’ Men Get It Right, They Get It REALLY Right
It just takes a real toxic a-hole to make them shine
By Will Horn and Ilana Masad
There’s always a guy from Texas, always a guy from California, usually one from New York; there’s usually a guy who does something embarrassing right off the bat like roll up in a minivan or spit a very bad rap verse. Most of the guys are hot, some are cute, a few are there clearly for their ‘personality.’
Most of them are white. There’s always posturing and macho nonsense, always the promise of violence in the cut scenes that always turns out to be benign. There are always two guys or more with the same name, always a guy with a guitar, at least one dude with incredible (no, like, ridiculous) abs, and there’s always always always a villain.
But never a villain quite like Luke P.
The villains of reality TV are many and varied, but in The Bachelorette, their role has always been clear. The defining aspect of the villain is that he’s there ‘for the wrong reasons,’ meaning he has a girlfriend back home or a career he’s trying to jumpstart using the show’s primetime spot as a ratings-topper.
The formula is precise: villains are there to entertain us while we learn the names and faces of the…
