PUG! Presents: Unpacking The Bachelorette.
Today marks the beginning of an important series of sociocultural observations that myself and/or fellow PUG! editor Funké will be collecting and publishing for the next approximately nine weeks. Together we’re observing the unique process of one single woman evaluating 20+ men on their looks, abilities, and personality, and through a series of eliminations, eventually finding a spouse.
In other words… we’re watching The Bachelorette baBY!!!!
DISCLAIMER: if you haven’t seen the show before, this mostly will not make sense. If you haven’t watched this week’s episode yet, you might have it spoiled. Also, it’s a dumb article. Proceed with all of this in mind.
This week on The Bachelorette, Becca continues her quest for the perfect husband, navigating her way through this practical sleeve of saltines who are all fighting for her hand in marriage.
And when I say fighting, I mean it in the most literal sense. These mans are being 👏petty👏as 👏fuck.
I’m not gonna waste my time dissecting the dumb testosterone-fueled dodgeball nonsense that took up a big chunk of the episode, but rather the moments in between. It’s in these interactions where Becca isn’t looking that the truly dry and unfunny nature of these men becomes most apparent.
So here’s the thesis of this week’s episode discussion: Men!!! Please! Get! A! Sense! Of! Humour!! (Alternatively: please chill out.)
One of the biggest reasons why young post-structural gen-Z people like myself enjoy this show is because we recognize and appreciate the absurdity that is The Bachelor/ette Universe. And contrary to what you may think, seeing these men have no fun at all does not contribute to our enjoyment!
Three particular instances from last night’s episode illustrated how limited our contestants’ tolerance for tomfoolery are, and to say the least, I didn’t find it charming.
The first instance I’m speaking of in particular is the whole Lincoln-Connor-picture frame situation. Briefly, for context, I’ll say this: Lincoln won the first challenge of the episode, an obstacle course race, and his prize was a photo finish with Becca. Afterwards, Lincoln made the choice to show off said photo in front of the rest of the guys, and I get that’s a bit dickish, but did Connor really have to go and toss the entire picture, frame and all, into the pool? No! Get a grip, guy!
Secondly, the whole chicken suit thing. None of these guys seemed capable of comprehending why a man would show up in a costume on the first night. So much so that they still reference it deep into the second episode. Words like “disrespectful” and “unprofessional” were being thrown around, when boys, this isn’t a job interview! Wearing a suit and tie and maybe getting crazy with a patterned pocket square might impress during your interview to join a hedge fund, but the whole point is to set your beefy self apart from the rest of these beefy men. The ~respectful~ thing to do would be to acknowledge that man’s choice and maybe, I don’t know, just laugh about it? Because he’s a full-grown man in a chicken suit?
Thirdly and finally, Jordan in the nude. No one in the house, and it seemed even Jordan himself, found interrupting a cocktail party to strip all the way down to his briefs to be in the slightest bit funny. Once again, this idea of
“respect” is being threatened. And of all people to tear him a new one about it, it was David: the man who arrived in a chicken suit. Jordan was doing exactly what the chicken man was doing: trying to set himself apart. I have a lot to say about Jordan already, as I’m sure anyone who’s seen him on the show probably does too. But we’ll address that in the future, I’m sure.
I chose these three examples, mostly, because I’m a post-secondary student who has the thesis-followed-by-three-supporting-arguments-and-examples model drilled into my brain. But also, importantly, because these were three crucial moments where the men on this show were given two options to react: to be offended, or to laugh it off. And to my disappointment, they consistently chose the former.
These contestants are showing that they lack the ability to recognize the absurdity of the situation they’re in and work with it. To be able to laugh something off doesn’t mean that you aren’t taking the process seriously! It just means that you can wisely prioritize what you choose to spend your energy thinking about. And to Becca, and any other woman, this should be very important to consider.
If you want to follow along and watch with us, City TV posts episodes the day after (if you’re browsing in Canada) and so does ABC (if you’re browsing from the US)!
