When did this become a newsletter about The Bachelorette?
We'll be back to regular programming shortly. But for now, please enjoy some reality TV discourse with a sprinkling of photos from our recent shows. (OUR EP IS OUT I'LL TELL YOU ALL ABOUT IT SOON!!)
Jenn Tran was the first Asian American Bachelorette in the history of The Bachelor franchise.
And they did her SO dirty.
Yeah, we just released our EP, but Nonsense is about what’s on MY mind and THIS has been taking up a large portion of the pie this month!
I know there has been a lot of online discourse and sleuthing surrounding the circumstances and narratives being manipulated since the airing of the finale (“After the Final Rose” or ATFR as I learned it’s called). But for the #sakeofthisstack let’s just examine the show itself as a piece of media.
Also, yes, there are A LOT of people who dismiss reality TV, reality dating TV, people who are on reality TV etc. etc. But to act like that superiority complex is a valid reason to not recognize the stronghold this genre has on the American population and what this says about our relationship to “reality” seems like a loss for media literacy. So please, for one second let’s suspend our disbelief and engage with what a couple million people witnessed over the course of 13 weeks.
Blah blah blah.
To catch some, if not, all of you up:
Throughout the entire season, the contestants spent more time and energy being petty towards each other and trying to get screen time instead of getting to know Jenn.
So much so, that Jenn had to ask a man who had made it pretty far into the season how much he knew about her and he could not respond.
One guy was outed for having a history of sexual assault and violence (he was one of the final two).
The other one of the final two was discovered to have been transphobic and racist (I’m not surprised based on the vibe we got from hometowns but to cast a racist person when the Bachelorette is Asian…?)
The guy who could not name why he loved Jenn (he said he loved her!) Told her to her face that she was not his type and that he had applied thinking two of the other white women who made it to the end of Joey’s season was going to be The Bachelorette.
By the end it seemed pretty apparent that many of the contestants, including the one who had technically “won” the season were not there for Jenn.
Jenn’s engagement to the winner had fallen apart before the finale. And they made her sit next to this man and watch the moment they got engaged together LIVE as she bawled about how foolish and humiliated she felt by this whole season.
What really killed me was that the whole situation kept getting tied back to Jenn being strong. She’s so strong. How brave of her to put up with a producing team that seemingly phoned it in.
They kept emphasizing that no Bachelor franchise finale has gone down this way in history. It is not lost on me that this anomaly happened during the first Asian American Bachelorette’s season. Jenn “made history” as the first ever Asian American Bachelorette, and as having a dumpster fire of a season.
This IS the failure of patina DEI initiatives that put women of color in positions where they are set up for failure, just so powers that be can pat themselves on their back for having done something.
I kept thinking about these lyrics that I wrote for N. Butterfly
Let’s play a game.
Let’s play pretend.
I’m a great liar. And never a sore loser.
Look, we’re in a make believe world where you want me and I have dignity.We can pretend for a while that I’m happy
Because I want this and I’m in control
Because I’m fun and we have chemistry
When I’m only happy to play this game at all
To stroke your ego then flutter offI get praised for being a “fun fuck”
It would be less cruel to tell it to my face
That I know my place
As a grateful consolation prize
A disposable replaceable participation trophy
A knock-off girl placeholder girl
Cool and convenient, a great pit stop on their way to the girl of their dreams
This is the first verse-chorus of “Knock Off” a Puccini pastiche that happens at the Act II crisis of the show.
Portraying Asian femme bodies as a subservient and sexually exciting back-up to white women who have autonomy and are more morally upstanding (therefore more human) has historically been a common narrative tool in Western media.
I mean hello? The “geisha robots” in Bladerunner? The live action adaptation of Ghost in the Shell in which main character Major Motoko Kusanagi (obviously originally Japanese coded) is portrayed by Scarlett Johansson, yet the enemy fembots remain Asian.
In Ex-Machina, Kyoko is a mute Asian femme presenting robot who “doesn’t understand what you’re saying,” explicitly created to be a sex toy for a white man. He also built Ava, a robot modeled after a white woman who. Ava is considered to have human level intelligence and capable to gaining consciousness. The protagonist falls in love with her. Even an android woman is capable of forming her own thoughts and receiving love. Kyoko eventually sacrifices herself so Ava can gain freedom.
Mmmmmmm a classic beautiful tale of the strength and bravery that women of color show in sacrificing themselves so white women can self actualize.
It was honestly stunning to see this same tired story play out in a seemingly superfluous reality show. The entire premise of the show, which is to “find love” over the course of two to three months is actually the perfect context in which to test the speed at which (in the case of The Bachelorette) men are able to humanize a woman. The fact that whether some contestants on the show #4TRR (for the right reason - to find love, not to become an influencer) is already a popular discourse topic among the show’s fanbase highlights the clear potential for opportunism.
The show’s producers can’t plead ignorance to the fact that most applicants were expecting Daisy or Maria to be the next Bachelorette, considering their casting history. If they wanted to benefit from annoucing Jenn the first Asian American Bachelorette (her season had the most watched premiere in the show’s history.) They owed it to her to do something different in the casting process - do a little more work to figure out if people had applied specifically for Daisy or Maria.
When an institution is trying something new, it is as important to take it as an opportunity to reassess the strengths and weaknesses of existing processes. Isn’t that the actual point of “newness” to begin with? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Needing to try something new means you know something’s broke.
There were a bunch of non-profit arts organizations (and probably other institutions in industries I am less familiar with) who announced women of color, especially Black Women in positions of leadership DURING AND AFTER COVID. It screeeaaaammmmmms “Here’s a good moment to put people who we don’t mind sacrificing onto a sinking ship and let it fully capsize. We’ll be able to pat ourselves on the back for listening to the people and then we can use it at future proof that traditional leadership works better.”
Let’s portray an Asian woman trying to find connection and partnership juuuust as we’ve watched so many women before her, but have it all crash and burn because she’ll realizes nobody actually wanted her in the first place?
When the humiliating finale aired, the contestants took the opportunity to post a slew of “I told you so”s about each other, came to the defence of their fellow contestant with multiple assault allegations, and Maria centered herself on social media. White Girl in Danger! (Okay, a less *musical theater* reference.) Once again capitalizing on Jenn’s moment to tell their own stories of moral righteousness.
The entire world has surely moved on from this, as Jenn is about to compete in the next season of Dancing with the Stars, cementing herself as a influencer cum TV personality. Bachelor Nation is now enthralled by Joan’s season of Golden Bachelorette (it’s so good y’all, really. They’ve cracked a reality TV code here. Although, if you want truly compelling and heartfelt reality TV, I IMPLORE you to run, don’t walk, to watch The Boyfriend on Netflix.) Of course it’s no surprise that men who have lived lives, and many who have loved and lost are just a touch more evolved than 24 year old hotties. And the number of men, who tell Joan up front, on episode one that they were there “for Joan” did feel like a huge fuck you to her predecessor.
But it felt important for me to unpack this.
As much The Bachelor franchise content exists in the world (I have multiple friends who listen to multiple podcasts) I just didn’t see enough analysis from this lens. My group chats were popping of with how everyone “felt sorry for Jenn” but my brain was blaring, “BUT DON’T YOU SEE WHAT’S HAPPENING HERE?”
In the face of climate crisis and war and gun violence who fucking cares if a reality star didn’t find love? I know.
But violence against Asian women keep happening. And so much of the violence stems from the baseline assumption of Asian women as non-humans. And A LOT of people watch The Bachelorette.
So you know, if I can’t find anyone else going off about it, I thought I’d at least throw in my two cents.
OK, quick first president of japan updates!
OUR EP,
The Most Important Meal of the Day is first president of japan
is OUT NOW!!!!!!!!!!
I couldn’t embed the album here so click here to listen on Bandcamp
This coming Friday is Bandcamp Friday so if you’re compellleeeeeddddd to financially support our band, Friday would be a good day to hit “BUY” on that bad boi.
We’re playing for the first time at Arlene’s Grocery tomorrow (Wednesday 10/2) with Mark Benjamin on keys and Jack Butler (of Hotel Iris) on guitar. Mixing it up!!!
On 10/17 we’re back at beloved beloved Mama Tried - hopefully the weather’s nice and we’ll be able to play outside.
Thaaaat’s it for now.
Thanks always for indulging my rants.
BIG LOVE,
Non
