Really, it’s like having a dumpster fire in front of you, and then taking that dumpster fire and placing it on the train tracks. It won’t be long before you have an even bigger mess.
That’s what we have with this season of the long running hit ABC show “The Bachelor”.
We began with history. The first black bachelor in Matt James. Who has been terrific during his run. Easy guy to root for. He doesn’t frame himself as a victim like some other recent bachelors have done. And his dynamic with Tyler has been great.
And then the ladies have also been terrific. You have some that are very easy to cheer for like Abigail and Katie. Some that were less pleasant like Serena and MJ. And Heather who is uhh.. doing her thing.
Then there was Queen Victoria. One of the most over the top villains ever.
Which is it’s tragic to see these past social media mistakes by Rachel come up. Posts that were seen by the audience as racially insensitive have taken over the narrative.
And then you had the Chris Harrison interview flub on Extra. Normally one of the most reliable TV ambassadors out there, he didn’t renounce the posts as strongly as he should have.
Luckily, they’ve both apologized.
Some will move on. Others will not. But the show will continue to be huge and may even earn some new eyeballs. There have even been rumors that Rachel is the winner. What a mess that would be.
It’s a tragedy. This season was going to be great. Now it will be remembered for this.
But the show is a business at the end of the day. And just like it’s been dominating the ratings and social media trends for a while now, expect it to see an even bigger bump now.
It ain’t right. But it’s the business.
Show-runners would be wise to display a message before the start of the next show that also renounces any kind of racist behavior.