...dul-Jabbar

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/kareem-abdul-jabbar-seasons-bachelor-is-step-metoo-era-1076285

The NBA Hall of Famer and Hollywood Reporter pop-culture columnist writes that Arie Luyendyk Jr., with his “vapid, out-of-date masculinity,” is a disappointing follow-up to Rachel Lindsay — and even Nick Viall. “Yes, it’s a game show more than a reality show. Dozens of women compete for the attention of one man, which is to real romance what being trapped in a crowded elevator for two days using an empty Starbucks cup as the only toilet is to an elegant cocktail party,” writes Abdul-Jabbar. “It’s crock-pot romance, with the women constantly stewing on high heat. That’s what makes it so addictively entertaining. However, with today’s heightened awareness through the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, the entertainment media has a clear responsibility not to perpetuate stereotypes or behavior that negatively influences how we see people and therefore how we treat them. The higher the ratings, the greater the responsibility.” ALSO: SNL had the perfect Bachelor parody. (https://www.thecut.com/2018/01/saturday-night-lives-bachelor-parody-deserves-a-rose.html)

The Bachelor ratings have tumbled: Is #MeToo, boring Arie or Bachelor in Paradise scandal to blame? (https://www.buzzfeed.com/kateaurthur/bachelor-ratings-are-down-as-hell)

Arie Luyendyk Jr.'s season is down 14% in total viewers and 26% in the key 18-49 demo from last year. The Bachelor went from averaging 7.2 million viewers with Nick Viall to 6.2 million with Arie. Sunday's Women Tell All special attracted only 4.2 million viewers airing unusually on a Sunday night. So why the ratings drop? "Are we, as a nation, not in the mood to watch The Bachelor during the #MeToo era?" asks Kate Aurthur. "Or did last summer's Bachelor in Paradise disaster sour viewers on the show? Or is it possible that the veteran franchise — which first premiered in 2002, and has run for a stunning 22 seasons, plus 13 more of The Bachelorette — finally run its course? Or is Arie Luyendyk Jr. — the race car driver turned realtor, whom Bachelorette Emily Maynard ditched in 2012 — a dud?" As she points out if, "The Bachelor's ratings erosion has larger repercussions for network television" since it "underscores network television's disintegration."

ALSO:

Why there needs to be more body diversity on The Bachelor (http://www.refinery29.com/2018/02/191736/body-diversity-the-bachelor-bachelorette)
Here's a list of every Bachelor franchise book (http://ew.com/books/the-bachelor-books/its-not-okay-turning-heartbreak-into-happily-ever-after-by-andi-dorfman/)

Cancel it, already. It's long overdue.

Cancel it, already. It's long overdue.

The Bachelor's use of unedited, dual-camera footage was a cruel new reality TV "innovation" (https://slate.com/culture/2018/03/the-bachelor-finale-was-amazingly-awful-and-awfully-amazing.html)

Last night's finale "made for insanely great and awful television," says Willa Paskin. "The whole episode was beyond canny," she adds. "The decision to use unedited footage would have made this a buzzy episode in and of itself, but it was a choice that fit the material: Only at full length do we get to see the accruing aggression of Arie’s attentiveness, the way his hanging around becomes so unappealingly claustrophobic. It also made the most out of the material, stretching what might have been a five-minute sequence to 20 minutes, while milking Becca’s relative restraint for all it was worth, getting to be unquestionably 'real' and lighting up social media with an 'innovation' in a long-running franchise."

ALSO:

Bachelor fans are sending Venmo donations to Becca K. (http://www.refinery29.com/2018/03/192709/becca-kufrin-venmo-money-the-bachelor)
Monday's finale proved that reality TV is not always staged (https://www.theringer.com/2018/3/6/17085084/the-bachelor-finale-split-screen-becca-arie): "The episode captured a woman’s swift transition from happy and hopeful to angry and distraught"
The Bachelor finale inspired a brutal editing war on Wikipedia (https://slate.com/technology/2018/03/the-bachelor-finale-prompted-wikipedia-vandalism.html)
"Deep down, I knew," Becca K. said in a "savage" tweet this morning (https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/bachelors-becca-kufrin-speaks-out-with-savage-tweet/)
Bekah Martinez: Arie DM'd me after he dumped Becca (http://www.tvguide.com/news/the-bachelor-bekah-arie-dm-finale-reactions/)
Bachelor finale gets season-high ratings (http://variety.com/2018/tv/news/ryan-seacrest-e-red-carpet-ratings-1202719495/)

The Bachelor's trolling finale proves that it's a "abyss of meaning, vacant but transfixing" (https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-bachelor-finale-trolls-america-with-outrageous-cliffhanger)

Some viewers and Bachelor alums were outraged by the brutal footage (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/soloish/wp/2018/03/06/this-is-just-cruel-viewers-tear-into-abc-for-airing-brutal-bachelor-footage/) shown on Monday night's season finale. But when you really think about it, says Samantha Allen, "none of this matters...The Bachelor is an abyss of meaning, vacant but transfixing. I don’t doubt that Becca K.’s heartbreak is genuine. But she is just one more spurned contestant who, in all likelihood, will go on to become the Bachelorette, collect a five-to-six figure check, and start a failed relationship of her very own. The cycle will continue, nothing will change, and I will still watch." Allen adds: The Bachelor has always been an exercise in forcing human beings to conform to rigid and arbitrary rules for finding romance, and yet we still act scandalized every time one of these relationships fails spectacularly. It is simultaneously thrilling and depressing to watch contestants get right to the brink of realizing that the system they inhabit is broken, like witnessing Westworld robots edge dangerously closer to self-awareness."

ALSO:

The Bachelor needs to be blown up: Here are seven fixes for fixing this broken franchise (http://www.vulture.com/2018/03/the-bachelor-abc-how-to-fix-the-franchise.html)
Chris Harrison's "annual hyperbolic promise came true this year" -- this was the most dramatic finale in Bachelor history (https://www.theringer.com/tv/2018/3/5/17083088/the-bachelor-season-22-finale-part-one-recap)
Here are all the worst moments from the first part of the season finale (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/soloish/wp/2018/03/06/the-worst-moments-from-an-awkward-bachelor-finale-that-just-kept-going/)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: The Bachelor's unedited breakup "crossed a line that shredded the fantasy we were all willing to agree to" (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/bookmark/kareem-abdul-jabbar-bachelor-nation-book-arie-debacle-1094031)
The NBA legend and pop-culture critic says of Arie Luyendyk Jr.'s unedted, split-screen Bachelor breakup with Becca K.: "This may not be sexual harassment, but it definitely appears to be emotional harassment encouraged by the producers. Go means, Go! Worse was Chris Harrison’s campaign of damage control as the host tried to justify the show’s bad behavior. He didn’t seem to understand that what they did crossed a line that shredded the fantasy we were all willing to agree to — against our rational thinking — that the show’s ultimate goal was to give love a chance. But those scenes, and Chris Harrison’s unbridled glee in declaring this was 'reality television history,' revealed a malevolence and disregard that shocked and embarrassed us. Instead of being on a romantic journey together, we had tossed one of our own into the gladiatorial arena to be devoured for our amusement. But we were not amused."

ALSO:

From Juan Pablo to Arie: A bad Bachelor begets great bachelorettes (http://www.refinery29.com/2018/03/193413/juan-pablo-arie-luyendyk-jr-bad-bachelor)
Bachelor Nation author thinks contestants suffer from Stockholm Syndrome (http://observer.com/2018/03/bachelor-nation-author-amy-kaufman-interview-winter-games-paradise/)