C'mon, Jillian. Not Even One Person of Color in Your First Thirty?
I curse my girlfriend for making me watch last season of The Bachelor. I fear that the architecture of my brain has been forever altered by that crap. Jason Mesnick was a single dad like me and being Jewish, the first minority, so I sympathized with him (until he turned out to be a crybaby and a creep). And while he didn't have any black or Asian girls in his mix at least he did have a Brazilian and a few shades of brown.
Like my girlfriend I thought he was an idiot for not picking Jillian Harris, the least psychopathic of his bunch. Now that she's the new Bachelorette we sat down to watch the first episode.
"I'm unorthodox, an adventure seeker," the very cute Canadian proudly proclaimed.
Oh really? Thirty guys and not a single one of them even accidentally tan? I haven't seen so much hair gel since The Fonz. The Osmond Brothers are less white than this batch.
Ms. Harris, you're looking to fall in love with someone, spend the rest of your life with them, but instead of looking in the ocean you peer into a bucket?
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All the bachelors are supposed to be hand picked for her. So if she is not interested in marrying a person of color why waste their time or take up a spot of one of her 25 choices?
Out of all three..Mellisa , the chosen one and Gillian , Gillian is the cutest one.
But I am shocked, are you saying all are lily white ? I never watch, so I do not know !
Gillian's not even cute. Sadly, this will be the first time I haven't watched the Bachelor/ette.
Trey, I'm normally with you on most thing, bruh, but I'm afraid this one is a bridge too far.
The heart wants what it wants and everyone has their own tastes and preferences. It's silly to make the argument that they should have included men of color if that's not what she's attracted to.
This Jillian woman may have never dated any men of color, even in her college years, so she never developed a taste for spicier male fare.
Her loss to be sure, as broadening one's horizons and experiencing the diversity of love is an exhilarating eye opener, but you can't fault someone for having a preference.
The same argument for including a man of color could be made for including a lesbian in the mix.
"Hey, how do you know you don't like them until you try them?".
Sometimes, you just know what you like..
She could have picked someone of color. We all know what happens, the people of color are cut first. On this show it doesn't even make a difference; only 1 couple out of how many seasons actually stayed together? Nobody thinks that any of these bachelor/ette relationships are going to last, because they don't.
Everytime "The Bachelor" or "The Bachelorette" premieres, there's 'howling' from some about how there aren't any African American suitors. (for the record their is one Hispanic suitor and they even played cheesy Spanish pron music when he entered the room - ahem).
Honestly, it's not racist for Jillian to state her preference. If she's not attracted to African Americans in terms of relationships, I am trying to fathom why that's bigoted? So, anytime any caucasian marries another caucasian, they're a bigot?
I think people should choose who they want. I think with an African American president, we've shown as a nation to be more color blind than ever before, and I thankfully see more inter-racial couples, than ever before. I think that's the way it should be...people should date who they want, whether they are of similar racial or religious backgrounds, or completely different. I support Gay Marriage and feel everyone should have a right to get married.
But I don't think it's remotely fair to criticize Jillian Harris because she's more attracted to caucasians than African Americans. It's her preference for who she wants to date. Freedom of choice.
One other thing...the columnists criticism of Jason Mesnick, calling him a creep, was disgusting and wrong. My wife and I are very defensive of Jason. It took serious guts to do what he did...he basically was willing to make himself a pariah to correct a mistake he felt he made.
"I think people should choose who they want. I think with an African American president, we've shown as a nation to be more color blind than ever before, ......"
The election of Obama showed nothing of the sort, other that the fact that, occasionally, Americans are capable of making the right decision despite historical cultural apprehensions that would dictate otherwise. Remember that up until Lehman Bros. collapsed and the Stock market crashed, John McCain actually stood a more than fair chance of winning the election by campaigning on the same platform as the man who gave us 2 unfinished wars, torture, and a failed economy just because majority Americans were still not sure they "knew" Barack Obama well enough. Stop patting yourself on the back for that one.
As one black comedian stated earlier this year or late last year, Americans shouldn't think that blacks have equality simply because they elected a brilliant, intelligent and talented black man to the white house - whom they will subsequently hold to a higher standard than all the previous presidents (look at all the miracles they are expected Obama to perform). Wait until they elect the black version of a buffoonish, 'C' student, with no grasp of English and then have him monumentally fail more than any other president in history......and still award him 2 terms in office, like with the last president. Only then can Americans claim that they're not a racist people and that black people have equality.
"......and I thankfully see more inter-racial couples, than ever before."
Oh and the only reason your noticing more interracial couples is because you are now more sensitized to them ( and blacks in general I would imagine) due to a black family in the White House. There is nothing to suggest that Obama's election increased interracial dating or relationships and the fact that you are noticing more now ( and that for whatever reason you never noticed them as much before) says more about you than it does anything about the state of the country in terms of race relations.
Great comments. To the defenders of the show, I think the comments aren't criticizing Jillian per se, but the Bachelor/Bachelorette producers for failing to make diversity in skin color a priority, despite making every other type of diversity among the suitors a priority. This is a problem that far pre-dates Jillian's season. Why haven't we seen a non-white Bachelor/Bachelorette in some 18 seasons, for instance? If they felt the need to "mix things up" by going oversees and finding foreign Bachelors twice, why can't they "mix things up" by finally showcasing an ethnic Bachelor/Bachelorette searching for love?
Warren G. Harding may have been the first Black president.
Don't you just love how people like 'ron ray', 'jrb35', 'Rep/Dem both suck', are trying to make it seem like Ellis' article is an attempt to force minority contestants down Jillian's throat, or some underhanded argument for some sort of 'affirmative action' type deal on the show, despite the Fact that Jillian may not like minorities or black people (what? she told you guys she didn't want to have any black or minorities among the contestants? I thought the whole premise of the show was that she's exposed to a whole range of men she would likely never have the opportunity to meet or even pick out herself in her real life.)
These 3 (and others arguing like them) must be the same ilk of people that saw (and see) Obama's presidency as well as his (and Michelle's) enrollment and graduation at Harvard, Columbia and Princeton purely as a result of "affirmative action" rather than their individual merits, intellect or personal skills and brilliance.
Because as we all know, Jillian wouldn't be able to kick out the minorities in the first couple of shows if she really didn't like them, right? Oh no, ABC would force her to take them deep into the season just so as not to look bad right, despite what she really felt?
Sometimes one wonders if you guys actually let your brains in the conversation to do any thinking before blurting out some of the things that first pop into mind.
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cont'd
As for the show FRIENDS... If you don't like it, DON'T WATCH IT. Why should any TV show be obliged to have a cast that statistically represents the make up of the population of New York? Are there that many beautiful people in the city? Maybe they should be forced to cast fat or unattractive actors too. Nobody could live in NY and not know someone who was fat or unattractive. No one ever said it was real... It's a sit-com. Get over it. There are plenty of shows with all black casts.
You say that I need to "join the rest of us in the 21st Century from under that rock in 1930's America you're still living in." REALLY? I'm about to marry someone of a different race. That would've gotten the both of us arrested and/or killed in some parts of this country in the 1930's. Think about that before you ever make a comment about me again.
(cont. from above)..........part II
Must also be the same brand of people who felt that it was perfectly okay for the 6 main characters in 'Friends' not to know any minorities at all of any consequence (Despite the fact that they lived in New york city, the most diverse city on the face of the planet where it is almost virtually impossible not to know or be acquainted with any minorities, unless you're really reaaaaly trying) until the last Season when they introduced the self-described "whitest black women alive" Aisha Tyler to make it seem like they were not too "white bread".
You guys (along with the Bachelorette producers) should really join the rest of us in the 21st Century from under that rock in 1930's America you're still living in. We atually have a black family in the White house here now - yes, I know; shocking.
At least a few minorities wouldn't ruin Jillian's chances of finding love, so the talk of "forcing" darker-skinned suitors on her is ridiculous; they even threw in an extra 5 (white!) bachelors for her sake this year. I think a black, hispanic, or asian Bachelor or Bachelorette is long due. They've even gone foreign for Christ's sakes, but never dark. Minorities fall in love too, despite what some may think.
Can ANYONE give a good defense of why shows like this shouldn't be wiped off the map? I still have yet to hear one.
You can't force someone to be attracted to a race their not. I rather they be honest.
Conversely, it could be interpreted that nonwhites have enough dignity and self-esteem to not need to seek love on a contrived reality TV game show.
Amen! This show and the concept behind it (and others just like it) is lame... More power to the people who DON'T end up on this filth (which should NEVER have gotten air time to begin with)!
It's not racist if someone is only attracted to others of their own race. Get over it.
What, do we now apply affirmative action to dating life? One must make sure the percentages of racial makeup of the populace one boinks must match the makeup of the populace at large?
sorry, trey, you may have liked her but she's just not that into you.
we like what we like. there have to be more important issues.
ABC can take those shows and shove it. The "colored" folks are just for show and the bachelor or bachelorette had no intentions of picking them - even if they did say in a questionnaire that they would. Whenever I see a person of color on these shows I make a bet to see when they will be sent home.
Me, too allonfla. People have their preferences and that is just that. But all that aside...what about guys who pass? How many of those men really do have a mother or father who either is passing themselves or know that a parent passed? That is the thing about being American. You just really don't know until some throwback comes along with a tan they can't get rid of... I mean, Dwight Eisenhower's mom was a 1/4 black, was she not?
Agree!
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