A romantic getaway in Hawaii. Two men who you are in love with. One perfect proposal. What could go wrong? For Jenn Tran, the latest Bachelorette, the answer is a whole lot. As fans of the Arts and Culture column may remember, I previously wrote an article titled “How The Bachelorette Exposes Toxic Masculinity.” Full disclosure: I had not seen the entire season when I wrote that article. After finally finishing the season, I feel the need to write a second article due to events that have transpired in recent weeks.
Readers may remember that I endorsed contestant Devin Strader, someone who seemingly put Jenn first throughout the entire season. He fought for Jenn, and he was my personal favorite contender for most of the season. You can imagine my excitement when I realized that Devin was the last man standing and that he and Jenn were getting engaged. It was my perfect night: eating tacos while watching my favorite show with my girlfriend, and my favorite contestant made it to the end.
I have never gone from such a high to such a low.
Right as we are going to watch the beautiful proposal, Jessie Palmer, host of “The Bachelorette,” comes on the screen to inform us that they will not show the proposal due to events that have transpired since the show ended. In the studio (the show puts on a live viewing party that Palmer hosts during the finale), Jessie invites Jenn onstage, and she gives us the devastating news: she and Devin are no longer together.
“As soon as we left Hawaii, things were just different… He was pulling away, and the efforts were just inconsistent,” Jenn said. She then revealed that a month before the finale aired, Devin broke off their engagement over a 15-minute phone call where he said that “he regretted getting engaged.”
After a conversation with Jenn, Jessie then invites Devin onstage to have a conversation with her—their first conversation since the breakup. Right off the bat, Jenn says she can try to understand how his feelings have changed since the engagement but does not understand what Devin did after the breakup. She informs the audience that the next day, Devin followed a bunch of girls on Instagram, including Maria, one of Jenn’s fellow contestants when she was on “The Bachelor.” While there is much more to unpack from this finale, it boils down to this: Devin essentially did a total flip and pulled back on all of the claims of love he made on the show.
This conversation should have not taken place on live television, as it’s a conversation that deserves privacy out of respect for both individuals. According to Jenn, Devin was avoiding that conversation every time she tried to have it. As a result, their conversation was held in front of millions of people while Jenn was crying and Devin was… sitting there uncomfortably with no emotion. This brings me to my next point. While Devin is, of course, despicable, there is another villain that I have not talked about yet: the producers. Who in their right mind thinks that it is okay to invite a heartbroken woman onstage to be vulnerable in front of millions of viewers? Jenn’s distress was palpable throughout the entire broadcast, and I can’t blame her; she was forced to confront a man who manipulated her emotions on live television. Remember when I said they didn’t show the proposal out of respect for Jenn? After Jenn and Devin’s conversation, Jessie asks Jenn if it was okay for them to show the proposal. Through tears, Jenn responded, “Do I have a choice?”
Cue the footage!
Wait… what?
After finding someone she loved, getting engaged, being lied to by that man, broken up with via the phone, seeing him follow girls on Instagram immediately after and being forced to talk to him on live television through tears, the producers still forced Jenn to watch footage of their proposal with beautiful, uplifting music. What a class act. Then, of course, they cut to a promo of their new show, “The Golden Bachelorette,” and end things with all smiles. I don’t want to exaggerate, but that is one of the cruelest things ever done on live television.
There is one thing that Jessie Palmer said that I agree with. “I hope that a small part of you feels empowered, because you really did do things your way.” The entire season, Jenn made tough decisions with her gut and put herself first. Given what she knew, Jenn made all the right choices. The men and the producers are the ones to blame here.
