For those who are truly in search of Mr. or Miss Right or just hoping that destiny will bring you closer to true love and are finding it increasingly difficult to meet people of true character and integrity, you can thank shows like “The Bachelor.” The show adds to the distorted views of love that the network so kindly bestows into our homes every Monday night.
Words do not hold the same power and authenticity as they used to, which is fortunate for shows like “The Bachelor” that swim in a pool of hypocrisy by using earnest words to disguise classless, empty actions.
With the ninth edition of what ABC calls their “popular romance reality series,” “The Bachelor” has been underway as of Sept. 27 and ABC has been surprising 25 bachelorettes with the possibility of becoming a princess. Prince Lorenzo Borghese is an American raised heir to the Borghese cosmetics empire where he, according to ABC, “juggles a variety of challenging positions” and is the founder of Italian-made bath and body spa treatments for pets, Royal Treatment Pet Spa. So what characteristics does Prince Borghese evidently exhibit that display his royalty?
Could it be the fact that he is well-versed in Italian and has been cultured with an upbringing that is obviously Roman royal blood? No.
Prince Borghese smiles as he explains to host Chris Harrison that he speaks “Menu Italian,” which is good in any Italian restaurant where his date may not understand words like fettuccini alfredo. Although Prince Borghese was born in Milan and lived in Rome and Paris until he was five years old, he moved to Connecticut where he was raised. It is clear through his inarticulate speech, mundane mannerism and lack of Roman historical knowledge, that he has not spent his adult life immersed in the culture of what his name represents.
Outside of the fact that his paternal ancestry has a blood line that includes two men, Pope Paul V and Cardinal Scipione Borghese, who in the 1600s influenced Italian art and helped finish the St. Peter’s Basilica, Prince Borghese, displays nothing that resembles cultured nobility.
Without the title he is another Paris Hilton, with slightly better English and perhaps better entrepreneurial skills. He masquerades under his blood-given title earning the respect from others who live their lives by the importance of what has become meaningless titles.
On ABC’s Web site, they explain that with his family name and title, Prince Borghese would have already been led to “Miss Right,” but sadly, he is tired of being a bachelor and, according to the Web site is “not a fan of serial dating,” although he is, “very excited to meet 25 special bachelorettes in the hope of finding the one right woman for him [sic] own fairy tale ending.”
The show appears to be comprised of implants on steroids, with the only thing being real are the 25 women’s drives to win a competition that reinforces a patriarchal society where women will do anything to fulfill their self-worth that they’ve allowed to be defined by the worth this one man gives them. One girl explains, “It’s a dagger in the heart. You’re not cute enough to get the first rose.”
During the show, ABC decides to raise the stakes for these women who are vying for the prince’s attention, by adding two Italian women who barely speak English. One girl on the show says, “When the two Italian girls came, I hated them already.” Spoken like a true princess.
In an interview with ABC, they asked him that with the prince title, if he was concerned about gold diggers on the show. Borghese answered, “I was nervous about it because they announced me before the show started filming and I guess that’s when they started getting a bunch of applicants. I was getting these strange e-mails before I changed my address about how these girls wanted to marry me. They don’t even know me, you know? I was concerned by it. I think the casting show did a really good job. They have a really good idea of my personality and what I’m looking for. I think they weeded out most, if not all, the people who were there for the wrong reason.”
As the show aired the first night, the women, mostly ranging between ages 22 and 27, are already discussing their plans to fall in love, become princesses, win a rose and become royalty. It becomes difficult to distinguish if they are competing for “true love” or contending to be Princess Borghese.
In the middle of the first night, a pair of diamond earrings are placed upon a pillow where the women flock, like moths to a flame. Prince Borghese is to reward the women who, like the dog shows, are displayed to his royal liking with one rose and a pair of expensive diamond earrings. Upon winning them, tree hugging marketing manager Lisa, 25, said, “I got a rose. I got these amazing million dollar earrings. It made me feel like a princess.” In receiving this, another girl comments, “I’m slightly jealous, mostly envious.” Another girl says, “Not getting a rose was a blow to my ego.”
If you want to know what the show is truly about and how greed and ego can be twisted into words such as love, all you have to do is to observe the disconect between what they say and what they do. Throughout the show the girls are ridden with anxiety to who will win this prize of being a princess.
These comments made by the girls display their true natures and level of low self-value. Event planner Jani, 27, says, “I want a rose so much I can taste it.” Another girl says, “I could be a Borghese. I could be a part of history.” Rosella, from Chicago sold her car for what she said was her fairy tale. “I believe I will have a man who will take care of me,” she says, “little girls dream of being a princess one day. I am here to win Lorenzo’s heart.”
These women are as much of princess material as Nicole Richie is overweight. With shows like “The Bachelor” that hypocritically parade narcissism as love, society given titles as a reflection of character, greed as ambition and fiction as reality, it is no wonder the divorce rate is so high.
Magnolia Howell is a senior journalism major.
