The Bachelorette season 21 starring Jenn Tran has begun, but there are six lessons that the producers didn't learn from Joey Graziadei's Bachelor season that are hurting her. Jenn, a 26-year-old physician assistant student originally from Hillsdale, New Jersey, but now living in Boston, Massachusetts, is making history as the first-ever Asian American Bachelor franchise lead. During premiere night, she met the 25 men who have the potential to be her husband, and she's now narrowed that group down to 15.
Jenn got her start on Joey's Bachelor season, during which she made it to his Top 6 women. However, he said goodbye to her right before his hometown dates. Although she was heartbroken, she's now ready to find love in her own season. As Jenn continues her journey to search for her future husband on The Bachelorette season 21, there are six things that the producers should've learned from Joey's season that would've made Jenn's better.
1The Bachelorette Producers Should Stop Interfering
Producer Manipulation Is Obvious & Unwanted
During Joey's Bachelor season, there were some obvious instances of the producers manufacturing drama. The first one was when they gave Lea Cayanan an envelope when Joey was announced as the next Bachelor at the end of Charity Lawson's Bachelorette season. Viewers had to wait months until Joey's premiere to find out what was in the envelope, which was manipulative in itself because it was a tactic to get people to tune in to the show.
During The Bachelor season 28 premiere night, fans finally found out that Lea was given a card with the huge advantage of being able to steal a one-on-one date from any woman during the season up until Joey's hometown dates. However, Lea burned the card in the Bachelor Mansion fireplace because she didn't want to use it. This earned her Joey's first impression rose.
Lea didn't want to force Joey to go on a date with her and also didn't want to hurt a fellow contestant. Interestingly, Lea was one of two women who weren't chosen for a date at all during week one. This seemed as though the producers were setting her up to use the card.
This type of producer manipulation is taking over Jenn's Bachelorette season as well. From Devin Strader somehow getting not only an ice cream sundae, but an entire cart to interrupt Jenn and Aaron Erb's one-on-one time, to including Sam Nejad, who's never been in a relationship on a male stripper revue group date, to the possible arrival of one of Jenn's exes that was teased in the previews, the producers are obviously pulling the strings to create drama on her season. The constant conflict is interfering with Jenn's ability to build real connections and relationships with the men.
2The Bachelorette Shouldn’t Have Producer Plants
Aaron Erb Was A Suspicious Bachelorette Season 21 Contestant
During Joey's Bachelor season, villain Sydney Gordon became obsessed with exposing fan favorite contestant Maria Georgas as a bully. The only problem was that Maria wasn't the villain that Sydney accused her of being. Sydney made it her mission to turn the other women against Maria, and she was successful when Lea and Jess Edwards joined her crusade. The situation escalated to the point that Maria wanted to self-eliminate from the show.
Sydney's over-the-top reactions to Maria made her seem as though she might've been a producer plant, who was added to the show to create drama. On top of the fact that she wasn't chosen for a date during week one, which could mean that she wasn't really there for Joey, she's friends with Bachelor Nation alum Ashley Iaconetti, proving that she might've had a connection with the producers before the show.
Fans hated the constant drama that Sydney created, but The Bachelorette season 21 producers were at it again when they added Aaron Erb to Jenn's cast. Aaron is Bachelor Nation alum Noah Erb's twin brother, so he also has a prior connection to the show. Like Sydney, he developed an obsession with his nemesis, Devin, and said that he couldn't stop thinking about him.
Aaron even gave Devin a self-improvement book titled, Principles for Self-Growth: How to Understand Yourself and Gain Emotional Depth by Dr. Brandon O. Conner, that was almost identical to the one that Noah was given by Bennett Jordan during The Bachelorette season 16. However, Aaron's book doesn't seem to exist outside of the show, and the author shares a name with one of the Bachelorette producers. Plus, the book has a misprint on its spine that says, "Priciples for Self-Growth," which is very suspicious.
To make matters worse, Aaron left The Bachelorette season 21 to go to flight training, leaving Jenn with a cryptic warning that some of the men weren't there for the right reasons. This caused Jenn to tell the guys that they should leave if they didn't have the same goals as her. Aaron seems to have been a producer plant, hired to create chaos, and then leave the show. The fact that he knew he might be accepted to the training, but he joined the show anyway was unfair to Jenn. Aaron wasted so much of Jenn's time with nonsense, and it was completely unfair to her.
3The Bachelorette Focus Should Be On Love, Not Drama
The Arguments Among The Men Are Getting Too Much Airtime
During Joey's Bachelor season, there was some drama among the women, but most of the airtime was devoted to showing the love stories that he was developing with the women. Joey's season felt like an old-school season of The Bachelor. The love stories were believable because viewers saw them play out in detail.
However, Jenn's Bachelorette season has been a return to the frustrating drama that's hard to watch. From Thomas Nguyen and Sam McKinney's constant conflict with Devin to Sam N. declaring that he was falling in love with Jenn in front of everyone and then facing backlash, the episodes have been dominated by arguments. Sam M. and Thomas are becoming bullies, snickering at everyone and showing no respect for their feelings. Devin has spoken up about their bad behavior, but it's shifted his focus from Jenn to them.
The argument between Devin and Thomas N. during episode 2 also took up a lot of time. Thomas N. was enraged when Devin was the first one to steal Jenn away at the rose ceremony cocktail party, even though the men had agreed that those who hadn't spent one-on-one time with Jenn yet would have the opportunity to speak to her first. Most of the end of the episode was focused on this, rather than Jenn.
While conflict among the men is inevitable on The Bachelorette, not all of it has to be aired. Fans don't want to spend the whole episode feeling their blood pressure rise because of the heightened atmosphere. They want to relax and enjoy watching Jenn find the love of her life. In addition, The Bachelorette season 21 has been dominated by the men's conflicts so much that fans haven't even been able to really get to know Jenn yet.
4The Bachelorette Should Help Viewers Get To Know & Love The Contestants
Joey's Bachelor Season 28 Contestants Had Compelling Stories
During Joey's Bachelor season, fans were touched by the backstories of so many of the women. From Lexi Young's openness about her experience with endometriosis to Daisy Kent's story about her health issues that led to her getting a cochlear implant to Kelsey Anderson's journey after the passing of her mother, viewers really got to know the women. Jenn also shared her difficult relationship with her family, which helped viewers to understand her more and fall in love with her.
As Joey learned more about them and fell in love with them, the audience did too, because they really had the opportunity to get to know them. However, this has only happened with a few of the men on Jenn's season. While Devin opened up to Jenn about growing up with a single mom and his insecurities about his weight, Marcus Shoberg told her about recovering from a serious injury when he was an Army ranger, and Spencer Conley revealed that his ex-fiancée had cheated on him, many of the other men haven't had the opportunity to share things about their lives with her.
Jenn's relationship with Sam M. has been portrayed as especially surface level, as they have a strong physical attraction, but not much is really known about him. In order for a season to be successful, the audience has to root for the men, and that's impossible if they don't get to know them. The dates haven't lent themselves to Jenn really getting to know the men either. It's hard to imagine a future for Jenn with some of the guys because they've been pushed aside for the drama.
5The Bachelorette Should Have Meaningful Dates
Jenn's Dates Have Been All About Adrenaline & Humor
Joey's Bachelor season was refreshing because, like Joey, many of the dates were low-key. He went to a concert with Daisy, and a bar with Kelsey. Even his more exciting dates weren't that adrenaline-filled, such as surfing with Jenn, which helped to make his connections more real. Trauma bonding is a real thing, and sometimes the connection that's made out of jumping out of a plane together isn't necessarily going to last.
Jenn's season has been full of dates that involve both adrenaline and humor. During her one-on-one date with Marcus, she faced her fear of heights by skydiving, and she rode in a helicopter on her one-on-one date with Spencer. Her group dates have consisted of a comedy roast, a wildlife photo shoot with exotic animals, a male stripper revue, and racing cars around a track. Although the men were pushed out of their comfort zones and showed different sides to their personalities during these dates, very few meaningful connections were made due to the nature of these dates.
While Jenn starting building some relationships on these dates, the dates themselves weren't set up to help her find the love of her life. They might've made for some good TV, but Jenn is trying to find her husband. In fact, parts of the comedy roast and male stripper revue group dates were actually degrading and humiliating to the men. Sam N. was right when he said that he didn't understand how stripping would help Jenn find a husband.
Hopefully, Jenn will have more dates like Joey's that help her really get to know the men. It's easy to get caught up in the fantasy world of the show, but when reality hits when it's over, relationships fail. Having more everyday dates can help to avoid this.
6The Bachelorette Cast Should’ve Been More Diverse
There's Only One Fully Asian Man In Jenn's Cast
Joey's Bachelor season featured women from different races and ethnicities. Jenn herself was one of a few Asian women in his season, which was a step in the right direction for the show. While the shows should never cast people just to fill a quota, it is important that various types of people are represented in the casts. Joey had the opportunity to meet women of all different backgrounds, but Jenn hasn't had the same chance.
Although The Bachelorette season 21 producers made a big deal of Jenn being the first-ever Asian American lead, they only cast one fully Asian man, Thomas N., as one of her contestants. Jenn and Thomas N. bonded about their Vietnamese heritage, but Jenn didn't have that opportunity with any other contestant. She even expressed her disappointment about this after her season wrapped filming.
In an interview with Glamour, Jenn stated, "I can’t really speak to the casting process and the decisions that were made, but it is unfortunate that there weren’t a lot of Asian men this season." It's disappointing that her cast wasn't as diverse as Joey's, especially since she was the first Asian American Bachelorette. Jenn should've had more men from her own culture, and it's sad that she was upset by the fact that it didn't.
While The Bachelorette season 21 producers finally cast a man with a different body type when they chose Brett Harris as one of Jenn's suitors, and this was a step in the right direction, the misstep of leaving Asian American men out of the cast was inexcusable. The Bachelor franchise has a long history of getting things wrong when it comes to race, and this is another example of how they keep dropping the ball.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, The Bachelorette producer Bennett Graebner took responsibility for the lack of Asian representation in Jenn's cast. He admitted, "That's on us. We didn't do what we needed to do. Our hope is that they will see Jenn and realize this is a safe space. We're not saying it will solve and fix everything. But it is a step." This proves that the Bachelorette producers made a mistake when it came to casting Jenn's season.
Joey's Bachelor season was one of the best ever. Although there were a few mistakes, it's generally regarded as the gold standard. It's shocking and disappointing that the Bachelorette season 21 producers didn't continue to use what worked so well and apply it to Jenn's season. As usual, they learned nothing from the past. This is hurting Jenn and causing viewers to lose interest in her search to find love. Hopefully, the second half of The Bachelorette season 21 will focus more on Jenn's journey to find her future husband.
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