Well, this is unsurprising. I used to watch The Bachelor back in its early days when it had a few competitors like Joe Millionaire and For Love or Money. I noticed way back when that the black contestants would survive the first round and never make it past the second. It used to be a running joke that the bachelor had to disprove racism by passing a black contestant one round before booting her off.
I stopped watching after about “season” 3 or 4 when I realized none of the couples were making it. Are Trista and Ryan still going strong?
Wasn’t the first big gag in Joe Schmoe season 2? As I recall, they started by giving the bachelor/ette black balls to give to several people to eliminate them in a “first impressions” type thing–and they immediately black balled all the minorities.
(and for those unfamiliar, Joe Schmoe was a reality show in which one or two people thought they were in a different reality show, but the actual show was that everyone else in the cast/crew was in on the fact that it was fake)
Sorry Shakes, The first link is to 2 African-American Bachelor try-outers who are suing for racial discrimination on behalf of all rejected bachelors of color. My OP was meant to claim an IMHO obvious racial bias on these types of shows which eventually led to this lawsuit.
The 2nd link is to an article about a Black man campaigning to be a contestant. His female co-worker submitted him after his being reluctant at first.
I’ve been waiting for this shoe to drop for a while. Discrimination in casting is rampant, and the reason actors don’t sue very often is because retaliation is even more rampant. But there’s little downside for guys trying to get on a reality show, because they’re (presumably) not worried about booking the next gig.
I think the real tough part of the case is proving damages. Sure, a few contestants go on to fame and fortune, and even fewer to romance. Most just go back to their dreary lives. I’m sure there’s a nice stipend (or is there?) for contestants, esp. the titular Bachelor, but it’s not going to be that much.
Interestingly. Africian-American MSNBC program host Melissa Harris-Perry defended the producers of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette on her show this morning. She was more annoyed by the sexism of the programs than any racial bias.
