Will Gaskins - Bachelorette 13 - Discussion

I'm not blaming anyone, I'm simply stating I'm disappointed. I had these expectations of imo what this moment could be for people of color, and so far what we sleuthed, has not lived up to those expectations.

Rachel has some balls IMO, She knows without a doubt that she will be "crucified" for not have MOC in her top 4 and she is doing it anyways. My goodness, I hope she gets a tougher skin because it is going to be a bumpy ride IMO

Dessler wrote:Rachel has some balls IMO, She knows without a doubt that she will be "crucified" for not have MOC in her top 4 and she is doing it anyways. My goodness, I hope she gets a tougher skin because it is going to be a bumpy ride IMO

True! But she's doing what is best for her. At the end of the day, if she needs to know more about the remaining suitors, that's what she has to do imo. I hope that viewers will be able to understand her choices...

But Eric is still there right ?

hae1001 wrote:I completely disagree.  Way over half of the show is not actually her choice imo, it is a tv show. Many past leads have spoke out and said the same. In fact, if we are to believe producers, Rachel was their pick for the bachelorette before she even went on the bachelor. Watching nicks season, that was exactly the impression I got of their relationship as well. IMO it's not keeping someone to just fill a quota, but rather to break down the perception that the franchise has that black people are MOT and people aren't interested in their love stories.

If Rachel is able to select the 6 remaining guys, are you thinking they would all be MOC, including Will? What do you mean when you say a diverse season? I am really interested in your feedback since my real life daughter has lived the very thing that Rachel appears to be experiencing, and there were no producers. Thank you.

Islandgal wrote:

hae1001 wrote:I completely disagree.  Way over half of the show is not actually her choice imo, it is a tv show. Many past leads have spoke out and said the same. In fact, if we are to believe producers, Rachel was their pick for the bachelorette before she even went on the bachelor. Watching nicks season, that was exactly the impression I got of their relationship as well. IMO it's not keeping someone to just fill a quota, but rather to break down the perception that the franchise has that black people are MOT and people aren't interested in their love stories.

If Rachel is able to select the 6 remaining guys, are you thinking they would all be MOC, including Will? What do you mean when you say a diverse season? I am really interested in your feedback since my real life daughter has lived the very thing that Rachel appears to be experiencing, and there were no producers. Thank you.

Per the first bolded: I no more believe this than I believe Arie, Luke or anyone else was slated from day 1 to move into the lead position of the next cast lead.
TPTB keep cast in mind and perform a juggling act. Until a contract is signed, the next lead is up in the air. Rachel did not sign a contract until right before she was basically announced. When the contract is signed, the contract is signed.
Unfortunately, as usual, TPTB and the viewer have 2 different agendas for the purpose of the show. The viewer hopes for a romance. TPBT are presenting a dating experiment. I never heard TPTB come out and say anything regarding POC being MOT or not. They are only interested, imo, of having a diverse group of people open to the dating experiment and seeing what naturally unfolds. TPTB are not there to make sure Rachel chooses someone strictly by race or selecting 3 of her final 6 as such. She was presented with by all accounts a diverse group of men in age, occupation and race. It was then her choice who to choose to remain each episode.

@Islandgal I'm saying Rachel and tptb could have selected more moc to be in the f6. Did they have to all be? No. Does she have to get engaged to a moc? No. She is allowed to love who she loves, regardless of race. IMO, f6 through f3 are just placement people. Filling a quota. It's disappointing that Rachel and tptb would not use more of those spots for guys that could actually show a good message for acceptance and break down stereotypes of POC, especially since IMO, Nick did that for Rachel. In 21 seasons of the bachelor, Rachel was the only black woman to get a hometown. Yet, there are multiple seasons where the Corinnes, the Jades, the token single moms, etc got a hometown simply because of their stories, not because of the leads attraction to them imo. In 13 seasons of the bachelorette, if she gives Eric a hometown, he will be the only black man to ever get a hometown. I'm just disappointed, given how much tptb have patted themselves on the back over this "diverse" season.

Saying that Rachel should've had more MOC in her F6/F4 for the sake of representation is tokenism. It's not her responsibility to solve race issues in the media and if she isn't feeling it with Will, Josiah, Anthony, ect. she shouldn't keep them around to appease people on the internet. It's her life and IMO the Bachelor franchise is not the place to be looking for groundbreaking diversity/representation in the first place. It's a mindless reality show.

I really don't understand why she should keep MOC in her F6 if she doesn't feel like it. I mean If she prefers to explore her other relationships, well so be it. And if there's 1 or no MOC, that's her life, IMO.

I will leave the link to this article here, which perfectly sums up my feelings of the bachelor franchise and the way that they handle race on the show. Simply put, with Rachels season, I expected different.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jubilee-bachelor-eliminated_us_56b10ccfe4b0fbfdd61587f8

@Kashathediva if you have 33 seasons of a tv show, and only one of those seasons has a black person making it past week 5, then imo that is implying this notion that black people are nothing more than MOT people.

I mean, nobody is saying that this show DOESN'T have a race issue. The fact that Rachel is the first black person to ever make the final 4 or be the lead is proof of that. But, IMO, her taking black men to the F3-6 JUST to fill a quota is just as bad as POC being eliminated in the earlier weeks. It doesn't achieve anything other than getting some social justice brownie points from people on Twitter. It's Rachel's life and choice, not anybody else's.

hae1001 wrote:@Islandgal I'm saying Rachel and tptb could have selected more moc to be in the f6. Did they have to all be? No. Does she have to get engaged to a moc? No. She is allowed to love who she loves, regardless of race.  IMO, f6 through f3 are just placement people. Filling a quota. It's disappointing that Rachel and tptb would not use more of those spots for guys that could actually show a good message for acceptance and break down stereotypes of POC, especially since IMO, Nick did that for Rachel. In 21 seasons of the bachelor, Rachel was the only black woman to get a hometown. Yet, there are multiple seasons where the Corinnes, the Jades, the token single moms, etc got a hometown simply because of their stories, not because of the leads attraction to them imo. In 13 seasons of the bachelorette, if she gives Eric a hometown, he will be the only black man to ever get a hometown. I'm just disappointed, given how much tptb have patted themselves on the back over this "diverse" season.

I better understand your position and I respect your feelings, but that's not how the real world works either. I'm not encouraging a race discussion, but know that what is happening on this show is reflective of the real world. Change does not happen overnight, nor should we burden Rachel with that. If it matters to you, my daughter is happily married to the best man for her.

hae1001 wrote:@Islandgal I'm saying Rachel and tptb could have selected more moc to be in the f6. Did they have to all be? No. Does she have to get engaged to a moc? No. She is allowed to love who she loves, regardless of race.  IMO, f6 through f3 are just placement people. Filling a quota. It's disappointing that Rachel and tptb would not use more of those spots for guys that could actually show a good message for acceptance and break down stereotypes of POC, especially since IMO, Nick did that for Rachel. In 21 seasons of the bachelor, Rachel was the only black woman to get a hometown. Yet, there are multiple seasons where the Corinnes, the Jades, the token single moms, etc got a hometown simply because of their stories, not because of the leads attraction to them imo. In 13 seasons of the bachelorette, if she gives Eric a hometown, he will be the only black man to ever get a hometown. I'm just disappointed, given how much tptb have patted themselves on the back over this "diverse" season.

IMO Rachel should pick who she chooses and not pick based on color. JMO. I am making the assumption this is exactly what she did. TPTB are not there to say pick this person based on his demographics or that one based on his demographics. They may have done this in the past for a storyline or drama, but to suggest based on race...whoa. I hope we are away from the days of choosing people to fill quotas whether it be the person is too normal or too __________.
This discussion opens up a lot of doors I don't particularly want to discuss nor feel this is the appropriate forum for it.
I will say I don't see this show as being a forum for a message of anything other than over the top ridiculousness that may end up in a long term relationship. It's not there to make politically appropriate statements, IMO.