The big picture

• Austin Ott’s self-elimination shifts the power dynamic in
  The Bachelorette
  which calls into question the production’s focus on drama rather than meaningful context.
• The producer-driven drama overshadows real relationships in the dating series and raises questions about production priorities.
• Iott’s decision to leave early raises concerns that the Bachelorette and its contestants lack freedom of action and suggests interference from production.

Reality TV dating series have evolved from a niche market to a global phenomenon. Shows like Love Island, Love makes you blindAnd Too hot to touch followed the longest-running reality dating series, The Bachelor, and its popular spin-off series, The Bachelorette. The Bachelor began airing in 2002, and its sister spin-off quickly followed in 2003. As the longest-running dating series, it has the advantage of experience with production, which viewers can see week after week in season 21 of . The Bachelorette. With the Taylor Swift-inspired season running like clockwork, it is somewhat surprising that the well-oiled Bachelor The machine may suddenly stop working.

Austin OttThe self-elimination of in the fifth week may seem like a simple change of heart, but it has far greater implications for the series. Ott takes Jenn Tran‘s power to save him or send him home with the traditional rose ceremony means The little scope for action that the series allows the main actress can be undermined. Production has focused on creating dramatic moments rather than focusing on the cast building lasting connections with this season’s Bachelorette. Ott has shifted power away from Jenn and the producers by choosing to leave the series. After going through the rigorous casting process and putting his life on hold to be on it, Ott’s decision suggests that production has been focusing on the wrong things this season.

Austin Ott’s departure proves that production doesn’t care about the cast

Austin Ott seemed to have serious intentions when it came to building a relationship with Jenn. He was eager to prove himself on group dates, but the fact that he had no opportunity for a one-on-one date with Jenn in the five weeks he worked on the series addresses a larger issue. How can the producers honestly claim that the main goal of the season is for the contestants to develop a romantic relationship with the Bachelorette if they don’t get a chance to get to know her?

The only time Ott was able to have a one-on-one conversation with Jenn was during a group date when he won a race at a racetrack. That being said, the group dates Ott went on were not conducive for Jenn to develop meaningful relationships with most of the men on the show. Jenn has had so few opportunities to really build a relationship with the contestants so far that she hasn’t even received enough reassurances to feel safe with any of them. After Ott’s self-elimination, Jenn wondered if she would ever be enough for any of the contestants, and She assumes that she may let this experience go because she doubts that any of the men would choose her.

Producer-driven dramas seem to dominate dating series

Drama and reality TV go hand in hand. You can’t put 25 men in a room competing for the interest of a single woman without knowing that There will be moments when tempers are heatedwhen misunderstandings arise and when troublemakers stick their noses into other people’s business. But that’s the drama viewers expect from a reality TV dating series.

This season, much time was devoted to the performative drama fueled by the production. One example that stands out glaringly is the sudden appearance of Jenn’s ex-boyfriend in week 5, who claimed he wanted to join The Bachelorette experience and win them back. Although Jenn ultimately decided to move on, her ex was given the time to reach out to the men in the group and tell them about the changes he noticed in Jenn and reassure them that she knew her future lay with one of them.

But why give so much time to this obvious stunt when the men who had dedicated the last five weeks to the experience of getting to know someone on a dating show were already vocally frustrated with how little time they got to spend with the woman they wanted to date? The contestants even had conversations among themselves about how they could strategize together so that people who had previously spent little time with Jenn would get a chance. So it seems that production is prioritizing certain connections over others, rather than let the participants spend time with her, in any situation other than fictitious group meetings.

The group date that was the last straw for Austin Ott

The group date that followed the drama producers brought into the show by introducing Jenn’s ex-boyfriend didn’t exactly help Ott’s cause. Ott spoke loudly in the group about how he felt marginalized when it comes to getting opportunities to speak with Jenn. So much so that competitors Thomas Nguyen confronted Devin Strader about monopolizing her time, and even revealed to Jenn that the men thought she should spend more time with Austin. During the group date on a New Zealand sheep farm, Devin ignored the opinions of his fellow contestants and continued to dominate Jenn’s time.

While the rest of the group struggled to complete the tasks Farmer Richard had given them, including shoveling manure and a failed attempt to take over the duties of sheepdogs by driving the flock into a new pen, Devin often stood off to the side and took opportunities to get Jenn’s attention. Despite Farmer Richard’s reservations about the intelligence of the men as a whole after they failed to open the gate to allow the sheep to enter the pen around which the group date challenge had been designed, he was granted the power to decide who among them had completed their tasks well enough to get a one-on-one date. The other participants – who had followed instructions and completed the farm work to the best of their ability – were shocked to find that they had been given the opportunity to do so. The farmer decided to reward Devin with a one-on-one date, ignoring the fact that he had barely participated in the day’s activities. This seems to have been the last straw for Ott, who shortly thereafter decided to eliminate himself rather than risk being eliminated at the next rose ceremony.

Austin Ott’s self-elimination suggests a power shift in reality dating

By leaving early, Austin Ott has stripped Jenn of the power to decide who stays and who goes through the obligatory rose ceremony, where she pins a rose on the lapel of the contestants she hopes will stay. Ott’s exit, during which he admitted to Jenn that he felt like he had to “play catch-up” and therefore wasn’t right for her, suggests that he had lost interest in competing for her, even though he knew that was expected of him when he signed on to the show, at least contractually.

Whether Ott’s exit was his own idea or simply another ploy to get Jenn to her mid-season low point, making her feel like she wasn’t worthy enough for the remaining contestants, his exit certainly seems has shifted the power dynamics in the series. He and the other men had tried to correct the course that had been set for them by working together to ensure that those who hadn’t yet had the opportunity to form a bond were given a fair shot, but that attempt backfired when Jenn felt like they were making decisions on her behalf. Ott’s exit wasn’t a simple change of heart midway through his season, but the result of not prioritizing the contestants’ opportunities to actually form a bond with the Bachelorette.

New episodes of The Bachelorette Airs on Mondays on ABC in the US and can be streamed on Hulu the next day.

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