For years I have talked about the behind the scenes tricks and manipulations production does that the average fan who watches the “Bachelor” and “Bachelorette” franchise doesn’t have a clue about. I’ve given examples over the years, but kept it pretty surface level. This week’s podcast guest, Jennifer Pozner, is someone who’s done extensive research on this topic and written a book about it, as we dive into it in over a 90 minute conversation today. It’s pretty amazing what can be done to be honest, and Jennifer even makes you start critically thinking what you’re actually watching when you sit down on Monday nights to tune into this show. It’s a very long and detailed conversation that I guarantee will make you think about things regarding this show you never thought in a million years to think of. Before I get started with Jennifer, the first 15 minutes of the show I talk about yesterday’s twitter feud between Tanner and Demi, why I chimed in, and what seems to be getting lost in all this because there’s so many layers. You can only do so much in 280 characters, so I wanted to dive into it a bit more at the beginning of the podcast. As always, if you’d like to respond to the interview, please include Jennifer’s Twitter handle (@jennpozner) in your replies. Thanks again to Jennifer for coming on and bringing some much needed depth in conversation to this franchise.
You can listen to today’s podcast on a number of platforms, but you can also tune in by clicking the player below:
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, RSS, Stitcher, Spotify
Music written by Jimmer Podrasky
(B’Jingo Songs/Machia Music/Bug Music BMI)
(SPOILERS) I begin by giving my thoughts on the Tanner/Demi Twitter feud from yesterday as I talk about it from all angles and why people seem to be missing the fact there are two different things at play here. Then Jennifer joins me to talk about how she got involved in covering this genre (17:24), the idea behind writing her book and the main themes that came from it (28:40), biggest misconceptions fans have about reality TV (31:59), how on staff psychologists continuously break doctor/patient confidentiality in reality TV (35:35), Fleiss’ misogynistic views (43:55), where does she see the franchise going (1:00:41), is there anything redeeming about the franchise (1:10:45), is hate watching a real thing (1:34:00), and how to critically watch the show (1:47:17).
Twitter – @jennpozner
Instagram – jennpozner
Book – Reality Bites Back: The Troubling Truth About Guilty Pleasure TV
Send all links and emails to: steve@realitysteve.com. To follow me on Twitter, it’s: www.twitter.com/RealitySteve. Instagram name is “RealitySteve,” or join my Reality Steve Facebook Fan Page. Talk to you next week.
