The Bachelorette: Emily and the Package Deal

I'll admit it. I've watched several seasons of the Bachelor/Bachelorette mega myth-machine, and I've finally decided to undertake a laywoman's content analysis-of-sorts in an attempt to answer some of the questions I have about this simultaneously awful/awesome slice of contemporary pop culture.

Here are my questions:

1. How does the Bachelor/ette define love and romance? And is this definition anachronistic? Progressive? Both?

2. What archetypes of narrative and character are represented? Are they universal?

3. Is it real? Does that even matter?

Season 8 is about Emily. For those familiar with the show, Emily was the "winner" of Brad Womack's predictable and annoying Season 15 of The Bachelor. Ugh, Brad Womack.

More importantly: Ugh, Emily.

(btw, favorite scene/episode of this entire series was when Will roasted the skin off Ashley by saying what everyone was thinking: "Gee, I hoped it was gonna be Emily." nice. and anyway, girl, you wanted to be roasted...)

Lucky for Emily, everyone wants to buy her schtick, so she's back. And in her hometown of Charlotte NC, no less!

Emily's story is essentially: young love lost, blessed with child, lonely and searching for the man to take her hand and lead her and her daughter through the difficulties of (celebrity) life. They're "the package deal."

And the big mystery is, essentially: Are you man enough to love me and my daughter? Are you gonna buy the two-for-one?

She's a momma lion with a cub to protect...an old story, certainly. But a woman with money, a career, and the power to select the man she wants...an oddly progressive position for a gal with such "traditional" values.

thx zap2it

Let's check back at Episode 3 when we narrow the field of suitors...