American culture can be defined as something akin to a spoiled child. We love drama, heartbreak, romance, and scandal. Tabloids fly off the shelves after a new saga erupts in the public scene. The most recent examples of this, Tiger Woods, Governor Mark Sanford, Jon Edwards, Jon and Kate Gosselin, and the list could go on and on. Americans feed off of reality television. It's an escape. It's a way to vicariously live your life through someone else. People clear their schedules for their favorite reality show that comes on Tuesday night at 8:00.
There is one reality show that stands out among all the rest not only in its ridiculous nature, but in how well it mirrors the life of the average American. This show captivates the country (mostly women, but I know there are many men out there who are just as interested but they just won't admit it!). People take sides, form opinions, trash talk. This show is clearly, The Bachelor.

The Bachelor/Bachelorette encompasses love, drama and scandal all in one show which grabs the attention of more than 15 million viewers, according to Entertainment Weekly. A man or woman comes on the show to "find true love." What American isn't constantly searching, trying to find their beloved "soulmate?" I have never been an avid fan of the Bachelor saga. Personally, seeing a man making moves on 25 women at one time is quite sickening and not a way that I would choose to spend my Monday nights. However, because of my roommate's love of celebrity gossip magazines, I have been more intune with the goings on in this season's Bachelor drama. The now engaged "Bachelor", Jake Pavelka was a pilot who went on his quest to find true love by slowing weeding out his mismatches one by one. As he did this America looked on and formed their own opinions and choices for who Jake should eventually choose.

"We are officially engaged. It wasn't for TV or for a show," said Pavelka. Clearly, Jake forgot what show he was on. He chose the final girl because he was on the Bachelor and that's the point. America wants to see the cat fights and the goodbyes, but in the end they want to be outraged with his decision or supportive of his marriage choice. The purpose of the Bachelor is to hook American women, hook, line and sinker. And they do it very well.
America culture is infatuated with love, both finding and feeling loved. But more than being infatuated with love, they are infatuated with heartbreak and divorce, which has been the "happy ending" for every couple birthed out of this show, save one or two.
But no reality television show would be able to capture the hearts of Americans if they didn't identify with it. The Bachelor shows both what is good and bad in American society. And Americans can't ever get enough of looking at themselves in a mirror. That is why the Bachelor/Bachelorrette dramas have been going strong for almost a decade, and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight.