‘The Bachelor’ and Its Teasing Appeal

Baited into the “silly, sexist” “The Bachelor” by her “highly evolved female friends,” Mimi Avins is disappointed when a meeting with one of the actor’s parents appears to have been altered by editing (“Charmed Silly,” April 27).

Guess what? This is not real, it’s just a television program. There is another word for reality TV: oxymoron. Reality is what happens to other people while you are busy watching the tube.

ROBERT HARTLEY

Santa Monica

*

I hope every Southern Californian girl and young woman watched “The Bachelor,” saw the pictures of Amanda Marsh and read the article. What a beautiful and attractive woman she is. Alex Michel thought so too, as he picked Amanda as his “Miss Right.”

More and more woman of our generation need the assurance that you don’t have to be a bag of skin and bones to be desirable and loved.

I have never understood why the women of show business allow themselves to be de-womanized into skinny, bony skeletons, at great risk to their physical and mental health. Why the show business executives think skinny women are sexy is a mystery. Obviously, Alex and I think otherwise.

GERALD SOZIO

Los Angeles

*

I admit I didn’t watch the show, so I don’t know about all the players. But judging from the photos in the article, Mr. Harvard/Stanford picked the woman out of the crowd just like the punch line in the very old joke: He chose the one with the large breasts.

Unbelievable! Why do Americans watch this nonsense?

DEAN CHANTILES

Palm Springs

*

Since Alex Michel chose the least interesting and least attractive of the three finalists, I have a theory: Alex knew that Amanda would be the easiest of the three to dump, if and when he chooses not to marry. Shannon was too dignified and elegant. Trista was too intense.

Personally, I think Harvard should ask Alex to return his diploma!

VIVIAN HALL

Irvine

*

Kevin Thomas referring to “Life or Something Like It” as “retro” (“Careering Into Romance,” April 26) is about as funny as calling “The Bachelor” progressive. Maybe that’s why “The Bachelor” was a hit, and “Life” won’t be.

In “Life or Something Like It,” our heroine, played by Angelina Jolie, abandons her dream of becoming a network anchor once she becomes one and realizes what she’d have to give up to keep the job. Hardly retro--perhaps New Age smart.

Meanwhile, the 25 women on “The Bachelor” willing to give their lives over to a man--a complete stranger, no less--for the true measure of their success, smacks of the worst kind of “Donna Reed,” I-am-not-worthy-unless-a-man-loves-me retro trash bins that women still can’t seem to climb out of.

NANCY ROSENBLUM

Los Angeles

*

Steve Young’s take on the reality TV series “The Bachelor” (“A Few Real-Life Shows to Rival ‘Bachelor,’” April 29) was so funny my side hurt from laughing. I’m one of those blessed few who didn’t find out about the show until it was too late. And thank God I didn’t! The “reality TV” trend is disgusting enough without having to watch some lucky schmo get what I’ve deserved for years ... or so I think.

JOHN McELLIGOTT Jr.

Fullerton