Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Reading and Reviewing Courtney's Bachelor Tell All - Who's the best in the sack?

If you clicked on my review to see who is Courtney's top pick in the sack then you should probably buy this book because that's who the Tell-All appeals to--the type of person who just can't help themselves and wants to see the answer to that type of question. Being a nice reviewer/author/publisher, I"m going to give you a big fat hint. He drives racing cars and his name rhymes with Carrie. He even has a little moment in the book where he describes his love making mind set. Okaaaay.

Okay, now for the review of I'm Not Here to Make Friends.
If Courtney actually wrote this book by herself, not with a ghost writer or a Harper Collins helper, she's one funny gal. She can turn a phrase with the best of them and has an acerbic wit that translates well to the page. I for one, did not think her personality translated well to the TV and was a big fan of Lindzi. (When Ben chose Courtney, I did one of those looking up at the heavens, arms out, and yelled "NOOOOOO!" things.) A lot has happened since that rose ceremony and my feelings of dislike for Courtney have softened. According to the book, I was in the Babs camp on how I felt about the gal Ben chose to be his wife. You'll have to buy the book to find out who Babs is. (hint, it rhymes with other in law)
The book is funny, it's written well, put together with a great deal of thought but then, you look to see the thing is published by Harper Collins and I'm pretty sure ole Court had loads
of help. The fascinating part about the book is all the behind the scenes information which is why I originally paid 10 bucks (!?) for this gossipy account of one nasty girl's rise to the Final Rose.
I enjoyed hearing about the inner workings of The Bachelor, especially in my line of work. You'll be surprised at Courtney's career pre-Bachelor. She actually WAS a model, not just a wanna be. According to her, she had a target on her back from the first night because she listed her job as "Model" and this cast seemed to be particularly catty. But then, she dug her own grave by saying horribly catty things about other human beings on National TV, things that you might think but should never say out loud, let alone on TV. And this was why we hated her.
In the book Courtney does not own up to this character trait and I wanted to hear her admit that she took a long hard look at herself after the show, or after her breakup with Ben, to try to figure out what aspect of her personality needed some work. But 'villains' never do realize that they have flaws that make them unlikable. They make excuses by saying how awful everyone else was and how they were singled out unnecessarily. Same with the last villain in Chris Soules' season - the widow who faked the panic attack on the floor just before the rose ceremony. People like that think they will get away with stuff and when they're called out, they have to continue the act or admit they have problems. Same with Courtney. She has a likable side, a funny side and she certainly had her own side to what actually went down during filming. She also has a very unlikable side. And I'd caution any man to be careful of women who aren't liked by other women or say that they get along better with men. Red flag. Not liking your gender is a bit strange.
Courtney is such a woman. But she's young, she may learn as she gets older. Regardless, the book was fun to read if you like The Bachelor and hearing about the fantasy suite appeals to the rest of us out here, living vicariously through this show.

Sunday, September 27, 2015

Spoiler Alert! The Bachelor has begun filming.

According to what I know, and what I can say, The Bachelor began filming in California this week and Ben has chosen his first group of ladies.
The girls were housed at the Agoura Hills Sheraton for four days and spent Thursday with hair and makeup people getting ready to begin the first rose ceremony that night. Filming begins at 9:30 ish, after they hose down the driveway, plant all the flowers in the garden and get the press there to watch on closed circuit TV's behind the scenes.
You may think that it's just a crew and the people we see on camera that first night but I believe they have a big press gathering behind the scenes to get the media in their inner circle of love and secrecy. Ben comes back to the production area and meets these people, eats from craft services and schmoozes.
His presence at the 7 hour cocktail party is sketchy. The girls don't have free access to him, apparently. You almost have to take a number. He's carefully managed by producers.
If you enjoy finding out tidbits of info, go to RealitySteve.com. He seems to get all kinds of tips on what's going on. Like today they are filming at a high school in the Los Angeles area. And the producers and production assistants control the girls and the happenings to the nth degree. Very little is spontaneous.
I understand it's a TV show but I was hoping it was a bit more like what you see on TV. The Bachelor and the girls all sit around and talk for hours and no one influences the man's choice on who to pick at the rose ceremonies. Now I doubt that. I have a theory that the producers tell him to choose about 7 girls he really likes and then fill up the roster with girls who'd be good on TV. It could happen.
What do you think?

Sunday, September 20, 2015

The Bachelor Begins Filming This Week!

Twenty-five young ladies are packing their two (only!) suitcases this weekend with enough dresses to last them through a bunch of rose ceremonies, beachwear, snow wear, boots, skinny jeans, cute tops, bikinis and enough hair products and makeup to potentially sink Malibu into the ocean.
Filming begins later this week for The Bachelor! But don't get too excited because we won't actually see the episodes until January 4th and until then we need to try to get to like Dancing With the Stars.

The new Bachelor, Ben Higgins, must be in the midst of his own prep to meet all these women-- like obsessively exercising for those shower scenes, having his back waxed (work with me here) and pressing his tuxedos. I'd like to think that Ben won't fall into those traps that make us think we're too old to watch this stupid behavior on the show. You know, those scenes they shoot like two men scrubbing each other's backs in the shower to promote a Brokeback Bachelor publicity stunt, or a woman obsessively kissing a parrot. You have to know some young, hungry producer who just got hired is behind those ridiculous moments. And if you're like me, it's those moments that make me think I might not watch The Bachelor. Boxing dates where someone goes to the ER, Roller Skating when you only have one arm. Those unfunny, humiliating things the producers make the contestants do in reality TV.
WE DON'T LIKE THEM!!! If you follow twitter, not only do people think these scenes are stupid, they lose interest. Men are not your audience and women don't like to see other women humiliated.

Note to Bachelor producers: You are losing the middle age woman as an audience. Just take a look at who sits out there behind Chris Harrison on After the Final Rose. Is it the fans of PUNK'D? Nope. It's middle-aged women. If you're going after the MTV crowd, keep staging stupid schticks like walking topless through L.A. and professing to be a Disney princess but if you want to keep us watching, cut out the stupid shctick.

That said, I'm excited for Ben and all the lovely ladies who will first stay in separate hotel rooms to attend the first rose ceremony then will get to move to the mansion if they make the cut the first night. Out of 25, it's usually about 15 who stay, right?
You have to know that producers are brainstorming right now about how to make girls show up with a heart in a cooler, drive a giant cupcake car, and come in on a horse to make what they believe is better TV. I, for one, think it ruins the show.
What do you think?