By Kate Rooney
Time and time again the Australian public is being presented with two different types of women on reality TV: The Villain and the Sweetheart.
Take the Bachelor for example. Every year, we see the shy, sweet, quiet girl who makes the man fall in love with her every time they lock eye. As a juxtaposition to this, we see the loud, independent, sassy woman who isn’t afraid to go after what she wants (the man) but the audience knows she will never get him because of her typecast.
It is becoming more and more bizarre that strong women are getting the villain edit on these shows simply because they do not fit into societies or even productions view of ‘the perfect woman.’
We saw this last year on season 7 when Abbie Chatfield was given the villain edit for appearing as a fiery, bold woman. Abbie was sent messages from trolls all throughout her season, to the point where she became suicidal towards the end of the show when it was being aired to the public. The only thing she had done wrong was be a powerful woman on screen who wasn’t afraid to flaunt her sexuality or kiss the man she had been dating for weeks.
After speaking out about this online, Abbie has become an advocate for online trolling. As something that is becoming more and more of an open conversation, it is surprising to see that the narrative is once again repeating itself on this year’s season of The Bachelor.
Areeba Emmanuel, 25, introduced herself as ‘the boss’ in her first appearance on the show and has been a centre for drama ever since. Matched with sinister and snarky non-diegetic music, Areeba’s words and actions have been significantly dramatized. She has received an edit of causing drama, over-reacting and not being a serious contender for Locky’s heart.
In both seasons, the audience sees the narrative following the sweet, shy and unproblematic girl who the male falls for and who gets the support of the public. This is then contrasted against the girl with the villain edit who is loud about her opinions and is seen as being single-minded in going after the bachelor.
It shows how editing in a ‘reality’ television show can affect the way that people are presented to the public and therefore how they are treated by the public. Thankfully, this year people are beginning to see between the lines in the way these shows are edited and are showing more support to the outspoken women on the show. This also shows how society is starting to make steps towards embracing powerful women on screen and changing the perception of the shy, quiet, “perfect woman”.