'The Bachelorette' boasted an empowered Asian American lead — then tore her down
"Her turn." "Her choice." "Her journey." "Her moment."
That is how ABC promoted Jenn Tran's "Bachelorette" season, which started airing July 8 and wrapped with a debacle of a finale Tuesday night. Despite promising "The power is in her hands" in the first poster for her season, the franchise lost all credibility with how it treated Tran in this week's live finale.
Reality TV programs might be infamous for feeding their contestants to the sharks for maximum drama and publicity, but the long-running dating show reached a new low with Tran, a 26-year-old physician assistant student.
During the live portion of the finale, Jenn cried, gasped for breath and contained her sobs while seated on a couch in the middle of a studio audience.
For most of the segment, she was seated next to final pick Devin Strader, the man who broke her heart by allegedly denying "ever being in love" and ended their engagement in a 15-minute phone call.
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Then she was forced to watch back her tainted proposal as a close-up camera was fixed on her crying face, as well as her ex-fiancé's seemingly unbothered countenance, for a full minute.
How is that empowering for their first Asian American lead – or Asian American women watching at home?
The power 'The Bachelorette' promised Jenn was nowhere to be found
After she and Strader rehashed the demise of their two-month engagement, host Jesse Palmer attempted to segue into footage of the "happiest day" of Tran's life, which has since been tainted by a contentious breakup.
Tran clearly didn't want to watch it back.
But the power she supposedly yielded as the "Bachelorette" was back in the hands of the show’s producers, editors and camera operators. And they were sadistically eager to show the nation the face of heartbreak.
This is a departure from the deference shown to the previous bachelor, Joey Graziadei, who is still engaged to his final choice, Kelsey Anderson. During his "Bachelor" finale in March, he was not forced to sit on stage with cameras capturing his live reactions (though his family was subjected to this), especially as his runner-up, Daisy Kent, left him at the proposal altar.
In fact, the franchise leaned into the women's empowerment theme by showing Anderson and Kent holding hands as they were driven to where Graziadei was set to propose. The two women were also given a short segment to discuss how they didn't allow Graziadei to get in the way of their friendship.
That progress was nowhere to be seen just five months later.
As Bachelor Nation makes its displeasure with the finale clear on social media, with some fans pushing back against Tran's visceral emotional pain being considered entertainment, any prior optimism about a legacy network TV show uplifting an Asian American woman's story has faded away.
'Do I have a choice?' reveals a new 'Bachelorette' low
When it came time to show footage of Tran and Strader's engagement, the show tried to ease the transition into an experience that would pain her to watch.
"You weren't afraid to speak your mind, and you also weren't afraid to go after what it is you want. You did that all throughout this entire journey, including making history with a beautiful proposal the likes of which we’ve never seen," Palmer said. "I know you haven’t seen it yet. What do you think? Should we all watch it together?"
After 10 seconds of speechlessness, she gestured in exasperation before starting to laugh. "Do I have a choice?"
Those aren't the words of an empowered lead.
In fact, the show appeared to have gone against the wishes of someone they’d made to feel like she was "the main character in my own love story."
For nearly a minute, producers showed a picture-in-picture view of Tran and Strader's engagement − during which Tran proposed, in a first for the franchise, before Strader returned the favor − as present-day Tran wiped tears from her face and choked back her sobs.
It was a voyeuristic editing choice made even more sour as it appeared that Tran didn't consent to the footage being shown. (Tran has since clarified in interviews that she'd known the proposal would be aired.)
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Palmer attempted to appease any feelings of intrusiveness viewers might feel by assuring everyone that Tran was a strong woman.
"I can't imagine how hard it is to watch that back," he said. "But Jenn, my biggest hope is that when you see that back, a small part of you is empowered because you really did do things your way."
American pop culture has historically undermined Asian American women
Tran's season showed promise for Asian American representation in media. Unfortunately, right before crossing the finish line, it felt as if "The Bachelorette" took away Tran's agency and failed to show her respect during a vulnerable moment.
When Tran was announced as the first Asian American lead in the franchise's 22-year history, sociologist Nancy Wang Yuen, author of "Reel Inequality: Hollywood Actors and Racism," was optimistic about seeing an Asian American woman in a leading role.
"It's really refreshing to see an Asian woman be the lead of her own love story," Yuen told USA TODAY in June. "She's the subject, rather than the object — which is how Asian women have long been represented in popular culture in the West."
On the show, Tran reiterated the lack of representation she saw in film and TV growing up. Frequently seeing Asian Americans in supporting roles contributed to her feeling like she could never be "a main character."
In the months before the finale, Tran felt that becoming the bachelorette helped her shed her imposter syndrome.
When she spoke with USA TODAY nearly two weeks before her season premiere, Tran − who was still engaged to Strader at the time − "was surprised at how much I learned about myself."
"I really learned to stand up for myself and stand up for what I believe is right or what I want and what I need," she said.
Our interview with Jenn:She never saw herself as a main character — then became the 'Bachelorette'
Despite ending her season with heartbreak, Jenn Tran knows her worth
Fortunately, the aspiring physician assistant doesn't seem to have lost this newfound confidence despite experiencing heartbreak on national television.
In the days since her finale, Tran has taken the opportunity to make light of her onscreen heartbreak on Instagram and TikTok as she prepares to appear on the next season of "Dancing with the Stars."
'My heart is heavy grieving'See Jenn Tran's full statement on her finale
"I came into this journey searching for my one true love and unexpectedly finding infinite love from bachelor nation and beyond," she wrote in a lengthy Instagram post.
"I am still healing. It’s been difficult processing the past few months and it will continue to be difficult for me to fully understand my own heart at this moment."