By Kai Curry
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Photos from ABC.com
Jenn Tran is the first Asian American “Bachelorette.” In season 21 of the series, which aired July 8 on ABC and is currently streaming on Hulu, Tran had the task of narrowing down a pool of 25 lovestruck men to half that in order for the show to move onto the next stage.
What a long night. I couldn’t help feeling empathetic towards Tran as she stood in heels and makeup to welcome each new gentleman (or “Jenn-tleman” as the guys dubbed themselves), and then spent the rest of the evening getting to know each one in brief sit downs. These meet and greets took place in Simi Valley, California, at the “famous” Hummingbird Nest Ranch. From there, those who survived the first cut will journey to Melbourne, Australia for more courtship.
“I don’t fit any kind of mold. I’m just me,” said Tran, a 26-year-old Vietnamese American physician’s assistant student from Boston. “There’s a lot of responsibility being the first Asian American Bachelorette. I want to be able to make everybody proud and make my heritage proud…I just have to be myself and do the best that I can do.” Tran ran into some fans while giving us a brief overview of her life in Boston—fans who were proud to have an Asian American at the helm of the show for the first time.
Jenn Tran. The first Asian American “Bachelorette.” Photos from ABC.com
“It’s been hard to accept myself as the Bachelorette because I don’t see myself in that light,” said Tran, who has iterated more than once that she did not feel as if she had an example of a loving relationship growing up.
That makes the scenes with her parents a bit awkward! On the other hand, Tran felt that her parents—who immigrated to the United States from Vietnam to “give me a better future”—have been supportive of her since she returned from her stint as a hopeful on “The Bachelor.” During that show, she made an impression by turning down Joey Graziadei’s proposal. During the intro of “The Bachelorette,” Tran stated that she’s been “waiting my whole life to find my true love” and that she “thought that I found that with Joey.” She admitted that she had gone through periods “where I thought I was never going to be loved,” largely due to her perception of how her father treated her and due to watching her parents fight. While things didn’t work out with Joey, Tran learned that “the right step to finding love” is showing someone “who you really are.”
Now is her chance to find “her person.” (This is a big phrase for this set: “I’m going to find my person” was the most popular way of describing one’s potential life partner.) So who are the suitors? Each one received a short introduction (basically, everything in this show is short; let’s just say that the production team knows how to move things along), followed by a sit down with Jenn inside the mansion, of which we only see a few edited moments (not always a sit down; some of the guys took her to play basketball, a weird math game, or sit in their fancy car, so a fancy sit down, ooh lala). Each guy did his utmost to impress Jenn on the first try.
I’m not going to go through every one of them in detail. Their ages are in the 20s to 30s. They have all kinds of jobs, but were all touted as the “world’s most eligible bachelors” by host Jesse Palmer, so I guess that means they are all rich. They are mostly from diverse backgrounds, ethnically and racially, but not at all diverse in terms of looks—of course, they are all conventionally handsome, with only one poor soul who could be called overweight thrown in as a token who you absolutely know for sure, sadly is not going to move to the next episode. Mostly they all got out of a limousine, fastened their top suit button (why is that a thing?), and said some cheesy line, which sometimes worked and sometimes didn’t. Southerner Sam M., who Tran called out for being “already with the lines,” turned out to be her “first impression” pick and was rewarded with a VERY STEAMY kiss—she wants to date a cowboy, she said, and equates being southern with being a cowboy, which is a bit amiss, but I will allow he had that vibe.
Only one suitor was identified as being Asian American (although others could be but did not say). This was Thomas N., who throughout the first night was very much banking on he and Tran’s shared heritage to get him to round two. It worked. Thomas, too, noted that his parents “sacrificed a lot to get to where they are,” that they “gave up their goals and ambitions so that me and my brothers could have what we have in our life.” In contrast to Tran, though, his parents get along, as he stated he “watched my parents fight for each other and I want a marriage like that.”
Thomas N. A Vietnamese American hopeful on the show. Photos from ABC.com
Thomas’ descriptions resonated with Tran, who felt “seen” in a different way, apparently because they discussed their Vietnamese cultural similarities. However, I couldn’t help feeling Tran was a bit bored with this line of conversation, and did not always look him in the eye the way she did some of the others. Nevertheless, Thomas made it to the next round.
He kinda had to, right? We all know parts of these shows are scripted. I can’t imagine Tran had total autonomy when she made her choices of who would get the rose this evening. Some were out of whack, imo, guys who seemed to have been picked to maintain the façade of inclusion, and perhaps so that some of the more emotional Jenn-tlemen would not have a total breakdown! (I was convinced when Palmer came in before she handed out the final rose that it was to make sure there wasn’t a riot! You guys gotta go home if you’re not picked, he sternly reminded them.)
Ya’ll, these guys were SO INVESTED in the selection process. Their egos were 100% on the line. They were shaking! One was possibly crying! Wow, interesting to see what happens when the shoe is on the other foot and the woman is the queen selecting her would-be king. (Even though, you still get the idea that these guys are gunning to make her “theirs”—more than one of them gave her some kind of gift that equated to putting a seal of ownership onto her person.)
Are they legit? Hard to say. Every time I watch one of these shows, I start out thinking it’s all going to be fake and I’m not going to be interested, and I end up being enthralled by the emotional roller coaster that legitimately seems to take place—and wanting to know what the final match up will be. I’m not Tran so I can’t choose her best mate. Will Mr. Cowboy stay in the lead for Tran’s affections? Will someone else move ahead? Stay tuned to find out!
Kai can be reached at newstips@nwasianweekly.com.