I have just finished watching the season 3 finale of UnREAL, which ended on a fulfilling note for the show’s full-on matriarchy, revolving around the relationships between three women: Quinn, Rachel and this season’s suitor Serena. This finale deviated from the “happy endings” of previous finales, in that Serena looked at her remaining two prospects on the live Everlasting set and picked no one, surprising the audience and we the viewers.
“Until I’m sure about it in my soul,” she says, or something like that. And the next day, we see her in the backseat of her limousine, being chauffeured away from the Everlasting studio premises while also going back to the near-futile exercise of browsing profiles on a dating app.
Serena is just an example of countless women seeking to find a husband. I’m saying “husband” here because the word was thrown around a lot on this particular season of UnREAL, the Lifetime series that riffs off on ABC’s The Bachelor, but with a tasteful, distinct personality based on what really happens in the world of reality show production.
Dating reality shows, over the years, have created an exciting bloc in the pop-cultural estate and providing alternative outlets for people to find their soulmates. There’s even one for gay men, which undeniably shows that we are all searching for love regardless of sexual orientation. It becomes interesting, though, when you think of Nigeria and how marriage is such a big deal, a sprawling industry comprising of wedding blogs, bridal make-up services, gele crafting, aso-ebi, and YouTube and Instagram accounts dedicated to this institution.
Only recently, my sister’s friend got engaged and when my mum heard the news, she launched into her marriage talks with my sister and asked when her boyfriend will propose. It was funny, but it was also exhaustingly sermonising, and only further indicates our society’s obsession with marriage. Which is why grafting a Bachelor-type show into the Nigerian television landscape will work, introducing a handsome and rich (maybe not) bachelor to a selected number of suitresses.
A Bachelorette-type show will be great as well, given that Nigerian men (well, speaking for myself), are not exactly immune to the pressures of becoming husbands, though it has to be said that the marriage pressure ratio puts women on a significantly higher number. These kind of shows bring their own unique drama, plotting, and emotional toxicity. There’s a lot of baggage to be lessened, and characters to be shaped and moulded in the course of being on these shows. But, above all, it’s the wonder of turning a social obsession like marriage into entertainment that will never cease to amaze me.
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