Marred by America

It comes down to two couples. One of the couples is so obviously enamored of one another that it looks like they might have an actual chance to make it together. The other is in obvious trouble. Couple number one, which could easily be dubbed "the brunettes," appear to have real affection. There are major issues beyond the lunacy of the entire televised courtship. He is from a conservative family and she once posed for Playboy and openly admits she'd do it again under the right circumstances. He is a former athlete who cannot decide on a lifetime career now that he's hung up the cleats. After weeks of promises that they have indeed agreed to marry, the wedding day comes and his lack of a career causes his bride to be to back out and refuse to marry him.

Couple number two - "the blondes" - are struggling. The bride is a party girl who has some obvious insecurity issues. She's thrown every ounce of herself into loving this man in her life and is viewing the marriage itself as the thing that will fill all the voids and holes in her existence. All of her eggs are in one basket. The groom is obviously having fun with his bombshell party girl, but is also being very honest with her, telling her often that he doesn't love her. The only person surprised by his refusal to marry her at the altar is the bride. Well, and her friends. I think everyone else who has watched this show saw it coming a mile away. She is shattered. She runs away from the altar and into a closet to sob in private. Naturally the cameras follow her right in. For several minutes we watch this poor woman staring her greatest nightmare in the face. It's not just painful; it's cruel in the extreme. One can only guess the long-term psychological damage the young lady suffered as a result of this. This was no Big Brother eviction or a simple matter of getting voted off some obscure location by one's fellow tribemates.

For the viewers of the series, the fact that both couples were able to refuse to get married meant that the entire premise of the show was a lie. It meant that those who called the toll free number wasted their time. It meant that those who sent in votes via text messaging wasted both their time and their money. Believe it or not, the viewers got off easy.

For those stranded at the altar it was much worse. Once again, place yourself in their shoes. You have given your body, your heart, and your pledge of eternal union to another person. Then in front of millions of people on your wedding day, that person not only says they don't want to marry you, but in effect tells you, "I don't want to marry you even though it means I will get massive amounts of cash if I do! I won't even marry you for a half million bucks worth of prizes!" Rejection is too kind a word for that kind of insult.

The viewers lost hours of their lives to a promise that never was delivered. The contestants suffered though shame and embarrassment on levels that would devastate most people if it were to occur in private, let alone in front of millions of spectators. For a show filled with numerous potential Hall of Shame moments, the only truly fair thing to do is to induct the entire series itself and pray that nothing like this is ever attempted again. What could have been an interesting experiment in sociology instead turned into an emotional torture chamber for most of the people involved.

Mr. Barker is co-owner of Movie Boss (www.movieboss.com), a free online movie game, and author of "Zippers," a humor column that looks at mistakes in movies. He can be reached at BBarker@movieboss.com.

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