Wannabe-Brides Set Themselves Up For Failure

In the battle for worst new wedding-oriented TV show, Bridalplasty has some competition: Jilted? from We TV.

On Jilted? — in which the question mark is part of the title — women propose to their boyfriends. A wedding is planned for a week from the proposal, and neither the bride — nor the viewers — know if the dude will actually show up. The entire show is built around an ultimatum: “Marry me, or we’re done!”

Entertainment Weekly‘s Sara Vilkomerson watched the premiere episode, in which Lauren, 25, and James, 27 have been dating for six years; Lauren cries as she asks, “Why hasn’t James proposed to me?” And: “I wonder what I’m doing wrong.” Yikes. James is unemployed, so it seems like he has a pretty good reason for not wanting to get hitched just yet, but this show isn’t about being reasonable! It’s basically trying to be the series equivalent of Beyoncé singing “If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it.” But the results come with zero swagger and a million tears.

According to Vilkomerson:

It’s stressful watching this wedding. And quite honestly, we’re not sure whether if we are rooting for James to hightail it out of there or bend to the will of his girlfriend.

If a woman wants to get married really badly, that’s her prerogative. But marriage is a partnership. If you’re giving a guy a week to decide if he wants to enter a legal, spiritual, possibly religious contract with you — and allowing the deliberation to be aired on national television — can you really expect things to go well?

Bigger question: Was this show designed to keep women thinking they should never, ever be the one who proposes? Because that is fucked up.