These are words I never thought I’d write – but perhaps a dating show has proven what is good about us, says Caleb Bond.
These are words I never thought I’d write – but perhaps a dating show has proven what is good about us.
Bear with me here.
Farmer Wants a Wife has been a raging success this year. It regularly pulled more than a million average viewers and articles on the subject have been like catnip to readers – the best read on this website was viewed nearly 500,000 times.
I broadcast onSky News Australia five nights a week, so I rarely find time to watch trashy “reality” television of an evening.
But having previously given Married At First Sight a go (developing a temporary addiction), and in light of the hubbub, I figured I should give a few episodes of Farmer a burl.
I probably won’t rush back next year lest I get hooked – but I came away somewhat heartened.
Yes, it has all the high drama you expect of modern dating shows. Catfights, dunce contestants and general ridiculousness.
But, at its heart, it’s about hard working Aussie blokes on the land looking for a quality sheila.
Although somewhat superficially, Farmer Wants a Wife does give a glimpse into the gruel of farm life from delivering calves to fruit picking.
The load of that gruel – and whether the women can handle it – is a constant theme of the show.
It’s nice to know that, even if sugar-coated with the madness of dating, a show about farmers can pull such a large audience.
Dating shows are nothing new. A friend of mine hosted Blind Date for the 0-10 Network, as it was then called, in 1970. Things were a little more innocent then, when contestants would go on what The Age, in 1969, described as a “chaperoned night out on the town”.
Now programmes like Married At First Sight lean right into the degeneracy – and that’s why people watch.
Humans have a strange fascination with watching other people tear themselves apart. I suspect it makes us feel better about ourselves.
But Farmer Wants a Wife makes an effort to inject some, well, reality.
And dogbox-inhabiting city-dwellers love it. Part of the romance of Farmer Wants a Wife isn’t just the romance itself but the lifestyle of the men looking for love.
It provides a brief and entertaining connection to the people who, quite literally, keep us alive – Aussie farmers.
It’s only because these blokes slog their guts out every day, often operating on wafer-thin financial margins, that we get to live in the city and pretend milk comes from supermarket shelves instead of cows.
Despite the best effort of some to kill the stereotypical bushie larrikin, we love these fellas and what they do for the country.
It’s a phenomenon also evident in the huge success of Amazon Prime series Clarkson’s Farm.
Mr Clarkson is a funny, ageing rich bloke fumbling about a hobby farm. We all know he doesn’t need the money nor the trouble – and he’s comically ordinary at farming.
But the brilliance of the entertainer is a vehicle into the lives of the people he employs, who need the money and take the trouble in their stride.
It is probably the best mainstream advertisement farming has ever had, demonstrating the struggle it truly is.
And people love it – the show has broken ratings records for Amazon.
I watched the entire third season in one night.
Say what you want about dating shows – and I’ve been fairly critical in the past – Farmer Wants a Wife is actually good for us.
Caleb Bond is a Sydney-based commentator and host of The Late Debate on Sky News Australia.