Is it possible that Bentley is actually a good guy?

We apologists have always been staunch defenders of Bentley. Normally, that means we rationalize his “bad” behavior and tell you why he’s not actually as bad as he seems on The Bachelorette. To all our readers, we only have one thing to say. We’re sorry, we screwed up.

Not only is Bentley not a bad guy, but it turns out that he is actually a pretty good guy. Now normally, we at the Apologists like to create our own content. But in this case, we are pulling a Huff Po and gathering together some statements about Bentley from around the web. Check them out:

Jeff Medolla (the Mask)

I don’t think Bentley is a total asshole…I just think he liked the camera and was doing whatever…Bentley, he was just kind of like, “Hey, you know what? I think I’m going to leave…”There’s no doubt in my mind that he missed his daughter, but I think it sounds cool or something to maybe say, “Yeah, I’m using my daughter thing, but it’s really not the case….”I have a feeling that I’ll be in touch with Bentley.

West Lee (That one dude)

I really liked Bentley … he seemed genuine. He talked about his daughter all the time, so I really thought that his missing her … and then to see all this stuff on the show was a bit of a surprise. Maybe the truth is somewhere in the middle, but at least in my experience of Bentley, he was a good guy. I like him.

Suzette (the ex)

“He’s a really good father, he’s really involved. They’ve got a really great relationship. He adores her. I’d say he’s a really good father,” she explained. As for their marriage, Suzette told Billy and Kit, “It didn’t work out, he’s got a lot of great qualities, it just wasn’t right with us.”

Anonymous (Fellow Bachelorette contestant)

Courtesy of a fellow blogger:  Today I got an e-mail from a Bachelorette insider (whose true identity I can neither confirm or deny, though they did sound very much “in the know”) to tell me that he’s been getting a kick out of my recaps so far this season.  He also made an argument that Bentley is actually a fairly decent dude – “funny, chill, definitely competitive, but not the asshole the show’s making him out to be.  They’re murdering the guy in editing!”

It’s important to remember that these varied characters have every incentive to take shots at him, but neither The Mask, That one dude, nor The Ex, nor the Anonymous Contestant were willing to throw Bentley under the bus. When all is said and done, Bentley critics will no doubt cross over to our side, and when they do, we will extend to them an olive branch (or at least a lock of Bentley’s luscious hair).

Bentley Williams – What is Real?

Philosophers like to start with fundamental questions. What is real, and how do we know it? On most commentary surrounding the Bachelorette, there is a lot of talk about Bentley being “cast” as the villain this season. This word, “cast” has always been interesting. Someone gets cast to play a part or role in a film or play. For example, there is the hero, the love interest, the sidekick, the clown, and, and of course the villain. Why is cast so interesting? Because it is inconsistent with the idea of “reality.” Being cast to play a role in real life is a contradiction, and a Reality TV Villain is an oxymoron. Kind of like Jumbo Shrimp, Army Intelligence, or Honest Politician. What many people do not realize of course about “reality” TV is that it is highly staged, planned, choreographed, and scripted. There are several reasons for this: (1) actual reality would be just too unwieldy involving too much uncertainty, (2) viewers supposedly want “heightened” real or drama (3) most of what people say is boring, and documentaries are really boring. What’s the evidence that the Bachelorette isn’t real? Well, how about the music that plays in the background each time you meet a character. Pleasant, cheerful music means we are supposed to like the character…err contestant…and root for him (J.P., Ben F.). Dark, foreboding music means we are supposed to dislike or distrust the contestant (really just Bentley this season), and silly music means that the contestant is the clown we are supposed to laugh at (the masked man, Drunk Tim, and to a lesser extent, William). The producers do the same thing with camera time comments and interactions with Ashley that they choose to show viewers. Here’s an excerpt from Reality Steve about Bentley:

“This show is supposed to find love for Ashley, and are supposed to cast guys that are wanting to be there for her and hopefully to fall in love, right? That’s the premise of the show. Sure, we know not every guy is REALLY there for that, but just the idea behind it is supposed to be legit. Well, they’ve known since the minute that Bentley stepped foot on the show, and hell probably even back to when they did his hometown video and the guy was talking about Emily, they knew he wasn’t into Ashley. He knew it and they knew it, yet they still cast him. It’s the shows fault, and Bentleys fault. Let’s say Bentley truly and honestly didn’t know that Ashley was the “Bachelorette” and the show lied to him the whole time telling him it was Emily (Remember, they started filming the night after Brad’s finale aired, so the latest he would’ve known for sure it was Ashley was the night before). So let’s say he didn’t watch “Jimmy Kimmel” the night before, and had no clue it was Ashley until he stepped out of the limo. Then why not just eliminate himself on the first night? Simple question that Chris Harrison, Mike Fleiss, ABC, Next Entertainment, and Warner Horizon will never answer: If Bentley never liked Ashley, why was he cast? They knew what they were doing the whole time because they know what the guy was saying about her in his ITM’s (In the Moment Interviews).”

In other words, Bentley’s on the show, so that the show will have a villain, so that it will be more interesting, so that you will watch it, so that it will get high ratings. The other contestants are just too plain vanilla to be able to pull off that role. So everyone needs to stop hating on Bentley. You may not like the role for which Bentley was cast, but that doesn’t mean you hate Bentley. That’s like saying you hate Anthony Hopkins for playing Hannibal Lecter. Plus, sexy villains like Bentley are way better than creepy villains.