It is an unfortunate reality that being in the know about celebrities’ affairs takes little to no effort. The common person is over-invested in such news, yet Hollywood has made it so that its divorces are completely negligible.
They are a dime a dozen — just about as frequent as Hollywood marriages, and given how closely people follow celebrity news, one would expect a sense of disappointment to be the overwhelming reaction to celebrity divorces. As it happens, though, it seems that no one is really moved by them but the press.
It matters not whether a couple of celebrities are dating, married, or divorcing so long as they are interesting enough personas. Take Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, for example: Their marriage was very public and very celebrated, and of course ended in divorce. The two reached a settlement just this week after eight years of deliberation. More than anything, news of the final blow communicates relief.
Part of the problem is no-fault divorce: Since its widespread acceptance, marriage has stood merely for subjective, moment-to-moment happiness. However, that is only the overarching cause of people’s desensitization, and even more so of their entering carelessly into marriages. Much of the rest has to do with how we view the celebrities themselves. For much of society, marriage is a commodity. For Hollywood, the celebrities are the commodities.
The standard celebrity follower has been conditioned to see monumental and undeniably detrimental life events, such as rushed marriages and divorces, as just part of Hollywood life. In turn, the effects are diminished for the divorcing celebrities as well. They see nothing wrong with it and have no reason to give their negative experiences with divorce any credibility, and society at large has no “celebrity endorsements” swaying it against the practice.
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We no longer hear about couples such as Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn Carter, both now dead after having been married for 77 years. For one, there is a dearth of marriages such as theirs. They exist in stark contrast to Hollywood marriage customs, which makes them boring. However, in some ways, their marriage is the standard people expect, so it receives less airtime. Modern society is good at separating the norm from the ideal, and then acting as though the norm is the ideal.
Still, it is not ideal for divorces — ones between celebrities whose fans purport really to care about them — to be met with no disappointment and no discouragement. Several societal trends have factored into the dissolution of marriage, and several will have to go into its revival. Hollywood is a tall hill to climb on that front.