I’m not entirely delusional (operative word: “entirely”). For the most part, I understand the difference between fantasy and reality, fiction and truth.
Sure, the lines can be blurry these days with the relentless deluge of American Idol spinoffs, Jersey Shore-style trainwrecks and Bachelor-esque nausea-fests, all featuring “real” people. Is JLo actually tearing up, or are those precisely positioned glycerine drops glistening under stage lights? Is Snooki truly that drunk, or is it just masterful method acting? And seriously, are those girls legitimately into Ben? Gross.
And then of course there is the artificial intimacy we now feel with celebrities, thanks to their tweets, blogs and Facebook updates. It’s like Britney Spears is emoting directly into our souls, right y’all?
But for the most part, I can distinguish between Us Weekly and everyday life. Yet I can’t help embarking on an intense, emotional roller coaster each and every time a celebrity couple calls it quits. And unfortunately for me (and, oh yeah, the celebrities), divorce is quickly eclipsing facelifts and lipo to become Hollywood’s new epidemic.
As a single, decidedly unfamous citizen, I can’t even imagine the massive pressure, stress and insanity that accompanies a marriage in the spotlight. So really, I salute anyone that even attempts to make it work. But the demises of Demi and Ashton, Katy and Russell and Kim and Kris (is nothing sacred?!) have seriously bummed me out, which is sort of embarrassing.
And now TMZ is reporting that Heidi Klum and Seal—a couple so adamantly in love, they insisted on renewing their vows in over-the-top ceremonies each year – are going their separate ways. I really would love for this news to have little to no impact on my emotional stability, but it does. Feel free to judge me, I deserve it.
I can’t help it. I know I have absolutely no personal ties to these people, and as my mom likes to point out, the majority of them are “cartoons” created by the Hollywood machine. And as far as we know, many of them were never in real, happy marriages to begin and only tied the knot to further their careers or boost their box office appeal.
But as cynical and alarmingly pessimistic as I can sometimes appear to casual strangers, I’m kind of a hopeless romantic raised on Titanic-level love stories. It makes me really sad to see all these couples crumbling.
The February issue of Glamour has a fun article on this topic titled “Dear Celebrities: Please Stop Marrying Each Other!” While I agree that some stars need to put the brakes on before blurting out “I Dos,” I don’t necessarily think they need to quit each other all together. If they could just take some time to think about their choices though, that would be great—some of us just can’t take the ups and downs.
And Beyoncé and Jay-Z: you are not allowed to split. Ever. Thanks.
Yes it makes a lot of sense. Recently a Pakistani Man Married Two Women In 24 Hours .
http://goo.gl/5PVL3
Oh sweetie, I am still mourning Brad and Jennifer…yes really.
I was SHOCKED that Seal and Heidi were splitting. So sad. I hate seeing any marriage fail, especially when children are involved, and it really seems that some of these couples give up rather than try to work on their marriage. I was really surprised that Katy and Russell split too, and I agree that Jay-Z and Beyonce should be together forever.
This has been upsetting me, as well! It’s so nice to know I’m not alone! I just feel like people should maybe think a bit more before tying the knot and then realize that marriage isn’t easy and may take work. Look, there are definitely reasons to get divorced and I don’t judge people who get divorces, but it just seems SO COMMON these days.
I loved Katy and Russell ):
very much so.
and Heidi and Seal splitting is simply unbelievable… i never thought the day would come! ): terrible.
love the article though, atleast i know i’m not alone in being sad for them.
This was my facebook status before I even saw your article today:
Ok…so I fully know that Seal and Heidi Klum have no bearing on my life whatsoever…but hearing about their impending divorce really frustates me – I thought they were in love!!! Damn celebreties just further my veiws about marrage and the fact that it’s no longer sacred….I just don’t see the point, why do they bother getting married if they are just going to break up?! IDK if I ever decide to get maried it will be a choice I make to be devoted for the rest of my life not until I get bored – you shouldn’t ALLOW yourself to grow apart once you make that comitment, you should WORK at you relationship – if you don’t want to put in the work then dont get maried….it’s really that simple people…..you have children WTF….sorry for the rant I just needed to get that off my chest
It doesn’t make me sad when celebrity marriages end, it makes me angry. I’ve been with my guy for almost ten years now and we’re coming up on three years for our marriage. We have our ups and downs but we decided that divorce will never be an option. I just feel like celebrities treat marriage like it’s nothing, no big deal. Horrible role models though I can understand certain situations. To be fair, celebrities have never been great at marriage, Elizabeth Taylor had seven husbands. Even my idol Audrey Hepburn was married twice. Marriage isn’t easy and it’s not for everyone, I just wish people would stop treating it so flippantly. Just people you spend a million dollars on your wedding doesn’t mean you’ll last longer, seems like the opposite is true.
I 100000000% agree!!!!
I totally agree. Marriage has seemed to lose it’s flare and that is all due to these celebrities who treat marriage as if it is nothing. It’s so devasting at this point i feel as if they shouldn’t be getting married just to avoid the mess of a divorce. Although, I will say I am sure a marriage in the public eye has to be extremly difficult but that doesn’t mean you should throw in the towel so quickly.
Ugh I was just saying the other day how I love heidi klum and seal are the best! Not how I wanted to start my work week. Lol
Totally agree! I felt the same about Ben & Zooey. I loved them together so much. C’est la vie.
Now I enjoy them separately. Watching New Girl and listening She & Him and Death Cab For Cutie. But I won’t ever forget what they had.
I won’t judge you. I feel the same way. I guess I’m still the hopeless romantic as well and didn’t want to believe it until they came out with an official announcement. Unfortunately, I’m not surprised about Heidi and Seal. It always looked like Seal was the rebound guy. I don’t know if you recall but, before Seal, Heidi was deeply in love with a Formula One mogul. He dumped her and shortly after, she found out she was pregnant. The dude was a total jerk and doubted he was the father of her baby. She sued him, got a DNA test which proved he was indeed the baby’s father. She started dating Seal while she was still pregnant.
I agree- Beyonce and Jay-Z must never part! It would severely rock my faith in relationships!
I feel less weird about being sad over stranger’s failed marriages.
This was extremely amusing!
I agree! At first though; i thought you had a picture of Heidi and Seal up as your poster couple so i was quite shocked to learn that they’re splitting up.
Arn’t normal people good enough for celebrities? haha! 
XXX thanks for the interesting and very relavant article!