Celebrity Marriages vs. Other Marriages
By Amy Miller
I know we are all used to seeing celebrity couples splitting up, but gosh has anybody else noticed it’s been like one or two every week?! This happens all the time, sadly so I didn’t expect myself to post on this. However, I saw a headline that got me thinking about it more. The headline said, “First Ben and Jennifer, now Blake and Miranda? Is anyone else losing faith in marriage, too?!” I couldn’t help but scream in my head: “NO! Don’t lose faith!” haha but seriously. I now feel it necessary to remind us all of why a celebrity marriage is different from other marriages, and why we shouldn’t give up on marriage because of them :)
How celebrity marriages are different from other marriages
The whole world is in the know about their relationship and their life! The paparazzi are constantly trying to dig up skeletons for their magazines, and I bet you half of the time none of it is true. Think about this situation: If your spouse was on the cover of a magazine with a giant headline above that says something like: “His other woman!” it plants this idea in your head that your husband might be cheating on you. Even if you don’t believe it for one second, it is an unfortunate conversation to have with your spouse still. I just think that celebrities are around so much gossip and rumors about themselves to the point that it starts to diminish their trust in each other and they question their commitment to them. The media fuels marital problems for celebs and it’s sad.
Celebrity marriages have so much more pressure on them. Because their lives are so public, they are more susceptible to judgements. I already feel like sometimes in my little normal life that there are days I feel I have to put on a good face when my marriage isn’t stars and butterflies. That’s a difficult task but I’m sure it’s 10 times harder when their every move is followed by cameras. If they are seen eating their marital frustrations away at a restaurant, it becomes: “She’s pregnant!” or “She has an eating disorder!” And then from there bring on the harsh social media comments from people who think they actually know these people! I just think the normal ups and down of marriage are experienced at such an extreme level for them because they are constantly in the limelight.
Their careers are different from normal couples. When I think of a typical married couple I picture this: working the 9-5 at their jobs, and coming home to dinner together almost every weeknight. On the weekends they have date nights, spend time doing their hobbies, and/or see their family and friends. Most of us could say that’s fairly typical, right? For a celebrity, I can imagine their lives being so much busier than that! If one spouse is a musician and they are touring the country, or one spouse is off in Europe filming a movie, that’s a lot of time away from each other. I bet it’s ten times more difficult if both spouses have similar careers and have less time for each other! Marriage requires a lot of sacrifices from each partner, two of which are time and effort. Some couples don’t have or aren’t willing to give enough of those two things to make it work.
How celebrity marriages are NOT different from other marriages
At the same time, I discuss these differences, I think it’s important to state that relationship principles apply to everyone! Celebrities aren’t exempt from keeping their commitments to each other just because of their busy career or their publicity. I believe in any marriage it takes selflessness more than anything and sometimes that means sacrifice, too. Trevor left an awesome teaching job he had with a coding school because of me. He really loved doing it even though it was additional time on top of his full-time job, but the timing wasn’t great for me so he lovingly sacrificed that for us. Celebrities can do that too. And they have.
I’ve read about celebrities who pass up on gigs or fully put off their career for their family. That’s a big deal in Hollywood when you think about it because they might lose their momentum if they want to make it to the A-list, however, it also works out fine for celebrities too! Take Kristen Bell for example, she had some rom coms one right after another a few years ago, and then we hadn’t really heard from her as much because she has been starting a family. I was really impressed with her in this article about how she doesn’t want to put her family on hold right now, so she carefully considers each script she is offered. But she still is going strong with new roles, and of course - Frozen! The same thing happened with Trevor– He now has a different kind of job teaching about advanced coding and he gets to do it at home on his own time :)
I have so much respect for famous couples who can make their marriage strong and lasting! It takes such hard work in the first place but to have all these other hurdles they have to jump through that affect the quality of their marriage is truly enduring. The rest of the world shouldn’t lose faith in marriage just because a handful of celebrity couples have been divorcing. Instead, I think it’s an opportunity for us to appreciate our own marriage and all its normalcy, haha.
- I’m so grateful that we aren’t famous.
- I’m so grateful that people aren’t out to get me or my marriage for their own career.
- I’m so grateful to know that if Trevor and I don’t make it (WHEN HELL FREEZES OVER!) we wouldn’t have to deal with the world poking at it!
- I’m so grateful that Trevor and I have the same goals and priorities about our family.
That’s it. Now let’s rejoice that the divorce rumors weren’t true about Will and Jada (happy emoji)