Pop Culture

Grimaldi: People live vicariously through celebrity couples

Celebrity couples are an American religion. They’re as old as cinema itself, from Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford to Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. We’re completely fascinated and invested in them.

Last year, I went on an emotional rollercoaster ride when Will Arnett divorced Amy Poehler and then rejoiced when Amy got together with Nick Kroll.

We’re all conditioned to believe that the most important thing in life is to find a spouse and settle down. Celebrities, however busy they are, have similar expectations thrust upon them more heavily by the media. It’s like if they’re in relationships, the public “deserves to know.” That need-to-know attitude even affected George Clooney when news of his engagement to famed lawyer Amal Alamuddin leaked last week.

Until recently, Clooney was synonymous with bachelorhood. In the 90s, he became infamous for his boyish charms and his refusal to settle down. That’s his brand, or rather, it was. Now at 52, his image is decidedly different. A more politically responsible Clooney is producing dry, boring historical movies like “The Monuments Men,” backing causes and taking on enfeebled roles like in “The Descendants” and “Up in the Air.” Because of societal demands, Clooney’s engagement has gone public, assuring the public that deep down, maybe Clooney is just like us.

It’s worth noting that Clooney is engaged to a lawyer, not a movie star or model. It’s part of the package that he’s taking himself more seriously and finally growing up.



When we see their faces on screen, we have a natural curiosity to look beyond the character and find out more detail about public figures.

Despite how much we all love love, and want our favorite celebrities to experience it, their relationships have a façade, and are packaged for our consumption. The package is labeled — heterosexual, good-looking and married. If couples aren’t married, we demand to know when they will get married, just like your nosy aunt at Thanksgiving.

Beyoncé and Jay Z faced this for years. “ ’03 Bonnie and Clyde” was the official establishment of Beyonce and Jay Z as a “ride or die” couple, resulting in a storm of requests as to when they were going to get married. It wasn’t until 2008 that they had their wedding. Now six years later with a child, Beyonce and Jay Z are a reigning power couple. Beyonce’s visual album, while liberating and feminist, involved a lot of her marriage and fed a public need for the understanding of the couple. Her last tour was called the Mrs. Carter tour, highlighting her identity as a wife. The couple also just announced a new tour together called “On the Run.”

Just as the nuclear family is at the crux of culture, it’s also the cornerstone of pop culture. Judd Apatow, known mostly for his crude, yet brilliant comedies, casted his wife, Leslie Mann, and daughters as major roles in his comedy “This Is 40.” He has stated the story is closely based on his own family and marriage. So he literally packaged a story about him and his wife, a well-known Hollywood couple, into a two-hour movie.

We’re influenced to want to settle down and start families. So we want the same things for our favorite stars. I admit to loving it when my favorite celebrities get together because I can live vicariously through them. No matter how much we cling to these stories of makeups and breakups, we can’t forget it’s all to appease our cultural need for a happy Hollywood ending.

Cassie-lee Grimaldi is a senior television, radio and film major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at [email protected] and reached on Twitter @cassiegrimaldi.

 





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