STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

tara t · Marc Jacobs

i have a theory RE: hollywood divorces

Maddie · Coach

My theory is slightly different, but similar. I think most people would agree that it takes more than love to hold a relationship together. Celebrities may have the ability to fall in love, but they are lacking the incentives to make a relationship work that most of us have. When you're rich, hot, and famous, the consequences for ending a relationship are so much less than for a regular person. Therefore, it takes an particularly strong relationship to make it last when the only think holding you together is love.

Dizzy · Marc Jacobs

I don't know, as someone whose been married and divorced, I just can't be that cynical about it. I think celbrities have so many more pressures that their relationships are more fragile. And seriously, the official divorce rate is 50 percent, but that includes older people, who have a much lower rate. For the age group of celebrities, they're probably not that much more prone to divorce than the rest of us. Well, I don't know, maybe a bit more prone. I think the average is three marriages? That is pretty bad. But I still don't think they're actually cold enough to be looking at each relationship as disposable.

kenzie · Chanel

I agree, to an extent. But they have different pressures than the rest of us. Many times they work insane hours and lots of times they aren't in the same time zone as their SO's for months, sometimes years at time. In addition to shooting, they also have press junkets (sp??) and PR events to attend. Some do more than just act; they are singers, designers, etc. I think the life of a star can get pretty crazy and sometimes they might not deal with it too well.

I'd imagine that shooting a film is kind of like the first few months of college. Everything and everyone is new and exciting. You're in a new place, meeting new people and working intense hours. And suddenly you're dating your fellow cast member. But then the excitement and adrenaline wears off and you realize you hate that person. Just a thought.

And Dizzy's point is a good one. Perhaps it seems that their divorce rate is higher, but the divorce rate in America is on the rise and it's moving up faster and faster. So, maybe they are just representative of what's going on in the rest of America. They're just unfortunate to go through it in the public eye.

Not that I'm excusing their behavior. I'm not. Just pointing out another side of the argument.

-- Edited by NylaBelle at 16:41, 2005-09-27

Christine · Coach

I agree with many points that have already been said, especially with Dizzy about the fact that their relationships are under a different, more intense kind of stress than non-celebs are. The media alone, by constantly spreading rumors (whether based on truth or not) and doctoring photos to make it always look like someone is cheating, is often enough stress to kill what seems like a strong relationship. Mostly, I feel bad for them. I'm sure that many celebs truly want to find love, but it's so hard for their relationships to stay strong due to both external and internal factors.

halleybird · Hermes

don't forget that having a wedding and a divorce is a surefire way to get the public's interest and stay there.

I am not saying everyone in Hollywood thinks this way, but I am sure some of them do.

lynnie · Chanel

i think its a combo of all of them- too much money results in a life of excitement tinged with ennui, then add on the undeniable hotness, stressful schedules, and changing attitudes toward marriage in general

blink · Coach

one additional problem along the same lines is that celebrities have many more voices of opinion pounding on their minds than we do. I am sure that sometimes there are "seeds of doubt" planted in their heads by people who work around them who have an agenda or who just don't mind their own business. I believe that while money makes it easier to get divorced, the real problem is that their whole self is in the public eye. There are plenty of multi-millionaires in long term marriages, but they aren't constantly on magazine covers or in the news.

-- Edited by lorelei at 11:45, 2005-09-28

scarlett · Marc Jacobs

i think there are a lot of good points here. it also seems to me that the only marriages in hollywoood that really make it are the ones where one person puts their career in the backseat and lets their spouse be the one with the bigger fame/work/etc. or, it also seems to be the couples who aren't into going out all the time and being seen at hot parties are the ones who make it. example: susan sarandon and tim robbins have been together for a long time and aren't even married, but you don't hear about them boogying down at bungalow 6 or grabbing swag bags at the latest motorola sponsored event.