For some reason, I found the report of Madonna and Guy Richie’s impending divorce sad. It’s not as if it’s a surprise, the average length of a celebrity marriage coming in around two years. No, by Hollywood standards their eight year union really should have earned them some sort of sparkly award. 
Nor is it my long history of admiration for the Material Girl, beginning with my first pair of fingerless lace gloves in the seventh grade, continuing with an unforgettable trip to L.A. to see her in concert, and alive to this day for her phenomenal ability to reinvent herself and make a statement–even if I don’t always agree with what she has to say.
No, I think this particular bit of melancholy has everything to do with the death of a relationship, the romance and promise that surrounded the beginning now stripped down to the legalities and ugliness that are sure to mark the demise. A family will be no more, kids sure to be shuttled between the two and sentimental keepsakes shipped off to seperate homes.
The pressure on a celebrity marriage must be of biblical proportions, yet some how we assume that if anyone can pull it off, it will be the larger than life individuals for whom life seems charmed at times.
Maybe that’s what makes romance novels invaluable–at least, one of the reasons anyway. The hero and heroine are larger than life, but they struggle just like you and me. And they fail, just like you and me. And, ultimately, they figure things out–in sweeping, romantic form no less–just like you and me.
Poor Madonna and her Guy. They both could use a good read right now. Suggestion anyone?
How right you are! All that hope and promise gone like smoke in the wind. Too bad they weren’t reading romance novels. Like life, they teach that happy ever-afters don’t just happen — we have to work for them.
Meant to suggest Flowers From the Storm by Laura Kinsale….the H/H really had their work cut out for them — which made the ending so fabulous.
I’m amazed it’s been eight years — for celebrities, that’s probably like 20 for normal couples.
Hearing what keeps long-married celebrities together is always fascinating. Even though their “tips for a good marriage” don’t seem any different from those quoted by 50th-anniversary couples in the local paper, it seems more important because of who’s saying it!
Great post, Stephanie ~~ If I were writing the Madonna and Guy story I’d assume they were not calling it quits but at the Black Moment of their romance — when all seems lost but, if they both put that extra effort into the relationship they could have a HEA. Unfortunately in real life that doesn’t always happen but it’s the possibility of it happening that keepers readers turning the pages on romance or relationship novels, and hoping, in real life, that couples who have children and weathered eight years together could find that happy ending. Thanks for a thought provoking blog!
~~ Mary B
Wonderful post!
Maybe Guy and Madonna could’ve picked up a few tips from Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward.
A friend who went for marriage counseling quit after the counselor told her to “stop reading romance novels because they’re giving you unrealistic expectations.” Instead she stuck with her marriage a few more months, then gave up and took off with a new guy.
I always hoped the counselor would hear about it and change to better advice.
Best,
Emily
Maybe reading Persuasion by Jane Austen would help? It’s pretty much about second chances
(or any jane austen book since they’re all great ^^)