As I sit in my office cubicle, sulking about my love life (or should I say the lack thereof), I try to distract myself with Facebook. Bad idea, as it turns out. My newsfeed seems to be replete with just two things: annoying updates from the guys it never worked out with, and news stories about yet another celebrity couple, Brangelina – as they’re fondly called – filing for divorce.
And this little piece of information is enough for the media and my own friends to go on a ranting spree. Headlines like, “Oh No! This Hollywood Couple Decided To Part Ways,” and “Brangelina to separate. Does love even exist?” swarmed my timeline.
Case in point being reports like these:
Here’s another one:
The news reports also mention how 2016 has been THE WORST YEAR FOR LOVE and list ”43 Couples Who Have Called It Quits This Year” which include the likes of JLo, Lady Gaga, Tom Hiddleton, Arbaaz-Malaika closer home, and now, Brangelina – the couple that was together for 11 years. 11 LONG YEARS, full of – I’m sure – some amazing life-altering moments.
If such ‘perfect’ people are also calling it quits, where does this leave mere mortals like us, we wonder.
And this is what I find problematic.
As soon as a celebrity starts dating another celebrity, we turn them into #RelationshipGoals. Public appearances together, vacation photos splashed all over the internet and articles about ‘Perfect celeb couples that restore our faith in love’ only add to our fancy notion of love.
But what we don’t realise is that we are seeing their life through tonnes of Instagram and Snapchat filters. At the end of the day, they too are people just like you and me, trying to work things out.
To picture and idolize a relationship only through the many highlights posted on social media and tabloids is not only stupid but also unreal. Because these mediums don’t talk about the nights they cry to sleep, the fights that go on for days or the arguments that never really get sorted.
Brangelina broke up. Is it sad? Sure. Should it shackle your faith in relationships? Hell no!
We really need to stop looking for our fairytale endings in celebrities. They’re only human. Just like you and me.
Feature Image via yigitozcakmak.tumblr.com
