Hollywood Romance – Stranger Than Fiction
Posted on May 3, 2009
Filed Under East meets West, Guest Columnist | 3 Comments
By Susan L Stackpole
Love is the stuff of which dreams, and movies, are made. Hollywood romance proves that life is often stranger than fiction. Celebrity relationships like Brangelina and Tomcat sell millions of tabloids, while films like When Harry Met Sally, Notting Hill, and The Holiday shine like beacons of hope for the masses advocating that dreams, no matter how seemingly impossible, do come true.
Does Hollywood glitz and glamour influence celebrity marriages? Britney Spears tumultuous relationship history starting with Justin Timberlake through her divorce from Kevin Federline begs the question if she is a typical or troubled twenty something? Elizabeth Taylor’s notorious eight marriages suggest that perhaps the twists and turns of Hollywood notoriety make it more practical to choose a Mr. or Ms. Right Now versus Mr. or Ms. Forever. The dissolution of couples like Mario Lopez and Ali Landry and Lisa Marie Presley and Nicolas Cage cause one to wonder if the spoils of Hollywood also sour the sweetest of relationships.
Shakespeare pontificated that “all the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players.†Is love real or just another part our entertainers play? We watched as Brad Pitt dated Gwenyth Paltrow, married Jennifer Aniston, eventually divorcing and marrying Angelina Jolie. Brangelina was born, and continues to woo the media. Fans were stunned when Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman split, though both have happily remarried and started families. Tom Cruise’s enthusiastic declaration of love for Katie Holmes on Oprah ignited the fury of attention to Tomkat, which still dominates the covers of popular magazines.
Whirlwind love means even more dizzying divorce. Heather Mills reportedly received upwards of five million dollars in her less than amicable divorce settlement following her six year marriage to legend Paul McCartney. Madonna, original wild child, shocked the world when she married Guy Ritchie in 2000, surprising people again when she filed for divorce in 2008. Guy stands to receive one of the biggest divorce settlements in history. Beauty and celebrity upbringing is no guarantee against heartbreak, as witnessed by Christy Brinkley and Lisa Marie Presley’s numerous divorces.
Alternatively, films like “Gone with the Windâ€, “Romeo & Juliet,â€, “Dirty Dancingâ€, “Pretty Woman, “Titanicâ€, “the Notebookâ€, and even Pixar’s “Wall-E†illustrate love’s phenomenal power to usurp social boundaries. Unsuspecting lovers cross oceans and galaxies in epic tales of grandiosity just for to taste the pleasures of forbidden love and true destiny. Real-life couples like Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore, Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn, and Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Zones suggest that love knows no limits. Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell along with Gene Simmons and Shannon Tweed serve as examples that love strengthens over time, even without a marriage license.
Hollywood relationships, whether on screen or in reality, makes one question if love is blind or does it simply allow people to transcend limits to believe that all things possible? Media attention on romantic movies and Hollywood relationships confirms that deep down, whether willing to admit it or not, everyone wants the fairy tale. Here’s to happily ever after.
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3 Responses to “Hollywood Romance – Stranger Than Fiction”
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Love, romance, poor celebs.
Not only do they have to deal with their love affair with themselves!
The love affair with a partner or multi….oy
They have the love/hate affair of their fans.
Unimaginable!!!
Washing your linen in public…
Amazing how interested we are in the private lives of celebrities. Are their private lives really that different than our own? I’m not sure. Your article is nicely written. I’m sure about one thing. We Americans will keep reading about the Celebs forever….no matter what they do, we keep reading! Thanks for a great post!
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love is gifited by god