Brangelina is Dead. Get Over It

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, dubbed Brangelina by the adoring public, are iconic, practically synonymous with modern Hollywood royalty. Their twelve-year relationship has been documented fervently by paparazzi and followed obsessively by fans. This glorification of celebrities and their relationships and the toxicity of the tabloid culture are an unhealthy obsession that speaks to the larger truth of what we value as a society: material wealth and beauty.

No couple has ever inspired so many devoted followers with the allure of their beauty and fame. From Brad Pitt’s divorce with Jennifer Aniston, Brangelina’s wedding in France, to their untimely divorce, neither the tabloids nor the crazed fans have missed a thing. So naturally, when one member of a couple filed for a sudden divorce, rumors of infidelity and child abuse ran rampant. Angelina Jolie filing for divorce has exploded into what might just be the biggest tabloid story ever told.

Celebrities are put on pedestals. They are transformed from everyday people to larger than life characters. And no pedestal was higher than Brangelina’s. So many people are guilty of apotheosizing  celebrities, and it seems completely harmless until a celebrity’s personal freedoms and privacy are compromised.

Angelina Jolie’s probably devastating decision to file for divorce from Brad Pitt is nobody’s business but her own.  People sit and watch them through a glass wall, pretending to know everything that occurs behind the scenes. However, the reality is we can never truly know everything about others, as much as we might try.

Instead of spending time judging and labelling Angelina Jolie as a “homewrecker” and Brad Pitt as a “bad father”, focus on things that truly matter.