Think of your favorite celebrity couple, what it is that you love about them and why you love them so much. Now imagine that couple publicly announcing that they are splitting up. The devastation this brings to fans is hard, real and makes people believe that ‘love is dead.’
At this point, almost everyone who tunes into celebrity news and gossip has heard about the split between Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan Tatum. Fans have been freaking out over this news and have declared that if these two could not stay together, then love must officially be ‘dead.’
Tatum and Dewan both posted a statement to their social media accounts that they were separating on April 2.
“We have lovingly chosen to separate as a couple,” the statement said. “Absolutely nothing has changed about how much we love one another, but love is a beautiful adventure that is taking us on different paths for now.”
Elite Daily sought out the help of psychotherapist LeslieBeth Wish to figure out why we as a general public feel that ‘love is dead’ after we hear a beloved couple has broken up. Wish explains that celebrity lives are so intertwined with our lives that it is hard to not get attached and emotionally invested in them.
“The visual power of movies, fan magazines, then television and then social media has transformed stars into role models,” Wish said. “We turn to stars who are bigger than life on screen to inspire us, allow us to live vicariously, and to compare our own relationships and partners to them.”
This would explain why we feel personally connected to celebrities in general, and more specifically, celebrity couples.
Elite Daily also received information from licensed professional counselor and sex therapist Sarah Watson about our obsession with celebrity couples. There is an overwhelming opinion that celebrities are flawless and have it all—this is why we assume that everything in their life must be perfect, including their relationships, Watson said.
“We project our wants and needs onto them and believe that, ‘if these two people can figure it out, so can I,’” Watson said.
On the other side of the spectrum, however, when celebrity couples do not last, we still view it as a reflection of our own lives, according to Watson.
“If two people who seemingly have access to the best of the best, how come they can’t figure it out? ‘If they can’t I never will,’” Watson said.
Tatum and Dewan are not the first couple to make us feel like there is no hope for love, according to E News. Other couples who made people feel this way include: Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston and Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner.
Based on all of this information, it is no wonder fans around the world are convinced that ‘love is dead’ after the breakup of Tatum and Dewan—or any beloved celebrity couple. These two lovebirds, who first met on the set of Step It Up and stole our hearts, are now breaking the hearts of people everywhere.
Whether you are upset by this or could not care less, just remember that Tatum and Dewan are still people, and just because these two could not work things out does not mean that ‘love is dead’ for you too.