Thank goodness for the televisions in my gym, otherwise I'd never know what was going on in this world. After all, it wasn't until mid-week that the Today Show -- my regular purveyor of news (hey, I'm a work-from-home mama with a deployed husband), started broadcasting breaking updates about the pending wedding of Tom Cruise and his baby-momma Katie Holmes.
Journalists, however, have been camped out in front of a castle in Bracciano, Italy, a half-hour north of Rome, for a full five days. Tough gig. You can bet that the pre-wedding coverage has put that little town on the map, too. Cash cows for the region will, no doubt, henceforth include everything from the bed where "TomKat" slept to the bidet they reportedly used. I'm sure Bracciano Mayor Patrizia Riccioni is wetting her pants with joy.
Don't get me wrong. They're a beautful couple -- and I certainly wish them well. I'm particularly glad that Cruise has finally agreed to impart some legitimacy to little Suri and his girlfriend , even if it is a full seven months after their daughter was born. One can only hope that unlike most couples, Mr. and Mrs. Mapother will somehow beat the overwhelming odds fighting against this, his third, marriage.
Not that Cruise has been a hound dog, as we say in the South. Far from it. He was married to actress Mimi Rogers for 33 months then Nicole Kidman for 11 years, followed by two years with girlfriend Penelope Cruz. In Hollywood terms, that's serious commitment. And he's marrying Holmes just a little more than a year after the two were first spotted together in Rome.
Of course, he also has a tendency to trade these gals in for younger and younger models, every few years. But, like they say about Elizabeth Taylor -- at least the guy believes in marriage.
With so much attention focused on Holme's dress (reportedly a cream Armani); the many celebrities in attendance (everybody and their dog -- but not Oprah) and the ancient castle where the wedding is supposed to take place tomorrow, one certainly has to wonder, whether anyone has spent any time on the relationship rather than the wedding.
If they're like most newlyweds, no one has. Elaborate, extravagant weddings have become the norm in this country. But for some reason, we still can't seem to stay married.
In 2000, the U.S. Census Bureau ceased to ask about marriage and divorce for more than 80 percent of all households, which makes divorce data incredibly hard to collect these days. (I guess nobody likes bad news.) Prior statistics, however, reveal that first marriages have approximately a 45 chance of survival. That number plummets to just 28 percent for second marriages. And third marriages? According to statistics, only 15 percent will survive. And that's without the pressures of Hollywood, where the two short years that Britney Spears and K-Fed remained married (or the three that Nick and Jessica did) can seem like a lifetime.
Think I'm exagerrating?
- Tori Spelling and Charlie Shanian: 15 months
- Chad Michael Murray and Sophia Bush: 5 months
- Renee Zellweger and Kenny Chesney: 4 months
These are just the first few that come to mind. Clearly, serial polygamy is alive and well in Hollywood.
