The demise of Jen and Brad

Sorry to hear it's officially over with Brad and Jen ... seriously. Ordinarily, I don’t give a whit about celebrity couplings. I assume that movie stars who can remain married for the time it takes to go from one end of a red carpet to the other are considered soul mates in Hollywood. Anniversary celebrations are often held after successful fortnights together. Bride and groom usually exchange vows on their Blackberries.

But Brad and Jen were different, or so I had hoped. They were classier and more dignified than most. They didn’t cultivate attention, provoke the paparazzi or make a nation queasy with their high-profile antics. They seemed genuinely in love, and as a result they threatened to shatter the image of Hollywood marriages being institutions as steadfast as Enron and WorldCom.

Alas, it was not to be. After making their separation public in January, I was hoping Brad and Jen wouldn't end up in Splitsville. They had been wed only four and a half years. They produced several feature films as well as many episodes of “Friends,” but no offspring. They will probably divide their property evenly, in keeping with California law, which means instead of each being set for life a thousand times over, it will be only half that.

The pressures of celebrity undoubtedly are what tore their union asunder. When you’re young, beautiful, wealthy, famous and successful, you venture out of your luxury compound at your own risk. Temptation is as ubiquitous as billboards for “Desperate Housewives.”

Rumors abound
There has been talk that Brad and Angelina Jolie had a thing going, even if it was only over the phone. Angelina on the phone is probably more torrid than 50 women just released from prison. It could be that Brad interrupted telephone conversations with Jen by using his “vixen waiting” feature once too often. A wife knows these things.

It seems Brad and Jen had some friction over the issue of children. Brad, 41, wants kids. Jen, 34, doesn’t, at least not now. She reportedly became angry when Brad pointed out that Angelina, who is 29, has been a good mother to her adopted son Maddox while at the same time pursuing a movie career. What Brad was suggesting, in effect, is that Jen should look at Angelina as a role model. Whether he was pushing for tattoos, a vial of his blood around her neck and an uncomfortably close relationship with a male sibling is unclear.

There were constant rumors about Jen being pregnant. Anytime she wore a loose-fitting outfit, people would congratulate her. If she skipped having a glass of wine at dinner, people figured there had to be a bun in the oven.  If she was at a party and went home early, eyebrows would be raised that she was just resting for two now. I don’t think anyone would have blamed Jen if she rebelled from all the speculation by donning skin-tight outfits, drinking heavily and dancing until dawn. I know I wouldn’t.

But Angelina and pregnancy speculation couldn’t have been the only negative influences on their marriage. There must have been other factors that caused Brad and Jen to untie the knot.

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