Every girl’s dream: a big white wedding with Prince Charming. This idea has changed a bit throughout the years.

Case in point: Kim Kardashian’s four-hour wedding special extensively covered by E! News. Cameras filled the wedding’s venue — nothing screams true love like the cameraman walking you down the isle. The happy couple couldn’t even go on their ‘dream’ honeymoon due to work commitments — as in photo shoots and interviews — that started days after the wedding.

The institution of marriage has turned into a commercial excuse for grandeur and attention. Nowadays, magazines bid for the ‘first’ picture of the married celebrity couple. In 2007, a Forbes article detailed the 20 most expensive celebrity weddings, as if it’s a game to see who can waste the most money.

The article stated that many women feel dissatisfied if their man doesn’t spend three months’ salary on the perfect ring, even though the diamond engagement ring was nothing more than an advertising scheme created by De Beers diamond jewelers after World War II. I guess love and supposed eternal commitment isn’t enough. All you need is a big, shiny diamond.

This unquenchable obsession with consumerism is exemplified by VH1’s television show ’40 Most Shocking Breakups,’ devoted to chronicling this new industry of divorce. Is the general public so enthralled with celebrities that they have to see their heartbreaks?

But these issues affect others outside of Hollywood. A proposed law in Mexico aimed to reduce the rate of divorce. This legislature suggested creating a two-year marriage contract, according to an Oct. 8 article by The Vancouver Sun. After that trial period, the couple would decide to stick it out or file for a quick and easy divorce. Before the legal marriage, every couple would need to agree on how property, alimony and child custody would be split should the marriage be unsuccessful. How romantic — honey, I love you so much, but if we break up, I’m keeping the dog.

People who follow celebrity gossip also obsess about celebrities cheating. Cheating seems to have bombarded the celeb news sites and has made infidelity more commonplace. Considering Ashton and Demi, Will and Jada, Jennifer and Mark, Ryan and Scarlett, it’s getting out of control.

It makes you wonder if celebrities can be blamed for the naturalization of cheating and divorce. It’s a common assumption that celebrity marriages don’t last, and those that do are celebrated for defying the odds. Chances are I’ll be seeing Kim Kardashian’s second wedding special in a couple of years.

Jessica Wiggs is a sophomore English and textual studies major. Her column appears every Monday and she can be reached at jawiggs@syr.edu.

Published on October 23, 2011 at 12:00 pm