Editor’s note: Jill Filipovich is a New York-based journalist andOK Boomer, Let’s Talk: How My Generation Was Left Behind” follow her on twitterThe opinions expressed in this commentary are solely her own.opinion more opinions on CNN.
CNN
—
Legendary NFL quarterback Tom Brady and supermodel Gisele Bundchen divorceAlready, the media speculation machine is in full swing and everyone wants a reason.
I can understand the guesswork (I also want to know why famous and beautiful couples break up after 13 years). And given the couple’s celebrity status, an intrusion into a painful and personal moment for them is to be expected, even if it’s rather rude and unfriendly.
But I suspect the public interest in Brady and Bündchen’s divorce may come from the fact that this couple’s split hits the perfect celebrity sweet spot…an imminent relevance dynamic.
Brady and Bündchen occupied the rare arena of celebrity, as long as they’re both among America’s most famous personalities, but both are seen more often than they’re heard. Sure, they made occasional media appearances, but their fame is a reminder of what increasingly feels like American celebrity is a bygone era. When people were famous for their incredible talent (or, in Bundchen’s case, their incredible beauty and intuitive sense of how to make them) the camera captures it).
Some of America’s most famous people are TikTok teens and self-proclaimed “housewives,” whose quick plans to become dominant famous are by radically over-exposing themselves on social media. In a seemingly saturated era of reality TV, Brady and Bündchen cast a much more dignified profile.
Frankly, we don’t know much about their daily lives (I had to google how many kids they had), and what we know – no nightshade dietBrady’s fake newspaperhis elementary school bedtime details, “Celebrities: They’re Not Like Us,” make them somewhere between attractive, ambitious, and charming Batty.
Brady’s obvious reputation as a conservative politician. and his previous friendliness Former President Donald Trump threatened to reduce him to the status of a mere mortal, at least among his more liberal fans, until he sidestepped Trump’s offer of public assistance. The Bündchen unit kept its minted gold aura.
But their divorce may only make them real in the public mind. I think that the That issue arose when Brady announced he was retiring, but he didn’t. Bündchen’s official statement is a response to concerns about Brady’s health as he plays the dangerous sport and hopes that he will spend more time with his family after years of sacrificing so that he can succeed professionally. It shows what you want.
For many heterosexual couples, this dynamic is both familiar and frustrating. Women who stepped back to care for their children and make sure their husbands succeed – and underestimate the sacrifice A husband who doesn’t seem to be and continues to push far professionally when needed at the expense of his family.
For much of Brady and Bündchen’s marriage, both were at the top of their esteemed fields. Bündchen is one of the most famous supermodels on the planet, and Brady may be the greatest quarterback of all time. , Bündchen visibly reshaped his professional life when he had children, whereas Brady did not. I took a step back from modeling.” Bundchen wrote In her memoir Lessons Learned: My Path to a Meaningful Life.
She certainly didn’t stop working. However, she retired from the runway and focused more on photography. Strongly, while waiting for him to retire at a reasonable point in his career, he also seemed concerned that football was taking a toll on his body. This is a very violent sport and I have a child and I want him to be more present.” she told Elle magazine in September“I definitely had conversations with him over and over again.”
Brady also says his wife is largely responsible for managing their lives so that he can play the sport he loves, but it seems like it changed his professional decisions. “I think my wife has held the house for a long time.” Brady said on his podcast last year“And I think she has things she wants to accomplish. You know, she’s been working very little for the last 10, 12 years, trying to raise a family, focus on her life in Boston, Then I moved to Florida.But it’s a problem and a very difficult one to reconcile without saying ‘it’s time to retire’.And I think we’re nearing the end here too. So I don’t want to miss the children’s stuff.
But Brady, unlike his wife, continues to move forward at full speed. “I haven’t had Christmas in his 23 years, no Thanksgiving in 23 years.” He said About a recent episode of his podcast. “I’ve never celebrated a birthday with someone significant to me who was born between August and late January. And I can’t attend the funeral or the wedding.” Said He believes he can play until he’s 50 – the oldest kids at that point (he also has a 15-year-old son) with actress Bridget Moynahan) grows.
In an interview with Elle, Bündchen thinks she feels close to the sheer number of married heterosexual women who spent their 30s and 40s on the front of the house and supporting their husbands’ careers. I caught the emotion. Next? “I have done my part. [to] stay there [Tom],” Bundchen told Elle“I moved to Boston and focused on creating a cocooning and loving environment for my children to grow up and support him and his dreams. To see him become such a beautiful little human being, to see him succeed, and to be fulfilled in his career – it makes me happy. I feel that I have done a good job on
However, she added: “I have a huge list of things I have to do and want to do.”
When women go through this life stage change and the issues of purpose associated with it, it can be a big change for families, and women often step up so that men can get something. In the same way, husbands need to step up for their own aspirations. they want in life. However, often this give and take is just a take.
We don’t know what happened behind closed doors in the Brady-Bündchen family, and it’s unlikely that this divorce happened overnight. Like most marital discordit is perhaps the result of years of minor disagreements, disagreements and resentments that eventually coalesced into a mass of misfortune that surpassed all other good things.
But part of the human fascination with celebrities is projection and aspiration. Celebrities end up as avatars of our own desires, jealousies, ambitions, and insecurities. What we’ve pulled from official statements, and the stories we’ve gleaned, tell us a little bit about their marriage.