Ben Affleck's no stranger to Oscar speeches, but when he took the stage to accept the award for Best Picture for Argo, he was able to thank someone he probably didn't even know when he and Matt Damon won Best Screenplay in 1998: His wife. In a totally genuine, possibly telling moment, Ben thanked Jennifer Garner for "working on our marriage for 10 Christmases. It's good ... it IS work, but it's the best kind of work ... and there's no one I'd rather work with." Awww!
While the little ditty actually got some people clucking about if this indicates the two are having trouble at home, it struck me as completely romantic ... because it was incredibly honest.
I feel like we go to serious extremes when it comes to how we see celebrity relationships ... They're either totally mismatched and ill-fated (see: most reality star couples, Taylor Swift and anyone) or so perfect and meant-to-be that we could never see them calling it quits (see: Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, Amy Poehler and Will Arnett until they did split ...). We'd tend to file Ben and Jen (2.0) under the latter, so Ben admitting that they "work" on their marriage shatters the idea that they're perfect, flawless. That they have so much fame and money and credibility in Hollywood, that they must obviously also have a happy, effortless marriage. But that's NUTS!
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Celebrity or not, no one has that. From what I can tell from friends who have been married four years, my parents who have been married almost 40, or my grandparents who were married over 60 years, every "good" marriage takes work. It's because of that work that you grow together, you learn, you evolve as a person and as partners. If you can commit to working together through harder, tougher times, you come out even stronger.
That said, it sounds like Ben and Jen have one of the most down-to-earth, grounded, and REAL marriages in Hollywood. And that definitely makes it aspirational.
Check out the speech here if you missed it ...
What did you think of what Ben said about his marriage? Do you agree "working on a marriage" is actually more romantic than it sounds?
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Comments 14
Maybe he was just thanking her for being married to him for 10 yrs...we all know marriage isnt easy...I dont think it is telling us anything deep really...I dont think she would pop out 3 kids with him if it was bad....or maybe I am wrong.who knows.
I thought it was so sweet and honest. They seem like such a great couple.
I sincerely hope you are right. I had a flashback, though, to an interview Brad Pitt did when he described marriage to Jennifer Anniston as more "work" than he thought. He was within Angelina soon after....
I do not understand "picking apart" and "analyzing" everything people say. With that said, it doesn't matter why he said it. The truth is that if you want a marriage and a family, it is work. Both people have to be committed to make it work. So, eureka! It takes work to stay in a marriage. Sadly, an awful lot of people - celebrities and common folks - just refuse to work at it.