In a news post that might be the plot of a web-drama by some college-age Tumblr kid, it’s been revealed that a newlywed couple in Saudi Arabia’s marriage lasted a sum total of less than 24 hours because “the bride… wouldn’t stop texting her friends.” In perhaps the most memorable moment of the seven sentence news release, we learn that the groom “also didn’t like the answer he got when he asked her if her friends were more important than him.” That’s like, worse than getting friend-zoned, and he’s her husband. Ellen DeGeneres should hit this couple up.
Apparently, the bride also rejected his attempts at intimacy, igniting the groom’s decision to get ask for a divorce. The last sentence tells the whole story, though: “The case went to a reconciliation committee, but the groom wasn’t interested in saving the marriage.” I mean, what was there to save?
Why do I feel like the headline should have been “Millennials prove extremely bad at choosing mates” Subtitled, “no one shocked, considering general lack of personal interaction among them.” And yet, like the moment in The Office when Michael Scott tells Kevin “I’m not sure whether to make a fat joke or a dumb joke,” I’m not sure whether this story is an indictment of my generation or of the news.
On the one hand, everyone knows Millennials have a problem sustaining meaningful relationships. Sherry Turkle. I don’t even need to cite her books or anything. Her name is enough at this point.
On the other hand, not since Neil Postman have we had any truly incisive critiques of the news. I mean yeah, Noam Chomsky or whatever. But this story brings up a number of questions that transcend the mere content of the story. I’m looking for the next Amusing Ourselves to Death. I’m looking for the next Hannah Arendt and “Anchormen in Washington: A Report on the Banality of Like, Everything.”
Any takers?
