Mendes & Winslett – The Relief of an Amicable Split

Sad news today that the enormously talented movie director Sam Mendes and Oscar-winning actress, Kate Winslet have split up after seven years of marriage. But this time, instead of a string of sordid text messages being to blame and without the scandal of a string of infidelities, the split is said to be ‘amicable’ – and fans of celeb news can breathe a sigh of relief!

It’s a timely reminder that sometimes a relationship can lose its chemistry naturally and over time. It reminds us also that for a relationship to capsize, it doesn’t necessarily need the burden of salacious gossip. It can happen as a process of time. Sometimes, as naturally as people fall in love, they can just as naturally fall out of it once again. It is sad, but it happens.

Watching Live From Studio Five yesterday after a long day at work, I saw a showbiz journalist from Heat magazine had been called in to discuss the split with the hosts – Ian Wright, Jayne Middlemiss and Kate Walsh. What was amusing was that they only had the same news story to go on as everyone else – a simple and non-intrusive press release from the couple’s agents. As a result, because they were without the tittle tattle of the tabloids, they were left adrift, unable to read between any lines. When they hadn’t been provided with juicy gossip to speculate on, the story died in the media’s arms.

It’s often tempting to become involved in discussions on celebrity break ups. It’s even sometimes tempting to mock, or at least to devour every nasty detail to distract us from our own problems. But we lose sight of the fact that these people are just that. They are people, with feelings and normal human compulsions. The cartoon representation of the ‘love-rats’ Mark Owen and Ashley Cole and the tragicomic representations of their partners – Emma Owen and Cheryl Cole – are simplistic and inaccurate portrayals of real people. To treat them as anything else is to make ourselves just as shallow as the tabloids.

Looking at the case of Winslet and Mendes, it’s gratifying to see a relationship ending with something approaching grace and dignity. Perhaps it’s down to the fact that they work in a world that is far removed from football and pop music and have agents that are able to protect them from the gossip pages, but thankfully this relieves us of page after page of worthless news print. We are now aware that the two aren’t an item, and that is all we need to know. It is also healthier for them, as the process of becoming single again is made far easier if the whole world isn’t watching waiting for the next development. After all, becoming single again after a devoted marriage can be difficult enough as it is.