It's Complicated

Today my daughter Alexis told me about a new movie she had just seen, called "It's Complicated." It was about a couple who had gotten divorced ten years earlier, who fell back in love with each other. She said that the grown children, at the end, began bawling because they were so upset that their parents had re-united. They said, "We're still trying to get over the last breakup." Sounds complicated, all right. The good thing in my opinion, is that the movie addressed a real life situation. In my experience as a divorce lawyer, spouses sometimes do get back together once they have moved on, tried someone else, and realized it's not all it's cracked up to be. And children are always upset when their parents split up, no matter how old they are.

Over the holiday I watched "Four Christmases" with Reese Witherspoon and Vince Bond. It was about a couple who diligently avoids marriage...and their divorced parents over the holiday. When bad weather grounds them from their usual holiday get-away, their families learn that they are in town. Then the couple is "stuck" visiting four groups (each one's parents and significant others). The movie was funny, but what I liked best about it was that it reflected what is reality for most people in America.

The days of Ozzie and Harriet are gone, and more often then not, divorced and blended families (two divorced people who marry each other and try to "blend" their existing families) are the reality. It's great to see current entertainment reflecting this, helping us learn how to cope with the way things are now.