A Little Bit Too Wide: Age Gaps in Hollywood
All I want is love that lasts, is all I want too much to ask? Nope!
The paparazzi photos are out. In a turn of events that is somewhere between Enola Holmes and High School Musical: The Musical the Series fashion, images of 21 year old Olivia Rodrigo and 20 year old Louis Partridge hugging, laughing, and walking drunk in love flood my social media feeds. Ah, young romance.
Scrolling through the comments, I see all kinds of verdicts from people who have too much time or are too invested in the personal lives of celebrities. But overall, there is an odd sense of relief.
Someone comments: “I’m just glad that they’re finally in a relationship with someone their own age.” There are tens of thousands of likes. I like it too.
In Hollywood and the global entertainment industry, it has become normalized for there to be a massive age gap between couples. Young models date men the age of their fathers (even grandfathers), and middle-aged women swoop down to capture little boys. In fact, in Hollywood, the average age gap is 11.2 years when men are older, and 5.4 when the woman is (although the distribution is wider for men).
Let’s just take one of the most renowned actors of our time, Leonardo DiCaprio, as an example. The average age gap between Leo and his past girlfriends is 22.9 years. He is infamous for never dating a woman above the age of 25! For context, he’s almost 50 now and still dating 20 year olds… If Leonardo DiCaprio was anyone except Leonardo DiCaprio, he would be shunned from society and labeled as a creep. Just because he is a rich, famous actor and was ‘cute’ in his youth, doesn’t mean he should be exempted from judgment. Although there are a few memes and funny Twitter threads about it here and there, there’s not much real criticism, and it all gets forgotten once he releases a new movie or nice Instagram post.
Sure, it’s possible that some of those couples think that they have genuine feelings for each other, but I just don’t believe that this can be healthy. The difference in their mindsets, maturity, and key stages that they are approaching at this point in their lives, it just doesn’t make sense to me. What do they talk about? One of them just developed their prefrontal cortex and the other one is ready to enter an elderly home. It feels surface-level, weird, and uncomfortable. Celebrities are so enthralled in their own stardom and greatness that it becomes okay for them to take whatever they want and act senselessly.
Rarely do you hear about a Disney or Nickelodeon child star that hasn’t been groomed or assaulted by adults in some way. That shouldn’t be normal, but it is in the entertainment industry. I believe that there is too much grooming paired with too many stars who have forgotten what it is like to be humans with moral compasses. Keep in mind that this is only what has been exposed to the media. There are likely bigger stories and secrets so vulgar that they can never be revealed.
After seeing enough articles about pedophile directors and predator actors, people have become desensitized and started caring less. They think, “Well it’s not like I can do anything. It’s not cool, but those big famous names, they wouldn’t listen to me.” Ultimately, stars do care about what the general public thinks. Just take a look at Stephen Collins and R Kelly. After all, a celebrity’s entire persona and job is to entertain and appeal to the people. This attention is what they thrive off of and we are the ones who give them the power that they have.
One advantage of the world being consumed by social media is that it’s easy for trends to take over; anyone has the ability to voice their opinion and initiate a reaction towards something. These days, people also are eager to get bored of celebrities and jump on hate bandwagons (even if they don’t quite understand them). Sometimes it’s justified, and sometimes it’s not. Popular examples of this bandwagon include Hailey Bieber's marriage with Justin, or Ariana Grande's homewrecker status. So, if someone, anyone, starts a trend where more people give a thumbs down on videos related to questionable predatory behaviors, the famous will naturally follow and mold to the public opinion. If celebrities refuse, then the internet can do what it does best: cancel them.
I think that the internet is beginning to lean towards the right direction. Influencers like Shane Dawson and Jeffree Star have been canceled because of their disgusting behaviors, and newer stars like Olivia Rodrigo and Louis Partridge are staying within their limits. I hope that this trend is one that ages well.
BY IVY TANG