People talk about things like Leonardo DiCaprio’s breakup rumors, Demi Lovato’s “29,” and the debate over age differences in relationships.
Leonardo DiCaprio, 47, broke up with his girlfriend of a year and a half, Camila Morrone, 25, last week. When the news came out, the internet had a lot to say about the famous actor, who is known for being in some of Hollywood’s biggest movies over the past 30 years and for dating only women born after he started his career.
One Twitter user said that “Titanic” turns 25 this year, which makes it unlikely that Leonardo DiCaprio will be in the movie. One wise guy said that the third thing you can be sure of in life is that Leonardo DiCaprio will break up with his girlfriend before she finishes developing her pre-frontal cortex.
The speculation surrounding DiCaprio’s divorce is part of a larger trend of reconsidering celebrity relationships with large age gaps.Demi Lovato and Taylor Swift, who dated when they were in their late teens and early twenties, respectively, have both used music to say bad things about their ex-boyfriends. Fans have used the cases of DiCaprio, Lovato, and Swift to draw attention to the differences in gender and power in romantic relationships.
Andrea McDonnell, an associate professor of communication at Providence College, says, “We’ve reached an inflection point.” As proof, she points to the #MeToo movement, new documentaries that show the misconduct and abuse of famous men, and the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
“There’s a sense that the status quo for women doesn’t work” when it comes to dating and other things, says McDonnell. For example, “the Leo split is an example of how people can point out and make fun of his behaviour as a way to push back,” both on social media and in public.
McDonnell says, “There’s a feeling that the status quo for women doesn’t work,” both in dating and in other areas. So, “you see the Leo divide as an example of how people can push back by pointing out and making fun of his behaviour,” both online and in public.
One of the most unsettling things said in the documentary series “House of Hammer” is that “Armie wanted to be in charge of everything.”
Taylor Swift, Demi Lovato, and more are famous young women who are with older men.
Hollywood has a long history of famous couples with big age gaps. Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart, who were 25 years older than each other, and Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio, who were 10 years older than each other, are just two examples of a 12-year gapears older than each other, are just two examples of a 12-year gap. Some of Scott Disick’s relationships, like the one between Kylie Jenner and Tyga, who met when Jenner was 14 and Tyga was 21, and the one between Florence Pugh and Zach Braff, who are 21 years apart, have been making headlines lately.
McDonnell says, “It was and still is common for older leading men to be cast opposite much younger romantic female leads.” This is an old story because people have always been interested in the idea of two co-stars falling in love on the job.
McDonnell says that, like other forms of media, “casting in films both reflects and shapes the culture.” Aged men are often seen as wise, strong, and powerful, usually through their wealth, while young, beautiful women are highly valued.
Olivia Wilde and Harry Styles, Holland Taylor and Sarah Paulson, and Elton John and David Furnish are all examples of celebrity couples with big age gaps. However, the difference between men and women is usually more noticeable when the man is older than the woman.
Some people are saying bad things about their ex-partners because they feel like they were taken advantage of. Think about how many people have used Demi Lovato’s music on TikTok as an example (“29”) to talk about their own love stories. Finally, I turned 29. I found it funny, just like you did when I was your age. I thought it was a silly dream, but was it yours or mine? “17, 29,” she raps in her song “29.” The 42-year-old actor Wilmer Valderrama and his ex-girlfriend are said to be in it.
In 2015, Lovato told Ryan Seacrest that when she and Valderrama met for the first time, she was 17, and he told her she was too young for him. When Lovato was 22, Seacrest told her that she was too young to date Valderrama, who was 35 at the time.
Taylor Swift, who is now 32 years old, is said to have written “All Too Well” about Jake Gyllenhaal, an actor nine years older than her. When she re-released the album “Red” last fall, she made references to their age difference.
Swift sings, “I’ll get older, but your lovers will stay my age,” which is the punchline to a joke she’s never been good at telling. Early on, she sings about how her ex didn’t come to her 21st birthday party.
Swift dated musician John Mayer when she was 19 and he was 32. “Don’t you think 19 is too young to be played by your dark, twisted games when I loved you so much?” she asked in her 2010 song “Dear John.” After Swift’s re-recorded albums came out, both men were accused on social media of dating underage women.
Can we learn something from these links?
So what if everyone is over 18? What’s the big deal, right? Power differences, which happen often in relationships between older men and younger women, are a red flag for relationship and development experts.
Rori Sassoon is an expert on relationships and a matchmaker. She tells people to choose a partner with similar “levels of life experience and relationship goals” and to “date within an age range where you feel confident and comfortable.”
Associate professor of psychology at Penn State Abington who is an expert in developmental psychology and body image Meghan Gillen tells people in similar situations to look at the situation critically and think about it. “Think about whether it makes sense.” How does it fit with your level of comfort? What do you think about them? “Do you feel like you can talk to them, or do you feel like they’re in charge of you?”
Any couple, whether they are famous or not, can benefit socially from having a big age gap between them. Nonetheless, younger partners, in particular, should be aware of how gender, society, and power interact in the relationship.
From the point of view of the general public, Sassoon says, couples with a big age gap need to work harder than couples with smaller age gaps. If your main goal is to make yourself feel better about yourself, you should be careful.