Few things are as unattractive as weakness, though Iâd say a couple that are close are dishonesty and manipulation. Not sure which is objectively worse, but as weakness can lead to many other unattractive qualities, Iâll go with that.
Stana Katic once said "Never marry your muse, it shatters the illusion" or something like that. I think the idea that applies more broadly is "Don't make your favorite public figure your hero, because no one can live up to that standard."
I wonât go in to it too much as I've been largely offline and have no time to fully catch up, but what I will say is neither my husband nor I would find the other acting like that with a long-running co-star out of costume in a promo acceptable. Itâs not normal, or necessary.
So while weâve known everyoneâs been lying for years, the question becomes which âoptionâ is the lie, and how far would they go to sell it. How morally bankrupt are they, really?
Either theyâre together and have - for years - consented to lie and hide it (**it could have been in that first, usually 6 season, contract) and on top of that take âthe narrativeâ route, to further sell it. The problem is that at the same time they were claiming to be âlike brother and sisterâ, they were not suppressing behaving in a way that suggested otherwise when they knew they were being watched. Saying one thing and blatantly doing another. âLook at us!â âWHY ARE YOU LOOKING AT USâ type stuff back and forth. Why not justâŠnot comment on your personal life? Donât be touchy-feely in interviews, act normally, and ignore it when people talk. Either of those two methods would be forgivable - for a while. But weâve exceeded that time frame. Either sell what youâre saying, or fess up.
OR theyâre not together, have never been, âthe narrativeâ is true and theyâve been playing the âpretend to be secretly together to keep internet buzz goingâ game since 2012. This happens early on in shows, when buzz can make the difference between cancellation and renewal. But weâre a decade past that, so they keep saying âweâre not together stop speculatingâ while still acting like they are together well outside of playing Jamie and Claire. Moreover, there was zero off-set behavior change post husband, and thatâs massively telling of both of their characters if in fact he is the husband. How disrespectful. Both options for âwhich is the lieâ are bad, but this one is worse. One is making a friend look like a fool as he pretends to be a spouse, the other is actually disrespecting your spouse and setting a terrible example for what is appropriate off-set when in a marriage.
Lying to this degree in either direction is gross. But lying to fans, while professionally damaging, isnât over the line like disrespecting a spouse, and an allegedly-in-the-church marriage, would be.
So again, how morally bankrupt are they?
Time will tell which it is, I guess. And as Iâm the eternal optimist Iâm still hoping for a third option that hasnât been made apparent that'll make it OK.
Also Iâm hoping to be able to enjoy the final season without the nonsense getting in the way, but for now this is where I am. Weâll see.
Anyway, real life calls, hope youâve all been well :)
And truly don't make your favorite public figure your hero. All are human, and no one can live up to that standard.