Star-Crossed Lovers Break All The Rules

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and that got us thinking about what makes celebrity couples so different from the rest of us.

There’s the obvious stuff like the exotic vacations and over-the-top weddings, but the thing that’s most different about celebrity couples is that they’re just not afraid to break the rules. In fact, they make breaking the rules look like the right and obvious thing to do.

Nobody called the 42-year-old Demi Moore a cradle robber when she married 27-year-old Ashton Kutcher. Well maybe they did call her a cradle robber, but by now all most people care about is who their stylist is and whether or not they dress too much alike — to which we answer who knows and yes.

Nobody seemed to notice the way Nicole Kidman towered over Tom Cruise. At 5’ 8” Katie Holmes is also taller than Cruise but manages to make him look every bit the man, perhaps because in this case the 16-year age difference works in his favor.  Point is, don’t be shy with the Jimmy Choos.

And nobody minds that Jim Carey and Jenny McCarthy have no plans to get married — despite having no plans to break up, either. And while there are plenty of reasons to question Angelina Jolie’s parenting skills, having Brad Pitt’s baby out of wedlock isn’t one of them.

Pondering the ideal relationship is a little like pondering reincarnation: In our past lives he’s taller, she’s younger, and no one’s ever a peasant. But since we all can’t be as perfectly paired as Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner, or Will Smith and Jada Pinkett, or even Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman, we salute those celebrity couples that go forth in all their mismatched glory.

Maybe Cupid’s not so stupid after all.