my way or the highway

Brad Pitt has given Angelina Jolie an ultimatum -- marry him or break up, OK! Magazine reports.

Sure, celebrity gossip magazines aren't the best barometers for relationship lessons, but I want your opinions on ultimatums.

Generally, they seem like a massive "don't" in relationships. They often force you to view your feelings in absolutes when things are actually more complicated than that.

And there's something a little disconcerting about knowing your partner proposed primarily because of the threat of "or else."

That said, the ultimatum can at times be a necessary wake-up call when you've been teetering on edge of progress. Most of us hold on to a relationship under the assumption that it will one day result in marriage.

What that hope gets a little murky -- say, you've been dating five years without a ring -- an ultimatum is sometimes the best way to see if it's time to move on.

Is a relationship ultimatum always a bad thing?

(via The Frisky)