Kate Winslet & Sam Mendes

I skimmed past recent news that actress Kate Winslet and director Sam Mendes had broken up. A related post on Jezebel caught my attention, however.

Its headline: "Why does the Winslet-Mendes split make me so sad?"

The post echoes the common tendency to become personally invested in a celebrity couple, namely the ones who seem to remain somewhat stable amid Hollywood chaos. An excerpt:

They were an upper-middlebrow (lower-highbrow?) couple you didn't have to feel bad about ogling, because they seemed both brilliant and normal. And so nice. They spoke respectfully of another's work and successes without seeming smug. They were at the top of their games, but they seemed to live real lives.

Believe it or not, I felt the same way about Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee.

Kidding.

As much as I avoid admiring a couple based only on their public lives, I understand how easy it is to put a twosome on a romantic pedestal. You view them as proof that it's possible to romantically thrive even when the odds are against you.

And when they break up, well, ouch.

Weigh in: Have you ever been invested in a celebrity couple's relationship?