[Answer] Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo Agreed to Divorce — What Do You Want to Say?

[Answer] Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo Agreed to Divorce — What Do You Want to Say?

This is really an illusion created by trending news, especially in a commercialized era. The media is bound to organize and promote content based on what most people are interested in. Among all that content, entertainment news takes up a considerable portion, because chasing gossip is part of human nature. And for celebrities, their private lives are themselves part of the influence they hold as public figures.

So what kind of news captures the attention of the onlooking public? Either two people get together, break up, or get caught in a scandal. Only that kind of news can make the front page. As a result, our entertainment media—and even mainstream media—is filled every day with this overwhelming flood of similar stories. That creates an illusion: that every celebrity is either confessing love, breaking up, or cheating. But is that really the case? Of course not.

There is no need to look far; just take Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo as an example. For a long time after they got married, they were largely out of the spotlight in the entertainment world. We have reason to believe that during that period they must have spent a stretch of time in a loving honeymoon phase. It is possible that some of their affectionate public moments were reported by Korean media, but those stories probably did not stir up this kind of global uproar.

That is because displays of affection can only generate limited impact. And an ordinary, uneventful married life is even less likely to spark readers’ speculation, gossip, or curiosity. Only news like a breakup or divorce can bring them complete public attention again and put them on the front page everywhere. Perhaps for that very reason, when an entertainer wants to make a big splash but does not have strong new work to show, the only option is to create buzz through this kind of thing. Even if it is not deliberate hype, such events can still bring them tremendous attention and exposure for quite a long period of time. And for celebrities, in this era where traffic and clicks are king, exposure itself is something highly valuable.

From that perspective, as long as it is not a case of a public persona collapsing, celebrities are in most situations willing to share their privacy with the public. But this creates a distorted impression for ordinary people and may have a huge hidden negative effect on society. It makes us mistakenly feel that breakups and divorce are extremely common. Meanwhile, the vast majority of people who simply live ordinary, steady lives receive no media attention or promotion at all.

We know nothing about those celebrities who get married, leave the entertainment industry, and go on to live quiet, ordinary lives outside the spotlight. They also have no way to create a strong positive model for society, because they are invisible. Only breakup and divorce stories attract attention, yet at the same time they fill people’s understanding of life with unease and suspicion. Celebrities do have a demonstrative effect. If the media over-promotes these relatively negative examples while ignoring what is actually more common, the social impact will be more harmful than beneficial.