Was it all for show? Nope, not talking about a Kardashian, here. Just one day after Kim and Kris call it quits, indie-turned-mainstream superstars Ben Gibbard and go and declare the D-word after just two years of marriage.
What went wrong? Let’s take a look at the two people who made up this ill-fated marriage.
Zooey Deschanel evokes a lot of love/hate among America’s media worshippers. While she puts forth an image of a cutesy albeit flighty girl with fantastic style and a voice that can make you feel like you’re living in the wrong decade, you gotta wonder what she’s like IRL. Gibbard must have thought the same things about indie’s favorite princess before they started dating. He told New York Magazine in September that he’d “seen her movies and obviously thought she was very beautiful.” Perhaps her whimsy was a bit too much — can you really take care of an adult relationship when you’re flitting about/working hard to market a television pilot that stars you as … you?
Meanwhile, Ben Gibbard, front man of Death Cab for Cutie/guy who made me cry a lot throughout high school (thank you, “Transatlanticism”) has had a lot on his plate as well. A new record, a tour, and a major adventure in weight loss has made him super buzzworthy over the past few years. Who has time for a relationship, let alone a marriage? If you’ve ever listened to DCFC, you know that the emotionally driven songwriter is die-hard romantic with a penchant for movie-like life experiences. Maybe Zooey wasn’t everything he’d daydreamed about. Maybe Ben wore his heart too proudly on his sleeve. Maybe they just weren’t compatible.
Zooey told iVillage a little bit about being married to Ben this past July: “It’s just that you can’t expect to make no effort … You still have to make the effort and be kind and understanding. It sort of just solidifies your commitment.” A rep for Gibbard said the split was mutual. Shortage of initiative or care from both parties. Womp.
When it comes down to it, I want to blame Zooey for lack of commitment. Not everything in life is rainbows and singing butterflies, dear. But really? Chalk it up to dating for barely a year before exchanging rings with one another. You think you know someone … but then, go figure, you want a New Girl.
Here’s to hoping the next Death Cab record is better than the last.
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Allison Berger is a Philadelphia-based writer and a pop music columnist for Reverb. Check out more of her writing
