PR is taking over the celebs’ relationship. The consideration of “What will people think of our lives?” Guides the conduct of couples from the egg. That’s what Chaim Levinson claims in his weekly column “Mtcl Tweet” published last week in the “Gallery” supplement of the “time” newspaper. Levinson is required to convey the message that emerges from Aviv Gefen’s announcement about his separation from Shani Friedan, the woman he had been with for 23 years.
And so the singer-poet wrote on the Internet: “Shani and I wanted to update that we jointly decided to take a break and examine our love…we are very loving and close friends and sometimes the heart during an election period.”
This is how the singer-poet wrote on the Internet: “Shani and I wanted to inform you that we jointly decided to take a break and examine our love…we are very loving and close friends and sometimes the heart during an election period”
“We decided to take a break”: Aviv Gefen and his wife Shani Friedan separated https://t.co/dZC50fcYeS
— Maariv Online (@MaarivOnline) October 31, 2022
Following that announcement of such an idyllic parting style, Levinson mentioned familiar and quite well-known phenomena. In his sarcastic words, he thought until now, until Aviv and Shani’s separation, “that divorce is a bad and excruciating thing, a process that wounds and scars the soul, undermines the framework of familiar life… accompanied by a sense of loss and betrayal, fear of the future and personal failure… even if it is necessary to save the soul it Certainly not man’s finest hour.”
Haim Levinson added and mentioned other well-known things: “We all know the wear and tear of long relationships, the difficulty of maintaining and refreshing, the daily fatigue, the wondering until when, how much and why.”
Aviv Gefen’s breakup demonstrates what happens when a relationship takes over a relationship https://t.co/HJQevORU7M
— time time (@time) November 17, 2022
* * *
Levinson’s blunt words bring me back to arguments I had with a smart friend who passed away about seven years ago. I would wonder with shock at Celebz’s eagerness to sell revealing confessions and family secrets to the media, to publicly and to reveal stories of difficult childhoods, heartbreaks, failed crushes, betrayals and jealousy, and by the way also severely damage the privacy of parents, spouses, children. Whereas my friend Alia HaShalom would repeat and claim that there is no real exposure here. that most celebrity confessions are probably programmed by publicists. It’s time, she said, for you to stop believing every fake show and every bullshit.
However, we both agreed that married life is a very private and complex matter. In no way a subject for public participation and real journalistic exposure.
My friend Alia HaShalom would repeat and claim that there is no real exposure here. that most celebrity confessions are probably programmed by publicists. It’s time, she said, for you to stop believing every fake show and every bullshit
Maybe my friend was exaggerating and maybe she was right. And maybe we shouldn’t complain about those sellers of exhibitionist stories, some of which are obviously fabricated or with wild exaggerations. The celebs are forced to respond to the media and train themselves to be yellow. Preference is given to “interesting” interviewees, scarred people and sufferers who have a “story”.
And in this context I recall the story of an esteemed book editor. She published a debut book years ago that included, among other things, a story about a soldier who was raped. Editors at the “Gazet of the State” at the time planned an interview with the writer. But an early inquiry made it clear that she would refuse to address the question: Have you raped yourself? Because of her refusal, she was informed that the interview was cancelled.
Against such a background, embarrassing situations occasionally emerge. Entertainment stars, politicians or other celebrities declare about their partners: “He/she is the love of my life”. And here, some time later, the public is informed that the loving couple has divorced.
And therefore I liked Einav Galili’s answer to the interviewer from the “Calcalist” supplement. The interviewer asked a question: “Your parents divorced when you were young. Not everything worked in the family you came from. Are you satisfied with the family you built?”
The ironic Einav wisely deflected the question and avoided actual exposure. “A family is a complex format,” she said, “and when it works well, it’s noteworthy and not trivial. But I’m also afraid to say that my family works, because then it will turn out that Ofer (the partner, S.T.) leads a double life and has a family in Eilat or something.” .
An esteemed book editor once published a debut book that also included a story about a female soldier who was raped. Editors at the newspaper planned an interview with her, but when they found out that she would refuse to address the question: Have you raped yourself? She was informed that the interview was cancelled
It seems to me that it is possible to find a common model for many of the “My Life and Love” stories told by Celebz. Interviewees unfold stories of difficult childhoods, feelings of misery and remoteness, falls as well as victories. Most of them got out of the darkness, fought and leveled their way up, into the light, and became stars and successful people. Most of these interviewees are compared to an ugly swan that was a magnificent swan.
Here, for example, is a subtitle to an article published last week in the Tel Aviv local of “Yediot Ahronoth”: “The boy with dyslexia whose teacher did not allow him to write with a pen became an artist who is exhibiting today in New York.” The protagonist of the article, the illustrator Avi Katz (professional name “Evitz”) documents in his illustrations happenings and moments in Tel Aviv cafes. Because of being a dyslexic child, he suffered difficulties and insults in his school as a child.
But the credit of the illustrator detailed in the body of the article reveals that the 52-year-old man actually accumulated successes from the beginning of his adult life. He did a bachelor’s degree in film and animation in New York, worked as a strodeboard artist creating a plot summary through drawings. Upon his return to Israel he managed the art department in a large studio and at the same time worked in two similar studios in Canada. Later on in his career, he participated in group exhibitions in our country and in the USA, taught at colleges and art schools, created animation for well-known TV programs. This is not exactly an ugly duckling story that became a swan, nor a frog that became a prince.
* * *
I return to the display of idyllic harmony accompanying the story of the separation of Aviv and Shani. Haim Levinson wrote: “They test their love live on Instagram.” Levinson also reported that a few days after the well-publicized separation, a video was uploaded to Aviv’s Instagram account documenting Shani Nema in the double bed. “What fun, I’m free!” Aviv said to the camera. “But come second, we broke up.”
Levinson’s column drew over a hundred comments. Not many of the talkbackists expressed complete agreement with his words. Some testified themselves that, contrary to Levinson’s words, their marriages are really happy. Others stated that their divorce was conducted in a proper and humane manner. Some talkbackists believe that Aviv Gefen’s words are reliable, that he really hurts and still loves. Many others were outraged and criticized: who cares anyway? And what about yellow articles in a serious newspaper like “time”?
One of the talkbackists expressed a hypothesis: Levinson probably stepped on a wart of aggressive angry people. Their responses seem to reflect an effort to deny the common phenomenon of the erosion of lasting marriages. Indeed, this is what a talkback writer nicknamed “reader” wrote: “Aviv Gefen as a parable. The list touches on the real life of about a third of Israeli couples.”
Their responses seem to reflect an effort to deny the common phenomenon of the erosion of lasting marriages. A talkback writer whose nickname is “Reader”: “Aviv Gefen as a parable. The list touches on the real life of about a third of Israeli couples”
I also added my voice to the discussion and referred the readers to the poem “Gan of Roses” composed by Aviv’s father, Yonatan, following his divorce from mother Nurit. The heart-piercing song seems authentic and reliable to me. “I did not promise you a garden of roses” wrote Jonathan Gefen and did not try to deny the pain, the complication and the complexity of the situation. The parting in his version is indeed difficult and hurtful, but the love did not fade. Neither is compassion.
A garden of roses / words Yonatan Gefen. Composed by Miki Gabrielov
I never promised you a garden of roses
We wanted to be together like a pair of doves
But pigeons also sting and there are matters
And it’s sad when you come back when I’m outside and you’re inside
I never promised you a garden of rosesNow you are silent and I am silent
Now you’re right, I’m right
Yes it’s true it leaves stains
I never promised you a garden of rosesWe don’t always say what we mean
There are many thorns on the road to roses
And it stings so close to wanting you
You always see everything on my face
I never promised you a garden of rosesNow you are silent, I am silent
Now you’re right, I’m right
Yes it’s true it leaves stains
I never promised you a garden of rosesA garden of roses