Minus the City: Dynamic Duos

Kim and Kanye. Beyonce and Jay-Z. George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. Victoria and David Beckham. Gisele Bündchen and Tom Brady. Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux. Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds. The list goes on and on. These are among some of the famous couples that we all have come to know and love, otherwise known as “power couples.”

The concept of a power couple is very much present in media nowadays. Celebrity news seems to revolve around these couples – i.e. the most recent marriage of our newest favorite power couple, George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin; the birth of Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher’s daughter and, must I state the obvious, the focus on Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s everything. The attention to these celebrities in the media shifts to real life, as now just about everyone is looking for the “Jay-Z to their Beyoncé”, or the “Kanye to their Kim”. Not only do we love them, we want to be them.

What is it that we idolize so much about the rich and famous power couples? Granted, I for one will remain jealous of anyone who not only gets to marry George Clooney, but does so in Venice, Italy while wearing an Oscar de la Renta gown. It might be the glamorous vacations that they take together that inevitably show up on our Instagram feeds, or the public displays of love such as that seen at the VMAs by America’s favorite family, the Carters, when Beyoncé won the Video Vanguard Award and was joined on stage by husband Jay-Z and daughter Blue Ivy.

Beyond the glitz and glam of these celebrity couples, what is it that makes a power couple so powerful? There’s the simplistic premise that it is a result of two well-known people in the industry becoming a couple, but there has to be more to it than that. What stands out among all of these couples is that while they have their individual accomplishments and reputations, they are supportive of each other, while maintaining their own. Not to play favorites (although we know they trump all), but Beyoncé and Jay-Z best exemplify this, as she performs and more recently, designs, while he continues to rap and work with his own entertainment company, Roc Nation. These individual talents combined into the powerhouse “On the Run Tour,” showing how the two compliment one another. While we aren’t all like Beyoncé and Jay-Z, just on the principle alone that a power couple consists of two people maintaining their separate reputations and individuality while still supporting each other, one can see that you don’t have to be famous to be in a power couple-sort of relationship.

So, while we can’t be them, we might as well learn from them. Beyoncé and Jay-Z teach us to be drunk in love, while Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt provide examples of what it’s really like to have it all. Most importantly, we should be sure to show undying love regardless of the past, and to always be supportive because, as Kanye said, “my girl a superstar all from her home movie.” Thanks, Kanye.