Atsushi Tomura/Getty ImagesIt's been a year since George Clooney and Amal Clooney said their I-dos in front of an elite crowd in an intimate-yet-lavish ceremony in Venice, Italy, the main event of a three-day celebratory extravaganza for family and close friends.
And last we checked... They couple were still going strong!
The Clooneys' marriage turns 1 today, and in addition to their first anniversary we mark the culmination of a tremendous promotional campaign—not just for impossibly chic street style and the epitome of a jet-setting existence, but for the possibility of what marriage can truly be in all of its storied glory.
Who knows, maybe year two-and-beyond will be exactly the same as year one and all will remain rosy and tirelessly the best thing ever. Still, we should take a moment to appreciate the fruits of this particular union right now—the maturity, the seriousness, the meeting of the minds. And yes, the clothes.
Of course this whole thing could turn on a dime and we'll be none the wiser right away because they have a handful of residences in which to hide out and jobs that keep them apart by their very nature.
But that's just the cold, hard Hollywood beat talking. There are so many more reasons to suspect that George and Amal are going to last and last, and the world deserves it after this past summer, which hosted the end of so many high-profile marriages...
Timing Is Everything
First of all, let's start with brass tacks: George really wanted to get married. Not necessarily before he met Amal, but once he met her, he was all in.
Having said time and again (mainly because he was asked time and again) that re-tying the knot probably wasn't in the cards for him, he was obviously struck by the thunderbolt. A serial monogamist before meeting Amal, he didn't waste any time once they met. George was 52, she was 35—so, you know, about the same age in man years vs. woman years, with Amal maybe having the slight advantage in the grownup department—and he happened to have an opening in the complete-me section.
Amal—very much her own woman with a kickass career, a tight-knit family and recognition among the international intelligentsia—met him and must have figured, "Well, he isn't royalty, but two Oscars show he's at least serious about his job. I suppose I can see where this goes. And I already know what he looks like with gray hair, so no unpleasant surprises down the road... Fine, I'll go out with you."
Boom. Two single adults, both in a good place in life, make a love connection. Such is how it ideally works. So they became husband and wife in about as romantic a manner as possible and embarked on a life together.
George Has a Mind for Marriage
Over the past 12 months, Clooney has of course been asked a lot about married life and, being the dashing individual that we've come to know and count on to be classy, he has said things about his significant other that could fell an entire Sex and the City fan convention in one blow. His speech at the Golden Globes alone...that was like coronary TNT. Hearts exploding all over the place.
But most of all, he really sounds grateful for having found, not just a wife, but a partner. Someone he views as more than an equal. A better half.
His sense of humor, not to mention his unparalleled career success, allows him to joke about becoming his human-rights-attorney wife's "arm candy" without coming off as bitter that he'll never be seen as the brains of this operation after getting used to being considered one of the smarter gents in Hollywood. He even seems to enjoy it.
Either way, his ego can handle it. Or his ego is so huge he can crack wise and remain confident in his status as the end-all-and-be-all of everything.
Whichever scenario it is, it's working for them.
Complementary Careers
Aside from a doctor, who works longer and more demanding hours than a lawyer? That's right, an actor. (Not to mention a filmmaker.) George and Amal's careers couldn't be more different in most ways, but it's best that they're not both actors. Nor lawyers. Better they be in completely different fields and yet have similarly intense jobs that take up more time than a spouse of someone who doesn't have a similar schedule may understand. (Or, in the long run, be able to handle...)
They're Public Yet...Private
While they're certainly living in the public eye, there remains an aura of mystery precisely because George has been the one doing all the talking. Amal has been heard from in the press—but in the front-page section of the paper, the part that features articles about politics, human rights and international jurisprudence. Even Barbara Walters couldn't land a sit-down when she deemed her the "Most Fascinating Person of 2014." In fact, the only magazine that got her to acknowledge out loud that she was marrying George Clooney was Vogue, which chronicled her wedding dress fitting with Oscar de la Renta himself, one of his last high-profile projects before he passed away in October 2014.
We'd say we're eager for Amal to do an in-depth interview about her personal life, but...we'll take the mystery. Besides, her calendar is way too full for such things. She's resting her voice for court.
For Better or Worse
Despite being able to call the last 12 months a raging success as far as their personal lives go, both Clooneys dealt with rough days at the proverbial office. Clooney had a big-budget flop with Tomorrowland and Amal and her firm were dealt a blow when an Al Jazeera journalist they were defending in an Egyptian court on terrorism-related charges was unfairly sentenced to prison.
You know, because those issues are totally the same. (P.S. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi pardoned Amal's client and a colleague who'd also been imprisoned, so that was a hard-fought happy ending.)
But despite differing levels of real-world importance, what we mean is that George and Amal's first year of marriage hasn't been one long halcyon stretch of honeymoon. They've had to deal with bumps in the road and, while only time will tell how they handle such things long-term, they've gotten a taste of what it's like to have both one's own problems and your spouse's to go to bed with at night.
Anything can happen but, one year in, we still have this warm and fuzzy feeling about what a smart match this was—and how George and Amal Clooney in particular possess all the tools necessary to continue setting the standard for what a marital partnership should be for years to come.
Happy anniversary, you two!