A fairy tale and disillusionment: The Tom Cruise-Katie Holmes romance

With the impending divorce of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, truth has been driven home, and driven home hard. Relationships are fragile, and fairy tales exist in some hitherto undiscovered world.

Ananya Bhattacharya

He is the man who is most sought-after in the entire world, and nobody would stoop down to disagree on that. She is the woman who was the envy of half of the human race. And when Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes began wearing their hearts out on their sleeves, the world waited expectantly for every single gesture from them. April 27, 2005 marked their first appearance in public, and history waited to be created – barely a month down the line from then. The thirsty media did not have to wait long and the paparazzi got their ambrosia. When Cruise jumped up and down, like a child, on a couch on world television on Oprah Winfrey’s show, that day couldn’t have got any better for the entire world. Here was a man in his forties, proposing to the love of his life, in a manner that many after him would ape. In doing something considered ‘not normal’ by the social-decorum Nazis, Cruise paved way for millions who were unsure of the way to propose. And then came the famous proposal on top of the Eiffel Tower. The lovebirds were seen overflowing with their love for each other. Eiffel Tower, yet again, was immortalised as a monument of love by the act of a sole man in recent history. Popular culture teemed with anecdotes of how exactly The Proposal of The Century took place. Soon after, in April 2006, Cruise and Holmes announced the arrival of their first child. Suri Cruise, Happiness Incarnate, was born to the proud parents. The child has, ever since, held the world captive with its idiosyncrasies. Suri’s photographs were a treat for the eyes. A few days later, the bundle of joy was designated the Best Dressed Celebrity Kid. For her parents, ecstasy was a word that probably wasn’t enough to capture their feelings. Cut to November 2006. ‘TomKat’, the name that the media had lovingly bestowed upon the world’s most glamorous couple, sealed their love in an otherworldly ceremony. The picture-perfect couple looked like they were meant to be with each other throughout their lives. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes glowed in the joy of matrimony as they ‘officialised’ their relationship within the walls of a 15th Century castle in Italy. The world had known all along, with Cruise’s famous proposal, that a fairy tale was in the making. The couple did not stray even an iota from the images that the minds of the people across the world had conjured up. They exchanged vows in a way that would perhaps have made even the denizens of heaven jealous! Six years of a dream wedding later, the world was jolted out of its tranquil reverie. A marriage, that once seemed made of steel and cast in rock, was on the threshold of The End. Katie Holmes’ decision to file for divorce – and the actual ‘act’ of filing for divorce – was a bolt out of the blue for many, including me. It was as if the present was part of a nightmare. People waited to wake up from the brutality of it all and realise that the truth wasn’t what their senses were imbibing. The truth, this time, was one that was too harsh to be true, it seemed. June 29, 2012 was the day which brought to the fore many emotions, shock being the most dominating one. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ fairy tale romance had proved, yet again, in rock-solid hardness, the fact that it was just that – a fairy tale, which perhaps, was too good to be true. Tom’s affiliations to The Church of Scientology being termed ‘kooky’ by Katie, and Suri’s best interest being at the crux of it all – the reasons began to surface right after Katie filed for divorce. With the impending break-up of supposedly the world’s most famous couple, truth has been driven home, and driven home hard. Relationships are fragile, and fairy tales exist in some hitherto undiscovered world.