Hollywood has long been in the business of minimizing marriage. Every sitcom I’ve ever seen must, it seems, regularly joke about how marriage is a prison, a trap, a why-did-we-ever-get-married bad idea.
So it is in “The Roses,” a new release starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman. In “The Roses,” we are thrust immediately into a therapy office where our married couple is, as we might expect based on Hollywood’s track record, dysfunctional. Their dysfunction is so intense, in fact, that the therapist closes the session by remarking on the hopelessness of their situation. “I don’t think you have the capacity to fix your problems,” she notes.
At that, we’re thrown back in time 10 years to see the beginning of their relationship. And honestly, in a lot of ways, it’s lovely. They fall in love quickly, get married, have a couple kids, and communicate and express their emotions well.
This healthy relationship continues for about 40 minutes, five years in the movie’s time.
I wish they’d stopped the film there. Do that and cut the opening scene, and you’d have a hopeful short film about the blessing and unique benefits of marriage.
Of course, it doesn’t stop there. We know things get bad. We know this marriage does not stay in healthy territory.
What could follow, and I’d argue should follow, is a serious, somber exploration of how a model marriage could devolve into brokenness. Such a warning might be worth watching.
The main goal of “The Roses,” however, isn’t to provoke us to consider how we might maintain a strong marriage. No, what it really wants is laughs.
So, as the marriage crumbles, we don’t mourn as we should. Instead, light-hearted music plays as the marriage devolution occurs, as the couple tosses verbal bombs at each other, and, eventually, shoot at and attempt to stab one another. Undoubtedly, we are meant to laugh at the craziness that ensues with this failing marriage.
In one particularly frustrating moment, the idea of their parents’ divorce is actually celebrated by our couple’s teenage children. “We want you to be done with this,” their daughter says. In my theater, at least, even this got a laugh.
Other broken marriages fill the movie’s screentime, too – all for kicks. Kate McKinnon’s character, though married, is addicted to breaking her marriage covenant, a fact we learn through jokes about transmitted diseases. Her husband makes passing (funny?) remarks about the pointlessness of life and the boredom he finds in their relationship.
It seems as if “The Roses” exists to make us laugh at failing marriages.
I’ve heard comedians, including Christian comedians, talk about the line between what can be joked about and what is off limits. The consensus, it seems, is that everything is on the table.
I get it. Comedy brings levity to otherwise bleak situations.
But maybe some things shouldn’t be played for laughs. Maybe, instead of making light of broken marriages, we should mourn them. After all, when marriages fail in the real world, the effect is devastation, not laughter. A covenant, meant to last for life, is broken. If there are children in the picture, they’re affected for the rest of their lives, too.
Hollywood would do better to remember the power it has to shape people’s assumptions, hopes, and expectations in the stories they tell. With “The Roses,” we’re taught that even the best marriages, even after years of health, fail, too. And when they do, it’s just funny! Plus, the kids will be okay with a divorce, and they might even wish it happened earlier!
All this is, of course, not true. And such expectations about marriage and life together do not set our culture up for success. Instead, movies like “The Roses” seem content to promulgate the ever-so-tired Hollywood trope that marriage is more burden than gift. They teach us to laugh at broken marriages and to expect their failure.
That message, too, is worth mourning.
—
The republication of this article is made possible by The Fred & Rheta Skelton Center for Cultural Renewal.
Image Credit: Rawpixel
35 comments
35 Comments
Carolyntello
August 29, 2025, 2:30 pmI have made $300 reliably in one day!**That was my ideal day in my life and my boss was to a great degree content with me..CNN is additionally awed from my work and is outstandingly happy**Want the secret?** Copy this Website and choose HOME TECH OR MEDIA…
COPY THIS→→→→ http://Www.CartBlinks.Com
REPLYElisa Switzer@Carolyntello
August 29, 2025, 2:47 pmJOIN US Everybody can earn 250/h Dollar + daily 1K… You can earn from 6000-12000 Dollar a month or even more if you work as a part time job…It’s easy, just follow instructions on this page, read it carefully from start to finish… It’s a flexible job but a good earning opportunity. tab for more detail thank you……..
REPLYJust join This Website
——-⫸ https://Www.EarnApp1.Com
Deloris Ayton@Elisa Switzer
August 29, 2025, 2:47 pmGoogle paid $200 a hour on the internet..my close relative has been without labor for nine months and the earlier month her compensation check was $51005 by working at home for 10 hours a day….. Everybody must try this job now by just use this
GOOD LUCK.:)
𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒆
REPLY——-⫸ https://Www.HighProfit1.Com
OlgaHJenkins@Elisa Switzer
August 31, 2025, 5:38 amI get paid more than $120 to $130 per hour for working online. I heard about this job 3 months ago and after joining this i have earned easily $15k from this without having online working skills. This is what I do…….Www.Works6.Com
REPLYOlgaHJenkins@Elisa Switzer
August 31, 2025, 5:40 amI get paid more than $120 to $130 per hour for working online. I heard about this job 3 months ago and after joining this i have earned easily $15k from this without having online working skills. This is what I do………………Www.Works6.Com
REPLYRSLewis@OlgaHJenkins
August 31, 2025, 8:51 amGoogle is now paying $300 to $500 per hour for doing work online work from home. Last paycheck of me said that $20537 from this easy and simple job. Its amazing and earns are awesome. No boss, full time freedom and earnings are in front of you. This job is just awesome. Every person can makes income online with google easily….
REPLY.
More Details For Us→→ http://Www.Payathome9.Com
Jimbeau@Elisa Switzer
August 31, 2025, 8:50 amI get paid over 220 Dollars per hour working from home with 2 kids at home. i never thought i’d be able to do it but my best friend earns over 15k a month doing this and she convinced me to try. it was all true and has totally changed my life. This is what I do, check it out by Visiting Following Website…
REPLY.
.
HERE—————⊃⫸ https://Www.Cash43.Com
Angelena L. Mansfield
August 29, 2025, 3:10 pmBy doing really simple and (ant-70) honest job online, I am already making an extra $43K good or more every month from home. I really made $35K in domestic income last month, which is not crd021 inheritable. Join up on this activity right now to begin increasing your online income by learning how to use the tools that are offered.
website———>> https://www.worksprofit1.online
REPLYHettie D. Steil
August 30, 2025, 8:22 amI recently received my 3rd online check for $21,850 which I won by doing a super simple and easy job online. wq300 This online business is amazing and the regular acquisitions that come from it are amazing. Online according to the subtleties referenced on
this site………… https://Www.Smartpay1.site
REPLYilliana
August 30, 2025, 11:47 amJOIN US Everybody can earn 250/h Dollar + daily 1K… Y You can earn from 6000-12000 Dollar a month or even more if you work as a part time job…It’s easy, just follow instructions on this page, read it carefully from start to finish… It’s a flexible job but a good eaning opportunity.tab for more detail thank you……..
For details check ——-⫸ http://www.join.money63.com
REPLYLori T. Gardner
August 30, 2025, 6:11 pmCash generating easy and fast method to work part time and earn an extra $15,000 or even more than this online. By working in my spare time I made $17990 in my previous month and I am very happy now because of this job. you can try this now by following
REPLYthe details here…… https://Www.Jobs99.site