Fighting the Good Fight

I hate to admit it, but I'm watching My Fair Brady on VH-1 right now. It's sort of like a traffic collision or a cat up a tree—slightly horrifying but so easy to be sucked in by.

Peter...err...Christopher Knight and his bride, twenty-four year old Adrianne Curry, are completely dysfunctional and dramatic. In the 10-12 minutes that I've been watching the show, they've cried at least a half dozen times. They both seem to be carrying way more than the maximum weight limit for relationship baggage—and their issues appear to complement each other in all the worst possible ways. But they keep professing their love to one another and declaring their commitment to making it work.

So now I'm wondering: Is fighting and theatrics inevitable in every relationship? At some point, does every couple go through the ultimate, patience-testing rough spot?

I've had some Oscar-worthy performances with my past loves. But I consider those a direct result of their wrongness. However, when I think about the doosies that some other married people I know have had, it raises the question of whether Christopher and Adrianne are just normal newlyweds. Is drama just part of the territory?

I'd like to think not, but I believe once you've tied the knot, there's so much hinging on the other person all the time that, unless you two are identical twin-thinkers, you're going to have to fight to either preserve your sense of self or your idea of what the relationship should be. And if you're battling to keep the marriage intact, is it actually a good thing?

If Peter Brady's doing it, maybe it's okay. But on the flipside, if he can't get it right, who can? Greg? Bobby? Shoot, I don't know. And all this bickering has made me really tired... Goodnight, Marsha.