Film Summary Of The Documentary 'Why Get Married?'

I watched the documentary, Why Get Married?. This documentary interviewed people in different types and stages of relationships. They interviewed couples that were married or cohabitating and single people, straight or homosexual. The married couples were happily married and discussed being married was the main goal in life. The woman in the cohabitating relationship claimed she did not intend to be married, just to stay in a committed relationship. Lastly, the single people were happy being single and did not intend to be married either. The film also conversed wedding budgets, divorce, legal bounds of marriage, and the myths of being married. This documentary depicts examples of married couples experiencing stereotypes about being married, divorce in adults, and the problems homosexual couples face.

In class, we discussed how there is a myth that once people get married the lust dies. As we were shown in statistics, this is not true. Married couples are still affectionate and have sex,

“Gays and lesbians now in middle age grew up at a time when homosexuality was considered a mental illness…” (Papalia, 2015, p. 485). Fortunately, this is not the case anymore and they are more accepted in society. “A lot of people might think that gays have already achieved equality, but I would argue that it's an ongoing fight, and marriage is one of the arenas in which that fight is fought” (Why Get Married?, segment 4). Today same-sex marriage is legal in the United States, but I agree with this statement about equality being an ongoing fight. Many homosexual people are still discriminated against by society. Civilization still thinks they are disturbing or sinning against God, but that is primarily older populations. Younger populations are becoming more accepting of homosexual relationships, which is why there are more laws legalizing homosexual marriage (Papalia, 2015, p.