Anna Faris criticized for saying she has doubts about the 'purpose' of marriage
Anna Faris‘s frank comments about marriage have rubbed some fans the wrong way.
The actress, who divorced first husband Ben Indra in 2008 and announced her separation from Chris Pratt last year, spoke on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast Monday of her ambivalence about matrimony.
The Mom star, who has a 5-year-old son with Pratt, admitted that she wasn’t sure if she’d consider marriage again as she’s trying to “figure out what the purpose” is of legalizing relationships.
“Is it safety for your children?” she mused. “Is it convention? Is it so other people respect your relationship more? For me, I’m just not quite sure where it fits.”
That’s not to say that she has given up on love.
“I am a romantic,” she said. “I believe in a partnership, I believe in companionship. I just don’t know if I believe in a ceremony of a wedding. You’d think that having successfully married parents would increase your odds [of it working out]. But how we’ve justified it is trying to make something work when we weren’t sort of picking up the clues. For me, it was sort of checking it off the list.”
It was an honest discussion, but Faris’s expression of nontraditional views has been met with some backlash.
One follower argued that marriage was important from an economic standpoint, prompting Shepard himself to chime in with a tweet noting that being raised by a single parent didn’t affect his ability to earn money.
isn't educational background of the individual…it's not the sex of the individual…it's not the race. It's whether or not they live in a single parent household. I'm NOT saying single parents are bad people. It's just that combined resources are imperative for most families.
— ThenAtlasSpoke (@ThenAtlasSpoke) March 27, 2018
I was raised by a single parent. I don't live in poverty. So it's not informed by what I make today, but how I grew up. I didn't forget my upbringing when someone handed me a paycheck. That's not how it works.
— dax shepard (@daxshepard1) March 27, 2018
Others were more stinging in their criticism, blaming Faris for not working harder to save her marriage and trolling the twice-wed actress over her relationship history.
She dumped her first husband for Chris Pratt. Seems as though karma has come around.
— Debbie! (@debbiebologa) March 27, 2018
Not working on your marriage, is not reason to not believe. Try harder next time, sweetie.
— Maria (@NehoNana) March 26, 2018
Most people know what marriage is, except for Hollywood celebrities who have cheapened and sullied it
— Nathan Schneider (@Schneider4House) March 26, 2018
She probably should. Sounds like she’s pretty bad at it
— Roger Podacter (@PodacterRoger) March 26, 2018
Maybe it's not marriage, maybe it's just you.
— Hailey (@haileydubs) March 26, 2018
Might be she actually has to work at a marriage,something she looks like shes not willing to do. After 2 failures,she might look at the person in the mirror to find fault.
— Joe Johnson (@joejohnson291) March 27, 2018
“No u believe in competition in marriage,” a Facebook commenter shot back. “U didn’t mind when u were the bigger star & Chris wasn’t as well known. Now that Chris is on the rise, u hated it. U believe that ur husband shldnt be ur best friend.”
Guess everyone’s a critic — and a relationship expert.
Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:
4 reasons to date someone who’s been divorced
Women are giving guys ‘man-gagement’ rings
These women had their wedding at the Walmart where they work
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