Why this Kaley Cuoco/Henry Cavill Brouhaha is Really Bothering Me

By Courtney Enlow | Celebrity | July 12, 2013 |

By Courtney Enlow | Celebrity | July 12, 2013 |

So, not even two weeks ago, news dropped that Kaley Cuoco and Henry Cavill had started dating. Now, news has dropped that they split already.

This is a set of individuals about which I typically care exactly zero-shits. But, in this rollercoaster of an aborted courtship week, I’ve found myself fixated, and not in a good way.

See, my indignation spreads from the facts that FROM DAY ONE, some perceived “blame” has been placed on Cuoco, as though she must be using Cavill, she must be pimping out the relationship, she must be ringing up the paparazzi to join them at the grocery store and see how in love they are. Now, it’s assumed she’s at fault, he dumped her, there’s much Internet celebration by the Cavill fangirls who deemed her unworthy.

Why?

Let’s consider each party.

Kaley Cuoco is a largely inoffensive individual who has made no waves in terms of gossip or media speculation throughout her career, an easy-to-forget long career, which began in the early aughts. She has never seemed to court much attention at all, and, in fact, concealed a long relationship with co-star Johnny Galecki until it had already ended.

Henry Cavill is an attractive man who took over a major franchise despite zero name recognition. A large chunk of the success or failure of Man of Steel, which was earning middling reviews at best, rested on him, and the Hollywood publicity machine is still ‘50’s-level intense, whether the public catches on or not, and is no stranger to capitalizing on a star’s (or, at times, a not-star-yet’s) relationship status to generate public interest.

So why on earth would we assume for even a second that Cuoco would be the mastermind behind this explosion of “wait…who?” kinda-news? Clearly, Cavill was the one with something to gain, not her. Maybe not in these here parts, but, to the general public of our high school classmates and parents, Cuoco is the bigger star. Maybe some of us aren’t “Big Bang Theory” fans, but a lot of people are. She has the hit show, he had the freshly-dropped, underperforming movie.

So, why attack her?

I think the “her” part is the answer. And I don’t like it.