In the interest of a mental health break, let's take a brief
gawk at what may be the only public drama meaner and muddier than the
McCain campaign: The Christie Brinkley-Peter Cook divorce.
The
latest installment is Cook's ill-advised interview with Barbara
Walter's in which he explained why he cheated on his supermodel wife
with an 18-year-old. Bottom line: he wanted "acknowledgement,"
"attention," and a "thank you" for all he was doing for his family.
(Presumably he was not referring to his $3,000-a-month internet porn
habit.)
Cook is taking much abuse for his whining. In this CNN segment that caught my eye, the two guys and one gal discussing his interview expressed an inability to even comprehend his excuse. If nothing else, they reasoned, Brinkley's extraordinary hotness should have kept Cook faithful.
Sadly, I don't see Cook's excuse as
odd at all. The man was married to a beautiful, famous woman who likely
didn't treat him like the center of the universe and whose fame and
wealth made him feel insecure. So he went looking for a younger, more
adoring consort who would make him feel special. In this way, Cook
strikes me as all too similar to the countless DC husbands
perpetually on the make, more than a few of whom eventually
dump their wives for some pretty, ass-kissing young lobbyist or
Hill staffer.
Make all the raunchy observations about
men's sex drive that you want. What men crave almost as much as sex is
attention. They need to feel important. They need to feel appreciated.
They need to feel worshipped. Hell, who doesn't? We all want to be
special. But somewhere through the milennia, men became accustomed to
such treatment. And these days, when the daily stress and grind of
marriage leads couples to no longer gaze adoringly at one another every
minute of the day, the men often seem to take it harder. When that
happens, some feel entitled and/or sorry enough for themselves and go
looking for a little....consolation.
The phenomenon is so
common it's a cliche--not to mention a stellar money-making opportunity
for folks like Laura Schlessinger, the right-wing
traditional-values scold who has made a fortune advising women on how
to keep their men happy by giving them just a little more sex and a
little more adoration. As she noted in this author interview, the key to a good marriage all boils down to showing your man more of the "Three A's: appreciation, approval, and affection."
So,
yeah, the details of Cook's betrayal may be more colorful than
average, but the motivation behind the betrayal is hardly unusual. No matter how pretty
Brinkley is--in fact, perhaps because of how pretty she is--she
didn't make poor Peter feel important enough. That was something he
just couldn't handle. Which definitely makes him a loser, but, alas, doesn't make him remotely unusual.
--Michelle Cottle