Culture | Back Story

Infatuation, kids, adultery: marriage is the theme of the Oscars

Together the nominees sketch a composite picture of marriage. Here it is

Film still of Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer and Emily Blunt as Kitty Oppenheimer sitting outside.
Photograph: Capital Pictures

Immediately, you know. You meet a famous physicist at a party in California and ask him to explain quantum mechanics. As he describes the “forces of attraction” between particles, your fingers interlace with his, and you know he is talking about you. Or you are a musical wunderkind, whimsically playing the piano at a soirée in New York. A young woman approaches and—wham! You know she is your destiny.

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This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Marriage’s top billing”

From the March 9th 2024 edition

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