Are you surprised?

That was a recent headline I read while pursuing through top news stories on Tuesday.

Just below the headline was a photo (taken in better times) of reality star Kim Kardashian and her soon-to-be ex-husband Kris Humphries.

Of course, I wasn’t surprised. Not many of us were shocked when Kardashian on Monday filed for divorce from her hubby of 72 days. It’s not like we’ve never seen a celebrity marriage fall apart much less the identical fate for an average couple.

Let’s face it, marriage is not what it used to be. Rather, couples now days don’t make a marriage what it used to be. And in the case of Kardashian’s marriage it’s no different.

Nearly every aspect of the couple’s courtship was filmed from the beginning for Kardashian’s E! Network reality show, “Keeping Up with the Kardashians”.

Kardashian, along with her family, are known for their business savvy, and there is nothing there to argue against. In addition to “Keeping Up with the Kardashians”, the show has had two spin-offs, “Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami”, starring Kardashian’s two sisters and “Kourtney and Kim Take New York”. Kardashian also owns and operates three clothing boutiques with her family as well as a slew of fragrances, clothing lines and endorsement deals.

It seems that for the Kardashians business is their life as well as the reality television bubble they live in. While we’ll never know if the relationship was part of the script or real, what is evident is a camera being in your face 24/7 just doesn’t seem to be part of an ideal life, much less helpful for a romance.

When you’re in front of a camera for most of the day that line between reality and the real world blurs. It would be easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of that reality world and believing you always have to be that person in front of the camera.

Kardashian and Humphries relationship was probably exacerbated by that reality world. It also probably didn’t help that the whole wedding was neatly package into a four hour television special, “Kim’s Fairytale Wedding”.

It’s too bad that all that time and effort couldn’t have been spent on the relationship, perhaps away from the cameras and the glare of the spotlight.

Kardashian and Humphries may have had a “fairytale” wedding, but it seems the “fairytale” marriage was not meant to be.

Amanda VanDerBroek is a Staff Writer for the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald. For comments and column suggestions email: amanda.vanderbroek@r-cnews.com or call (252) 332-7209.