A married couple with a large age gap

Gisele Bundchen, Bar Rafaeli, Blake Lively, and Erin Heatherton. They are ex-girl friends of Hollywood star actor Leonardo DiCaprio. Paparazzi’s shots confirm his consistent taste for women. He has a thing for a 20-something blonde woman with a supermodel-like body shape. Such appearance matters to him most and a generational gap does not seem to be a problem to him at all. As years go by, he dates a woman with a wider age gap.

Men like DiCaprio who hang out with beautiful models are called “modelizers” in America. There is also a term a “trophy wife.” A successful man tends to ditch his old wife and take a young and beautiful woman as a new wife. A good example of a trophy wife collector is real estate mogul Donald Trump. Trump and Trophy sounds similar. Modelizers and trophy wife collectors tend to think women’s physical attractiveness is very important.

It is unfair to excuse that “males are supposed to be like that.” It is hard to deny that physical attractiveness takes up a large part of the relationship between men and women, but those who stick to physical attractiveness do not seem to be thoughtful, whether they are men or women. They do not seem to understand how happy it is to know someone who can communicate, get to know each other, and then share feelings and experiences. That means they do not know what life is all about.

That is why the news that Seo Tae-ji, a popular singer in this reporter`s childhood, is getting married to an actress Lee Eun-seong who is 16 years younger than him, which made me somewhat uncomfortable. In fact, I do not know Lee’s personality and attractiveness, while the private matter is none of my business. I probably have a wrong perception that Lee Ju-no and Yang Hyeon-seok, other members of his dancing group “Seo Tae-ji and Boys,” have wives 10 years younger than them on average. Hopefully, Seo and Lee can live happily ever after and address my concern. It would be nicer if Lee who is still young find her own way - acting or something else-, not staying complacent as Seo’s wife.

Industry News Reporter Jang Kang-myeong (tesomiom@donga.com)