In this post, we’ll take a look at how some famous couples stack up against the age rule of thumb, mentioned in an earlier post. For reference, here are the equations:According to the rule of thumb, dating someone older than your max or younger than your min would be considered objectionable.

In the graph below, each line represents a relationship. If the line falls within the blue zone, the age difference of the couple was socially acceptable for that portion of their relationship.

If the graph is confusing to read, hopefully the following diagram helps:For example, looking at the pink solid line for Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, the coordinates for the circle are [42,27], so they got married when Demi was 42 and Ashton was 27. The pink triangle at the other end of the line means the relationship ended in divorce. The coordinates for the triangle are [51,35], so their relationship ended when Demi was 51 and Ashton was 35¹.

Hugh Hefner

Hugh Hefner, the king of icky relationships, almost made it into the zone of social acceptance with his 20 year relationship to second wife, Kimberly Conrad, before their divorce. In his current marriage, 90-year-old Hefner would need to stay alive and married to 30-year-old Crystal Harris until he’s 134 and she’s 74 for the couple to cross into the blue zone.

Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn

The 35 year age difference between Woody Allen and his wife, Soon-Yi Previn, isn’t the only thing creepy about this relationship. Woody first became involved with then 21-year-old Soon-Yi when he was still in a relationship with Soon-Yi’s adopted mother, Mia Farrow. He had even adopted some of Soon-Yi’s younger siblings. 

SMM and HJH

At age 40,  Sun Myung Moon, the controversial founder of the Unification Church (the church I was raised in) married his wife when she was just 17. During their 52 year marriage, they had 13 children with varying degrees of craziness, the latest iteration being their youngest son’s arms manufacturing business with endorsement from Donald Trump’s son (read more here).

Donald Trump

Surprisingly, of all the couples, Donald and his wife Melania have the least objectionable partnership, at least based on age alone. They’ve been safely within the blue zone for most of their relationship. Perhaps what makes them an awkward couple is their mismatched levels of attractiveness. (Or because everything about Trump is objectionable.)

Demi Moore

Demi (Guynes) Moore married Freddy Moore when she was 17 and he was 29. Later she switched sides, marrying 27 year old Ashton Kutcher when she was 42. For most of their relationship, the age difference between Demi and Ashton was very close to the blue zone. This could suggest that their awkwardness as a couple was because she was an older female dating a younger male, rather than their relative age difference alone, further evidence that the rule of thumb could use some adjusting.

^{1. Note: Ages are estimated from Wikipedia, which often only lists the year of marriage or divorce, rather than the exact date. Exact ages at marriage or divorce may be slightly off because of this. ↩}

The Code

source("./celeb/plot.R") 
source("./celeb/add_seg.R")
source("./celeb/legend.R")

age_plot() #see "Calculate Your Dating Age Range" post for code

#colors
dark_blue <- rgb(68,84,106, max = 255)
blue <- rgb(96,147,125, max = 255)
yellow <- rgb(217,192,7, max = 255)
purple <- rgb(122,98,145, max = 255)
pink <- rgb(247,190,202, max = 255)
hot_pink <- rgb(201,6,45, max = 255)

#plot couples

####Hugh Hefner and Kimberly Conrad
add_seg(26,63,47,84, end = "divorce", col = dark_blue, 
     lty = 'dashed')

####Hugh Hefner and Crystal Harris
add_seg(26,86,30,90, end = "", col = dark_blue)

####Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn
add_seg(26,61,45,80,end="", col = purple)

####Rev. and Mrs. Moon
add_seg(17,40,69,92, end = "death", col = yellow)

####Donald Trump and Melania Trump
add_seg(35,58,46,69,end="",col = blue)

####Demi Moore and Freddy Moore
add_seg(17,29,22,34, end = "divorce", col = hot_pink , 
     lty = 'dashed')

####Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher
add_seg(42,27,51,35,end = "divorce", col = hot_pink)

celeb_legends()


#add_seg.R
add_seg <- function(x1,y1,x2,y2,end="",...){
 
     segments(x1,y1,x2,y2,lwd=1.5,...) #plot line segments
     points(x1,y1,pch=16,...)          #plot left endpoint
 
     #add endpoint
     if (end == "divorce") points(x2,y2, pch = 17,...)
          else (
               if (end == "death") points(x2,y2, pch = 15,...)
          )
}


#legends.R
celeb_legends <- function(){
 
     #empty plot
     plot(1, type="n", axes=FALSE, xlab="", ylab="")
 
     #main legend
     legend("topleft", 
          c("Hugh Hefner and Crystal Harris",
          "Hugh Hefner and Kimberley Conrad",
          "Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn",
          "Sun Myung and Hak Ja Han Moon",
          "Donald and Melania Trump",
          "Demi Moore and Freddy Moore",
          "Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher"), 
          col=c(dark_blue,dark_blue,purple,yellow,
               blue,hot_pink,hot_pink),
          lty=c(1,2,1,1,1,2,1), lwd=2,
          inset = .02, bty="n")
 
 
     #endpoints legend
     legend("topright", 
          c("marriage", "divorce","death"), 
          col=hot_pink, pch = c(16,17,15), 
          inset = .02, bty = "n")
}