Without even thinking, I screenshot a photo of Kylie holding Timothy’s hair back as he smiles brightly and send it to my WhatsApp group. It was as if the new couple were an integral part of our extended circle of friends. Reading the comments on social media, it’s clear that I’m not the only one excited about this. The latest is a surprising celebrity couple, even among Kylie’s harshest critics.
If you look over my shoulder and peek at my phone screen on the way from home to work, the page you’re most likely to find me on is the forum. Keeping Up with the Kardashians on Reddit. To quote the legendary Pam Shipman: “It’s all drama, Mick. I like it!”.
Even in the most soulless corners of the Internet, people can’t get enough of it. “Guys, I found an even cuter photo” is the title of the latest thread about Kylie and Timmy. “So let’s cheer for them, come on,” one user commented. Naturally, I had to like “I would die (of happiness) if they went to the Met together” and give my approval to “I love the way he looks at her.”
This kind of mass madness reminds me of when Kylie’s sister Kourtney started dating now-husband Travis Barker. These were two people who, apparently, were supposed to hate each other: Travis, so proud of his humble background as a garbage collector that he got a tattoo of the words “self-made,” and Courtney, who was born into super-privilege thanks to her lawyer father O.J. Simpson.
There’s also Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck.. The singer/actress/entrepreneur has such determination and discipline that it makes her sacrifice sugar, caffeine and sleep just for the sake of abs (I don’t recognize myself in this). Everyone considers her to be a consummate professional who never fails in public.
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Ben, on the other hand, is a walking meme, whether he’s taking a much-needed smoke break, spilling his morning coffee from Dunkin Donuts, or being told by his wife, “Stop it, try to be more friendly and charming.” Grammy (this is very close to my heart).
Personally, I think we root for these unlikely couples because they make us believe in true love. Not the cliché-filled one that dating apps offer us based on a TV program we can’t tear ourselves away from.
These opposites do not have to find a common language, like the love of cats or the love of pasta, because we believe that their love transcends everything. They were meant to be together, so who cares if someone likes to watch Bear and to another The Real Housewives of Atlanta?
They also allow us to see someone in a different light.. Despite being on our screens since she was 8, Kylie is relatively private when it comes to her personal life (to the detriment of their TV shows, if I might add).
That hasn’t stopped us from taking what we think we know about her and forming an online consensus that she is frivolous, superficial, materialistic and narcissistic. Things that seem diametrically opposed to the image we project of Timothy.
So have we been wrong about Kylie or Timothy all along? Or is it their love that conquers all and revealed these different personalities?
Seeing Kylie smile and laugh with her boyfriend is something we’ve never seen with her ex Travis Scott. In a way, the power of this new love made her human. Who could remain in a daze, watching them play as if they were the only people in these stands? She laughs loudly, he looks at her in a way that will melt even the coldest heart, and together they remind us how beautiful love can be.
And while I don’t want to suggest that Kylie’s recent change in minimalist image has anything to do with it, it’s safe to say that it is safe to assume. That romantic relationships gave her the opportunity to grow and explore her other personalities beyond being an Instagram villain?
I was racking my brain trying to draw comparisons to the unlikely real-life couple who proved true love doesn’t require cliched questions, when I realized the answer was right in front of me.
My parents will turn 43 in October. No, they don’t look at each other with love like Kylie and Timmy (thank God), but they have built a good life and a good family, despite the fact that they have more different interests than common ones.
Perhaps the only thing we singles can learn from Kylie and Timothy is that we need to stop treating finding a partner like a roommate request and judging people based on personality biases that appear online.
Please keep this in mind when I’m about to pass on the next guy who mentions cats in his dating app bio.