They gave him so much shit and that kind of shit is exactly what’s wrong with this culture’s attitude towards marriage. There’s no sense that marriage is a commitment that requires work, work to grow together, work to make it through the bad times, work to make good times worth getting through the hard parts for, that a big reason you get married is because you’ve found someone whose worth the work. Instead it’s all “But you’re going to grow up! And so is she! And you are/are going to be different people! And your relationship isn’t going to jive with what you want for yourself!” That’s why a lot of marriage fail—because one or both partners wants the other person and the relationship to serve their own individual self-interest, without any thought to the fact that as a married couple, you aren’t just you anymore you’re a couple. The lady even says it—“You know enough to get married!” Exactly. He didn’t know everything. But he knew enough to get married, and if they’re still together, then clearly he knew the right thing.
People shitting all over young love with all their doom and gloom prophecies just really pisses me off. It’s one thing for, say, a more experienced friend to gently temper the idealism of a newlywed because unrealistic expectations never helped any relationship, but it’s a completely different and frankly horrible thing for people to completely tear apart someone for their commitment to their love. It’s mean-spirited, it’s destructive, and it’s symptomatic of a much larger and deeply problematic cultural attitude toward relationships.