Why the celebrity couples ruling summer have been just the escape we needed

As poet Jennifer Lopez once wrote, love don't cost a thing. But this summer, her love life has been everything.

Following a breakup with former baseball player Alex Rodriguez, Lopez has displayed a masterful grasp of the art of rebounding, being captured by paparazzi with former boyfriend Ben Affleck. Along with much-pictured pairs like Olivia Wilde and Harry Styles and Tom Holland and Zendaya, Ben and Jen 2.0 are the celebrity story of the summer, making the pages of People and the popping into the Instagram stories of beloved gossip account Deux Moi. (It's worth noting that none of the aforementioned duos have made official comments on their status.) The media and public's interest in celebrity couples is nothing new. Before there was Olivia and Harry, there was Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Before Jay-Z and Beyoncé, there was Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. The fascination is as old as fame itself. Arguably, however, we've never needed the breath of trivial air more than now.