At the New York premiere of ‘How to Be Single’, where Dakota Johnson plays the lead character, Melanie was asked what her advice is for single women trying to make it on their own. Her response was not the canned reply everyone expected.
The advice she offered became so controversial that a Tweet storm erupted, and her reply became the most-discussed topic all over social media. Magazines like US, Weekly, and People kept the ball rolling claiming she was a completely different person.
Giving Back to the Community
During her marriage with Banderas, Melanie took on a love for philanthropy. The two put their heart and soul into helping others. In one such effort, Melanie helped organize a 5K walk to raise money for the Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles.
In giving back to the community, the goal was to generate enough money to build a new state-of-the-art pediatric inpatient facility. She was also on hand for the hospital’s 2012 Noche de Niños gala, where she was presented the Courage to Care Award.
Putting Her Best Face Forward
Though they were in the midst of the divorce, Melanie appeared on Banderas’ arm at the red-carpet event celebrating the premiere of his 2014 film, 'Automata'. Their joint announcement depicting an amicable ending to their marriage came out that same year. And, while she appeared strong on the outside, inside she was falling apart.
Though she had not publicly discussed the reasons for the divorce, she did say she felt hollow as she reconciled her fourth divorce with her feelings. She admitted feeling down about future relationships and set goals to make it on her own.
Just Say No
At 60 years old and two years out of a divorce, Melanie said, “Don’t get married! There’s no need. [. . .] You don’t need to get married to have a child anymore, it’s not like there’s a stigma on a child, and getting married, you either go through the whole bullsh!t of a prenuptial or if you want to get divorced and you don’t have a prenuptial, then you wish you had a prenuptial.”
She went on. And she sounded like a woman who learned some valuable lessons from a lifetime of mistakes in marriage.
‘Marriage is Archaic’
She went on to say that she is never tying the knot again. Putting a lot of thought into the idea of marriage, she questioned the whole institution.
“Why not enjoy the person and have a good time and do whatever?” “Live together, don’t live together—but marriage seems archaic to me,” she explained. She used her marriage to Banderas as proof.