(Image via SFgate.com)

This celebutante’s boyfriends are as disposable as her used tissues, but her most recent boy toy is Benji Madden, of Good Charlotte fame. Ironically, his brother Joel Madden, is Nicole Richie’s baby-daddy. Coincidence? Perhaps it was just a matter of time before Paris found her way to Joel’s brother. However, it’s been reported that Paris and Benji are going strong and have even exchanged rings with each other’s initials on them.

This naturally raises the question; “Do relationships move at warp speed in Hollywood?” P.H. and B.M. have only been dating for a few weeks and now they’re ready to parade around wearing each other’s initials? I’ll admit, I had my doubts about this celeb couple, but to me, that seems like a pretty strong statement of some kind of commitment. You can almost smell the Vegas wedding coming on…

How does this differ from the rest of us? Nobody I know is ready to make that bold a statement of togetherness after a month of  dating, at risk of being called “whipped” or a ”stage five clinger.” Yet, when we see images of celebrities “falling in love” on the second date, it makes us feel like maybe our relationships are moving too slow. There’s got to be some kind of happy medium between the two-week-dash-to-the-altar and the we’ve-been-dating-for-six-months-and-you-won’t-change-your-facebook-status. How much commitment is too much commitment?

In my opinion, there are only three things that legitimatize a commitment or relationship. And, yes, you need at least one of them to convince me you’re more than just friends with benefits;

1. Three karats from Tiffany’s.

2. True love. 

3. People beyond your inner circle knowing that you’re together.

Thanks to inflated bank accounts and  paparazzi, steps one and three are easily attainable for famous couples. Yet, in non-celebrity land, it can take months or years to work up to even one of these things. We also have to remember that relationships fizzle out almost as fast as they start in tinsel-town. So maybe making it to that crucial one-month anniversary is more monumental than we can understand.

Will Paris and Benji last? Only time will tell, but based on her track record, we predict B.M. will be off the menu faster the soup du jour at The Ivy.