The state of matrimony

Since the sexual revolution, a man needs a wife like a fish needs a bicycle. And what mother today needs Mr. Right when she’s got Uncle Sam?

The decline of marriage and the modern movement to revalue the institution is the subject of tonight’s “Frontline” documentary, “Let’s Get Married” (9 p.m. KCET, 10 p.m. KVCR).

When the documentary’s pundits offer such remarks as “Marriage is the foundation of public life,” they make getting hitched sound decidedly unromantic. But that is their point. Marriage is not so much a vehicle for romance as it is an institution for rearing children, they argue. If we are to fix this ailing institution, we need to redefine it.

In this age of individualism, concepts such as a father’s “duty” and “obligation” to his children have become anathema. Perhaps, the program suggests, our focus should shift from personal fulfillment to the greatest good. From that stance, it is argued, springs the foundation for civilized society. Thus the erosion of marriage and society go hand in hand.

“Frontline” correspondent Alex Kotlowitz thoroughly explores the subject by visiting communities in rural Oklahoma and inner-city Chicago and by interviewing social scientists, religious leaders and politicians.

One weakness of “Let’s Get Married” is that it fails to address whether marriage has any value when no children are involved. Another question is whether the government might be better off emphasizing ways to avoid pregnancy instead of urging young men to marry the mothers of their children.