A Wish Your Heart Makes

Disney's Cinderella was released on February 15, 1950.

It's time to celebrate another Disney animated classic, Cinderella.

The Valentine's Day synergy works well with this film, probably the most overtly romantic of the Disney classics. Sure, Snow White or Sleeping Beauty can contend for the romance title, but I feel that their narratives don't focus on the "girl desires to meet boy" aspects nearly as much as Cinderella. And their antagonists command significant screen time, which some might argue makes the story more interesting overall, with greater imaginative conflict.

But Cinderella is more overt in dealing with wish fulfillment fantasies. Her goal is to attend the Prince's ball, not a matter of survival. She is an active seeker of romance, not the beneficiary of a rescuing Prince Charming. Yes, she must overcome oppression, but it is for love and not for life.

Running in glass slippers is difficult.

So, let's celebrate Cinderella and all the rags-to-riches, "scullery maid Princess" stories that this fairy tale has inspired. ;-)

Bitters to Match the Sweet

Chocolate Candy Hearts wrapped in pink and red foil

I hope you all have had a Happy Valentine's Day.

For all of my rants against holidays and the inauthenticity of modern commercialized celebrations, I really do want people to enjoy the day. That's actually a driving premise here at Paideia, the reason why I do all of these birth date notices or historical comments. There is something to celebrate each and every day, something to learn, something to cherish.

So, if you took today to focus on romance, that's great, but remember that any day can be a time for romance. Chocolate candies and flowers are wonderful throughout the year. ;-)

A shot glass filled with candy hearts. Yum!!!

So, let's give thanks for the uplifting thrill and warm comfort of romance.

Master of the Ripped Bodice

Fabio Lanzoni promoting Old Spice Komodo

There has recently been an internet ad campaign featuring Fabio Lanzoni, star of countless Romance covers in the 80s and 90s, attempting to become the new Old Spice Guy. This brought him into competition with the current holder of the title, Isaiah Mustafa, the Man Your Man Could Smell Like. After a series of vids in which they threw miscellaneous object at each other, including a dinosaur bone, the Mano a Mano challenge has come to its conclusion.

It's kind of silly. Fabio is a painfully bad actor, but a pretty good buffoon. Back in the day, it seemed like he was the model for every other Romance novel. It was embarrassing to have to face the clerk working the book store register with a novel featuring his cheesy image. Oh, how I loathed Fabio!!! With on-line ordering and e-books, this is a humbling experience that has been lost to a savage past. Thank goodness!!!



Fabio on the cover of Brenda Joyce's Scandalous Love (1992)


Over the years, I've come to view the "Fabio era" of bodice ripping covers with nostalgia. Some of those books were pretty good reads. Since a Fabio cover would generate sales, that was savvy marketing put to good use.