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It’s been bugging me for a while now, and this will probably come as completely out of the blue. But, before I begin, I realized that I left out my usual disclaimer on a post I made a while ago, so I wanted to make sure that before I go any further, it’s perfectly clear that I recognize that (1) I am fallible, that (2) not everyone is going to agree with me, and that (3) there’s always room for improvements.
That said, allow me some time to make some passing remarks; this is, as usual (!), more of a rambling of thoughts than a legitimate, much less coherent, argument.
The thing that’s been bugging me: It seems to me that our culture focuses on getting married, not on being married. That is, the goal of most romantic interactions & relationships is to get married. Little thought is given to what will happen after marriage.
(Mayhaps I’m fighting windmills, but I think I’ve got some interesting thoughts that I’m willing to take the time to type out and make somewhat understandable, so bear with me!)
Talking with Liz, I jokingly remarked that a recurring problem in childhood Knight adventures was what to do after slaying the dragon and rescuing the Princess. That is, the task has been accomplished – now what? Liz jokingly said, “Ride off into the sunset”; for whatever reason, that triggered a train of thought in my head that went something like this:
As Liz also pointed out, all the fairy tales (at least those I know of) in popular culture end with “Happily Ever After”; there is no exploration of what happens afterwards. Since as children we get a lot of direction from fairy tales about how to live, “what do we now?” is something largely foreign to us; we’ve not dealt with it in the abstract medium of literature/tale, so we have no easy answer.
I think <i>Into the Woods</i> (BTW, anybody know of a good video recording of a performance that’s up for sale?) explores this (those who have seen it are going “Duh!, it does!”) “what do we do now?” problem (as does <i>Shrek</i>, as Liz noted). (I would like it to be noted that I first started pondering this while re-watching Disney’s Robin Hood, when Skippy has rescued Maid Marian, and she asks him what amounts to “now what?” and he’s not got any answer.)
OK, as I said, this is to be more thought-provoking (hopefully – yes/no?) than a cohesive argument (ironic, i'nit?!). So, I submit that maybe why marriages often turn cold is because the parties involved no longer feel a need to pursue each other to show their love and devotion in order to secure a marriage; we’ve plenty of instruction on how to “get the girl,” but not how to treat each other afterwards and maintain a loving and committed relationship.
It’s just a thought.
On a completely unrelated note, these really make me laugh. Yes, they’re somewhat disturbing with all the violence, but that inane chorus is hilarious every time.
OC original season finale being mocked – quite violent
SNL “Dear Sister”
”Dear Skywalker”
”Dear Barbossa”
”Dear Boromir”
”Dear Daffy”
That is all. Oh, and for once, I’m actually out of bar soap (and contact lens solution & toothpaste), so I’ll be making an expedition tomorrow, perchance to purchase strawberry-scented soap… Hurrah for old jokes most of you will not get.
Good night, and good luck.
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| | Posted 3/24/2008 12:17 AM - 27 Views - 2 eProps - 1 Comment
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