Last
Sunday night I quickly grew depressed then resigned as I squinted
through the glitz to see teeming rows upon rows of plastic
expressions, over-processed hair, and inflated
lips.
It's as though stars no longer grow old, but instead grow ludicrously
comical and ridiculously fake. Fifty on screen no longer looks like
Perry Mason or Edith Bunker, but like a cartoon duck. Why fight aging
just to end up with a booby prize? Why fight aging at all? Are
wrinkles really so much worse than bubble lips and sucked in cheeks?
Is
it so bad to live life and show the evidence?
But
wait.
Damn
it, I kind of stepped in a puddle here. I uh, em, dye my hair. Ever
since the age of 28, I've been having the gray highlighted out of the
blonde. I'll never forget the first time I asked my hair guy
extraordinaire Jordy if he could touch things up a bit.
Me:
Could you maybe highlight it a little? I've got few strands of gray
here in front.
Jordy:
Honey! You've got gray all over!
So,
I, too, fight aging in my own way. By keeping my fly-away split ends
as sunny golden as they were when I was a kid. And you know what? You
might not like the way my hair looks. You might think I should
condition it, perm it, heck, on some days brush
it.
But
that's okay. Because I like the way I look. And today's stars – or
at least the agents of today's stars and LOTS of fans - like the way
they
look. I'm okay, you're okay. Or even if you're not, it's not my
business. And vice versa, I'm sure, to quote Sherri Ann Cabot. I think
it's cool to be cool with one another. Sound good? Truth is, lots of people thrill to this idea of
acceptance.
How
do I know? Because it's the essence of romance and lots
of people read romance. Romance reveals the journey of two people
becoming more tolerant, more understanding of one another. The Walls
of Jericho come down, bit by bit, (not necessarily with the fanfare
of a toy bugle) so that two people can recognize and feel that
pulsing core of some truth, some frequency, some rhythm that they
share. And it is this simpatico that will keep them happily together.
The
story starts out, and the two people clash, as do Elizabeth and
Darcy, Mindy and Danny. But it's there, early on - a vibe like the
hum from a refrigerator that tells you these two would be so good
together. For Elizabeth and Darcy, their manners are quite different,
yet neither one performs to anyone.
Each lives according to exacting truth. But they have to overcome the
barrier of disparate manners in order to realize the values they
share. And Mindy and Danny? In the first episode, it becomes clear
that they know each other on a deep level because each knows exactly
how to cut the other to quick. Danny tells Mindy she needs to lose 15
pounds, and Mindy derides Danny for having gotten divorced. But at
this point in their relationship, their feelings find expression only
through insults and one-upsmanship. As the series progresses, they
break down each others' walls and move in closer.
And
that's the kind of romance I like. Not one that begins with a
mutually immediate sexual spark, but one that begins with
something...else. Some subtle hint that lets you know that these two
are skating along the same wavelength, that they've got what it takes
to be amazing together. It can be just one word, just one action,
just one brief exchange. Like Ron's awed amazement - “Hermione!”
- when she slaps Draco.
I
planted my first clue that Lisa and Jack hear the same distant bongo
beat in Chapter Two of my novel She
Likes It Rough.
It's there for anyone to see by browsing through the beginning of the
book online.
Think
you can find it?
And by the way, in case you love pop culture references and trivia as much as I do...
1. When Sherri Ann Cabot says, "Vice versa, I'm sure," what is she doing?
2. Who buys the toy bugle?
3. What provokes Hermione to slap Draco?
4. Who is Larry's Lizzy?
