After I commented the idea that we only ever see the beginnings of love struck a chord with me. We go through the courtship to the marriage and no further.
That got me thinking about the various fairy tales. Think about it. As kids we read about Cinderella getting her happy ever after with Prince Charming. Snow White is awakened by a kiss and rides off into the sunset. Belle marries her ex-beast come hottie. Sleeping Beauty wakes up and marries the prince. Everyone is happy.
La-di-da.
What we don't see is the aftermath.
We don't see Belle getting angry because the ex-beast is cutting his toenails on the new sheets.
Sleeping Beauty must get fed up with Prince Phillip always going on about waking her up. Or about how she suffers from insomnia now because her hero snores.
Snow White must get annoyed when the Prince -- despite many weeks of hinting -- doesn't get the one thing she wants for her birthday. This is what happens when you marry someone you hardly know.
And what about Cinderella? We follow her from servitude to princess but miss the part where she gets annoyed for having to pick up Charming's socks, or complaining when he leaves the gilt toilet seat up.
So here it is, the 'deleted scene' from Cinderella:
The scream from the bathroom echoes around the suite. Charming looks up from the edge of the bed where he is pulling on his stockings.
The shadow casts its ominous presence across the room. Through coal-black lashes Charming observes the figure of his wife, the beautiful Cinderella.
"Morning darling."
"Don't you darling me." Cinderella frowns.
"What's wrong?"
A groan rumbles deep within Cinderella's throat. "You left the toilet seat up...again."
The icy stare pierces his heart and tears into his soul. Damn, I knew there was something I forgot to do.
See, it's not really romantic is it? :)
25 comments:
It might not be romantic, but it sure is fun!
Yet why oh why does it ring too true?
Al
Publish or Perish
I read (or someone told me) that to carry the story beyond marriage is a 'let down'. You already got the guy/girl, where's the tension? Ha! Whoever said that was obviously never married...there's plenty of tension after the wedding!
Hahahahahaha. Too good. I never thought about that. The thing about romance (which I write) is the fact that it's a fantasy. I've yet to read a romance where I think you could find the hero in a real-life situation. Romance heros don't exist and women thrive at being sucked into that world.
Women read for that feel-good moment and feeling. If they had to read about the after-math it wouldn't be so feel-good anymore.
But, I'll bet every time I read a romance now, I'm going to be thinking about it - what the H/H will be saying to each other 5 years down the road. It'll never be the same. LoL.
~JD
Bahaha loved it!!! So true... marriage isn't all lovey dovey and roses but the moments that are surpass any bad ones... such as clipping toe nails or leaving the toilet seat up!
What a fun post though!! Loved it! Loved you being so truthful at my blog today too! I love the honeycomb center!
I'd LOVE to read a book that starts AFTER the happy ending. Great scene! lol.
Hah! That was hilarious, thanks Lindsay.
Great post, Lindsay. :) And you're right - we rarely talk about the ever after. It's far more challenging that the romance.
hahaha awesome!
Fun post - and point made :)
Great post.
I propose a meeting of the United Nations over this toilet seat matter. It gets me into trouble all the time (fellas, tell me I'm not the only one). Something must be done, some sort of treaty drafted...
Thanks for the mention Lindsay!
loool
this was brilliant! and such a good point! though i have to admit, i often wondered as a child what happened to them AFTER the wedding. i always wanted to know. and then they came out with Cinderlla 2 and i wanted to bleach my eyes.
so that's what i got for wanting to know.
haha!
What a great point! This was so funny! But really when we read a romance we want the happy ending.
Great post!
Hee, I love your little sequel to Cinderella. :)
As a romance-lover (not genre romance, but just romance over all), I've always wondered about this. I have to admit I am primarily interested in the journey before marriage. But it'd be interesting to think of the journey after, too!
LOL! Great post, very creative. And so TRUE!
I don't write straight romance, but I do write women's fiction, so there's usually some sort of romance in my plots. Yes, every time, I seem to end up writing about the courtship stage, ending just before or during the wedding, for the very reasons you cited.
I remember that romantic drama with Billy Crystal, "Forget Paris." It actually DID try to explore the "after courtship" phase, and because it WAS so realistic, it fell flat with audiences. I guess nobody wants to see their own flawed relationships up on screen, lol.
Ha ha ha! I love this - it's so true. And hilarious, when you put it that way! :-)
That was so cool!
I'd love to read the 'what happened next' stories for all these poor ladies. And, yeah, Disney princesses are only there to get swept off their feet.
'Cause that's what damsels in distress are for, right???
*rolls eyes*
Love it! Stupid toilet seat. It's when Cinderella discovers it in the middle of the night that the story hits the fan.
And totally agree about Snow White. Way too fast in the courtship department. :)
LOL, good thing little things don't bother me and I'm laid back otherwise, that stuff would get to me.
Haha. I loved this!! Men will never be perfect, ever. Maybe that's why we like our fake book boys so much. They will always put the seat down. LOL :)
This was such a fun post! Yes, riding off into the sunset isn't realistic, is it? And toenail clippings are a buzz kill for sure.
Fun stuff :)
When I was in university, there was an article by a psychiatrist or psychologist or someone who knew stuff like this. He analyzed Shakespeare's couples from the comedies (everyone ends up married in the comedies). He projected that something like only 1 out of 6 or 7 of the couples would be able to stay together. I bet the same is true of fairy tales :)
LOL! So true!
I love this - it's so true
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These are the some awesome deleted scenes, Lindsay (A.K.A Isabella). It's funny how you portray Cinderella with an "icy stare" that pierces the "heart" and "tears into" the soul, because we know her as the sweet, little angel. Awesome stuff, write on!
LOL, this was fantastic!!!!! I always knew the Prince had a flaw... ;)-
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