Glass slippers
“No matter how sassy, ambitious, and independent a girl might be, her life is only complete when she’s Mrs. Prince Charming. At least that’s the subtext of two ’modern’ Cinderella stories now in theaters — ’Ella Enchanted’ and ’The Prince & Me.’ …
“Historically, fairy tales have reflected the values of the society in which they were written or revised — mirroring its preoccupations, obsessions, ambitions, and shortcomings. So the question inevitably arises: What do these updates say about our culture’s view of women and marriage? Why do the older versions no longer ring true? …
“The fictional heroines of ’Ella Enchanted’ and ’The Prince & Me’ attempt to reconcile the dichotomous desires of today’s women, but the resolution is an uneasy one. Neither of these women quite figure out how to navigate the conflict, making them an apt reflection of our society’s own bewilderment. But we’ll get there eventually: Twenty years from now, there will surely be a new Cinderella incarnation. It’s likely she’ll still want her happily ever after, but what that might be is anybody’s guess.”
—Jill Hunter Pellettieri, writing on “The Cinderella Complex,” Friday in Slate at www.slate.com
Squished
“There was a time, not too long ago, when Fox News was a joke — albeit a bad and sick one — to liberals and TV journalists raised on Cronkite, Huntley and Brinkley. But even those who rue the success of Rupert Murdoch’s flag-waving cable channel have to admit: The old boy has done it. CNN founder Ted Turner once famously mocked Murdoch, saying he’d squish his cable news rival like a bug. We all know now who has squished whom.
“Just check the Nielsens: When the president gave his prime-time press conference last week, 5.2 million viewers watched on Fox News, compared to CNN’s 1.7 million and MSNBC’s 867,000 viewers. For the year, Fox ranks ninth among all cable networks in prime time, averaging 1.4 million viewers. CNN and MSNBC don’t even make the Top 20. In 20th place: The Home and Garden Network.”
—Geraldine Sealey, writing on “Out-Foxed,” Saturday in Salon at www.salon.com
Looking up
“Optimism as a political strategy is not confined to incumbents, like Bush, who need to convince voters that things are improving. Nobody donned the mantle of optimism like the Democratic runner-up John Edwards, to whom the word ’optimist’ clung in nearly every media account, and who went so far as to deliver a speech last year titled ’In Defense of Optimism.’ … Every four years candidates strive to out-Pollyanna one another, laboring to maintain their smiles, never allowing a sobering thought to cloud their gaze. …
“The idea of an optimistic president conjures up all sorts of positive images — Franklin Roosevelt offering hope during the Depression, John F. Kennedy exhorting his countrymen to put a man on the moon, Ronald Reagan urging Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall. Edwards offered the most explicit moral rationale for optimism when he argued, ’Cynics didn’t build this country. Optimists built this country.’ As a matter of fact, the Founding Fathers had a deeply pessimistic view of both the public and its prospective leaders, which is why they constructed an elaborate system to prevent not only traditional tyranny but popular tyranny as well. If the people could be trusted to elect saints, we wouldn’t need checks and balances, judicial review, bicameral legislatures, and so on.”
—Jonathan Chait, writing on “Sunny Side Up?” in the May issue of the Atlantic Monthly
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