Although the whole premise of the movie is to breakdown both old and new ideas of marriage and courtship, it still paints a very Disney-like idea of what relationships and marriage are supposed to consist of: The main character is a "damsel in distress" and her "prince" comes to save her (0:29-0:39); The blonde bombshell gets the guy instead of the woman who is a better match(1:13-1:20); and a beautiful wedding means an expensive gown, lots of flowers, and your tall, dark, and handsome, prince charming (entire trailor :)). As you will see in the trailor below, any attempt by this film to pioneer a new idea about love and marriage is replaced by the superficial ideas of our society.
Our class discussion on hegemony about a week ago sparked my interest in the history of marriage and how the ideas of bridal showers, engagement rings, and wedding celebrations came to be.
As I researched engagement rings I found that they dated back to the Medieval Era when Pope Innocent III instituted a required waiting period between the time of engagement and the time of marriage. However, only wealthy nobles could afford precious stones for their rings thus the generally accepted engagement rings were solid metal bands. Though in later times a much greater population could afford precious stones. Because of this change, the partnering of certain stones on a ring were meant to symbolize something greater than wealth and status. For example, an engagement ring would include a Lapis lazuli, Opal, Vermarine, and Emerald, stones whose initials spelled "love". These traditions were practiced all across Europe as well as Germany, Sweden, and Denmark. However, in modern day England and the United States, the most popular engagement ring was/is the diamond solitaire. This idea of engagement rings was largely due to a DeBeers campaign in the 1940's whose slogan was "A diamond is forever". Since then engagement rings are called to be large and expensive to show how much a man "values" his beloved and how deep his commitment is. Today we see stars all over the media getting engaged, toting around boulders on their fingers, and creating a ridiculous interest in exactly how much those diamonds cost. Sadly, that theme has trickled down into mainstream lifestyles and people everywhere have come to believe that the bigger the diamond,the greater the love; Instead of representing a lifelong commitment, and And the things that should represent love the most, like commitment and sacrifice, have been replaced with dollar signs and carat counts.
A diamond may be forever, but the love that it is supposed to represent is not.
curcover (Lamar caught cheating)
Bridal showers began in the late 1890's in place of a woman's dowry. Her closest friends and family would come together and celebrate her marriage by presenting her with gifts of necessity so that she and her new husbands money could be saved and spent on more important needs. Today, however, bridal showers have morphed into bridal extravaganzas whose only purpose is to pamper the bride-to-be even more than she already has been. Although I believe that these age-old traditions have somewhat gotten out of hand, they still serve as fun ways to welcome young and old men and women into the adventure and commitment of marriage.
I agree with you on this one. Its sad how now-in-days money is such an important issue when it comes to being married. Love should be the motive in relationships instead of money and how big of a diamond you get on your finger. However, this has been a reoccurring theme throughout the years dating way back to medieval times when forced marriages were set because of the wealth in families.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you too clare, it seems like people think the more money you spend on the engagement ring the more you love them. This should not be how a man shows how much he loves his wife. i do think the history of it is interesting though. The whole "Lapis lazuli, Opal, Vermarine, and Emerald, stones whose initials spelled 'love,'" sounds amazing, but at what cost of paying for that ring? And what do you think would happen if by some chance celebrities started to buy wedding rings that weren't that expensive? do you think that may start a trend?
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