Happily Ever After.
What comes next, is a little more modern.

I love a good story. Even better, a good tie-in. Or is it product placement? Maybe it’s product placement’s distant cousin: the genius marketing strategy that involves targeting a consumer group, playing to their dreams and desires, and ultimately, the exploitation of those for a solid bottom line. That’s every corporation’s Happily Ever After, n’est-ce pas?

This spring, the ultimate HEA is sweeping three of my favorite mediums: the silver screen, sparkle, and story. Snow White and those unforgettable Seven Dwarfs are hitting the big screen in Mirror Mirror, Snow White and the Huntsman, not to mention already lighting up hearts in living rooms across the nation as the main gal in ABC’s Once Upon a Time. She’s got spunk, and more than a little style, which Swarovski is currently playing up in its new collaborative collection with Disney. What a timely release of those pretty sparklers! Like when Alice wandered across the screen in Tim Burton’s 3D buffet of of the senses, Swarovski chimed in with a collection, as did OPI with its line of aptly named nail shades like Almost Alice and Off With Her Red! Headbands ruled the fashion scene quietly during the Alice period, and now, we’re seeing bright colour-blocking not unlike Snow’s yellow, blue, and red dress–at least the one Disney introduced us to as their first Princess back in 1937.

What is it about these fairy tales, revamped with every generation to reflect the new attitude of the times that capture our attention all over again and help sell a few products on the side? I like to think it’s still the story, the heart of the matter, that makes the rest of it work so well. We wouldn’t be drawn to the beautiful jewels, trendy nail shades, or new movies that continually twist our notion of what a fairy tale really is, if we weren’t touched by something at the core of the story. Because story is where everything starts, and what we come back to at the end of a long hard day, whether it be for a little escapist action or morality, to explain the world: we tell ourselves stories so it’ll all make sense again.

Or I’m just a sucker for a good ol’ fashioned Happily Ever After.

X♥, Karin

“Still The Fairest” by talented contemporary artist Lisa Penz
Acrylic on Canvas.