How long have they been holding on to this jewel?
I can just see the editors of the Edmonton Journal now... it's a dark, smoke-filled room. The clickety-clack of keys is only interrupted by the odd sigh of a frustrated but morally righteous journalist trying to beat the clock and make the deadline. Suddenly, an editor's voice rings through the air: That story is gold! RUN IT!!
And voila, out of the Department of Truth slides: "Duck billed Dinosaur may have trumpeted love songs to mates". A kitschy cupid-meets-Barney article about a dinosaur that sings love songs. Seriously.
While I anticipated the usual barrage of sentimental made-for-a-country-song pieces about first loves, lost loves, and "being single is alright" moments, I definitely was unprepared for the Journal's willingness to stretch this decidedly un-valentines day story into a made-for-tv moment. By now it's obvious that the consumerism of Valentines Day spreads farther than the likes of diamonds, chocolate and flowers. The invocation of the Valentines Day juggernaut can increasingly be seen in many industries in order to sell less romantic commodities (like newspapers). Am I concerned that Purdy's and deBeers are losing their monopoly on V-Day? No. They deserve to be shaken up. What I am concerned with is how journalistic integrity and critical analysis is taking a back-seat to feel-good pieces.
Why not challenge this whole notion of Romantic Love? It's a fairly new invention... the concept of 'marriage' that we know today did not start out as the combining of two soul-mates, but was more accurately the combining of two wealthy families in order to ensure future trade and peace. Or how about refusing to play along with the attribution of contemporary definitions of emotions and sentimentality onto animals and inanimate objects ?
Obviously, there is a place for feel-good pieces--god knows in this Alberta election period we are gonna need some sort of release-- but let's make sure these pieces don't invoke old story-lines that risk repeating tired cliches that reinforce narrow and antiquated understandings of love and partnership.
Here's another V-day themed animal story:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2008/02/14/sage-grouse.html?ref=rss
Posted by:eh | February 15, 2008 at 11:33 AM