Thursday, March 07, 2013

On looks

photo via Vanity Fair

I read and re-read Nora Ephron's Final Act written by her son Jacob.  This paragraph, particularly the last sentence, resonates with me deeply. It is not so much about vanity, as it is about the female condition and how love can be transformative at any age.  I've been thinking a lot about the brutal nature of media and appearances (particularly living in a city renowned for it's vanity) and think of Hilary's quote, which I think of anytime I find myself criticizing another's appearance.  Keep it in check.

"She had fallen in love with and married a man who was as fastidious about presentation as she was. Even in the hospital, day after day, Nick arrived looking impeccable in his fancy slacks and his beautiful loafers, because getting dressed up was a way to say to her that things were still normal, that he hadn’t lost hope. All sorts of men had rejected her when she was younger as cute but not beautiful. She wrote about it, turned it into a comic riff — everything is copy — but privately, it was heartbreaking for her until this noble man came along and made her feel that she was as fabulous to look at as she was to talk to."


-Berstein, J. New York Times (2013, March 6)