after ever after

I love action and chick flicks, so I love the months of June, July and August, during which such movies abound. These movies depict a world unrestrained by the laws of physics and rationality, a world in which the the good guys survive all sorts of death-defying shananigans unscathed, the good-looking guys survive unscarred and lust at first sight leads to love at the altar.

I haven't had enough (or any) MacGyver moments to qualify me to judge the plausibility of action movies. But I do know that many relationships, however romantic their inception, do not end at the altar. So while I appreciate the value of the cinematic trifecta of a bended knee, a (blood) diamond and a white dress, I often find chick flicks to require greater suspension of disbelief than action movies.

Imagine, then, my delight, when I joined my mom for an episode of her latest Chinese drama. Entitled "Golden Anniversary", it chronicles the marriage of the lead characters from 1955 through 2005, from their first year of marriage through their fiftieth. In other words, it picks up where most movies end. There's no melodrama involving murder a la "Desperate Housewives", only the drama of everyday life. In one scene, for example, the couple bickers about personal hygiene. My mom tells me that the show - wildly popular in China - accurately depicts both life in China and life in a marriage.

I stopped watching after about 20 minutes because the storyline was almost too realistic, too familiar. Besides, I know how the story ends; it's called "Golden Anniversary", not "Divorce Court". And perhaps that's the fairy tale element of the show: that despite statistics to the contrary, people who vow "I do" actually stand by each other and stay through better and worse, richer and poorer, sickness and health.

Then again, maybe it's not so fantastical. These days, I have a recurring guest role in such a tale.