Cher The Love<3

Moonstruck & midnight spaghetti!

“In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes”— a bleak worldview in my opinion— espoused by Benjamin Franklin in reference to the constitution and embraced by glass-half-emptiers ever since. Perhaps there are only a few absolutes, but there is also the potential for a great many fillings in this big sandwich of life, we just have to be bold enough to try and fill the bread.

In the 1987 romantic comedy classic Moonstruck, we are first introduced to the films protagonist, Loretta Castorini ( played by the one and only Cher), as she works for one of her many bookkeeping clients at a funeral home. The funeral director brags about how he can make the dead look better than they did in real life as Loretta works on his books with a wake taking place just outside the office door. And there you have it- death and taxes. In the first act of the film it is clear that this is an attitude towards life that Loretta has come to live by, as hers has become something to simply be endured. But while she has become cynical towards her existence and bereft of the luminescence she likely once had, we see glimmers of light in her appreciation of the love and romance she sees in the people that inhabit her little corner of the world. She might be frost bitten by pessimism, but not so badly that a single rose can’t still warm her heart. Loretta is a woman who seems to be flirting with fatalism, but is yet to fully commit.

Norman Jewison is one of the great journeymen directors, and with Moonstruck he takes what could have been just another rom-com and instead creates an operatic fairytale that examines the risk and reward of using ones heart. Loretta is a widow in her late thirties who has a fraught relationship with joy. She quietly wrestles with her grief after losing her husband who was struck and killed by a bus a few years prior. We are introduced to her as graying, melancholic, ordinary woman who lives at home with her Italian American family in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. Loretta has resigned herself to living a muted, two dimensional life. She is also determined to become a bride again, no matter how bland and loveless that union may be.

We get to know Loretta and the complexity of her feelings about love through her relationships and interactions with a bevy of deeply compelling side characters. Moonstruck captures the nuance and duality of intimate relationships as well as any film ever has, all in an effort to highlight the dichotomy of the human spirt through a loving and hopeful lens. The couple bickering at the liquor store comes full circle in their sixty second disagreement, from being a cliché of two older married people who can’t stand one another, to revealing themselves as caring partners. Her mother (Olympia Dukakis). and father ( Vincent Gardenia) are seemingly trapped in a loveless marriage, but writer John Patrick Shanley gives a great deal of texture to their complex relationship, making them so much more than the typical one dimensional, late stage married folks so often represented on screen. Lorettas aunt and uncle are sexagenarians who are still very much in love and refreshingly horny for each other. We almost never see older people having sex in movies, but Moonstruck gives us a sweet and playful glimpse of the two getting frisky by the light of the full moon. Shanley’s palate for painting his characters is composed of many shades of gray, and it separates the film from its contemporaries, making Moonstruck not only a classic, easily digestible comedy, but also an honest portraiture of the many faces of togetherness. There is a gamut of emotions that exists within most of people, and this film does as good a job as any in reflecting what real relationships are like and how true love can be exhilarating, exhausting, excruciating, and ever changing throughout the course of a life.

In the first scene at The Grand Ticino restaurant, Loretta’s boyfriend Johnny Cammarei ( Danny Aiello), half heartedly proposes to her before leaving for a trip to Sicily to see his dying mother. Cher delivers a heartbreakingly beautiful performance throughout the film, and in the first act her numbness is palpable— as if her spirit was flash frozen but hangs right behind her eyes, begging to be thawed— and we catch a chill just watching pretend as though she is enjoying the path she has chosen. While this seems to be a life she could bear, it is also one filled with repression, longing, and no desire for dessert. She accepts Johnny’s proposal, which may be sweet and well intended, but is also as ill fitting as the pinky ring he gives her to signify their engagement. She sends him off with the promise that she will contact his estranged brother and invite him to the wedding, waving goodbye to his plane aside an embittered elderly woman who has let life’s disappointments consume her- a warning from the universe for Loretta to not waste hers in the same fashion.

Loretta meets Johnny’s brother Ronny (Nicolas Cage), in the hot, cramped basement of his family bakery (filmed at Mazzola’s Bakery, just down the street from my apartment!!), where his own version of a life half lived manifests itself in him sweating over bread ovens all day and lamenting on all that has been lost. While Loretta has been hiding behind a messy graying hairdo and a thick wool cloak of desolation, Ronny has banished himself to a personal hell melting in front of the ovens and threatening to kill himself in front of his staff. We come to learn that five years ago Ronny was distracted by his brother while using the bread slicer and cutting off most of his fingers and subsequently losing his fiancé who refused to be married to him after the accident. This is a bizarre but forgivable plot point, as it also works along with the soemewhat fantastical nature of the film. While Ronny’s reaction to the accident seems extreme, I have personally known people who have self-destructed in similar ways in the wake of tragedy— perhaps not such a Cage-y fashion— but self-sabotaging nonetheless. It is painful to see misfortune double down in this way, taking the survivor with the dead. We soon find that Loretta and Ronny’s chemistry is air to the tiny flame that had yet to go out in either of them. Loretta and Ronny’s instant connection might be hyperbolic, but when we are drowning in sadness and grief there are some times when we get tossed a buoy, a chance for survival in the form of hope. Maybe it’s a ray of light that reminds us the sun still exists, or unexpected laughter that infers that happiness is possible, or meeting someone that makes us realize we are still, in fact, alive.

Ronny invites Loretta to the opera, and in preparation for the date she spends the day getting a makeover. She takes the grays out of her hair, gets her nails done and buys herself a sexy new dress. Makeover sequences can so often be damaging because they infer that someone can only be loved if they become more beautiful, but what sets this one apart is that Loretta isn’t refreshing her look so that Ronny will like her more, he’s already obsessed. Loretta’s makeover represents her allowing herself to feel sensual again, to permit herself the joy and pleasure that she has been starving herself from. There have been times when I have been lost in my own grief where I have gone months denying myself nourishment in a variety of ways, until one day I remembered that I deserve to feel joy even in the face of tragedy. While it is fair to chastise the archetype of the dowdy woman who gets a makeover and suddenly becomes lovable, this is not that, and I think that is an important distinction, not only because of what it says about Loretta and her grief journey, but about the film itself and how it unconventionally tells a conventional story.

Loretta may have fallen in love with Ronny, but she is having a hard time truly accepting the sharp left turn her life has made in just a few days time. She was comfortable in the mediocrity of her day to day, but as she stands in the freezing cold with Ronny, she is fully on her hero’s journey. She has heard the call to adventure and is about to cross the threshold. Ronny grabs her on the street and delivers one of the all time great monologues. “Love don't make things nice - it ruins everything. It breaks your heart. It makes things a mess. We aren't here to make things perfect. The snowflakes are perfect. The stars are perfect. Not us. Not us! We are here to ruin ourselves and to break our hearts and love the wrong people and die!” Loretta lets go of so much pain in this moment. We see with the tears welling in her eyes, and it is clear that she is finally able to put down the heavy bags she has been carrying since her husband died. Love has a way of helping us loosening the grip around the baggage we no longer need, and releasing that weight can be life saving. We next see Loretta kicking a can down the wide open street in Brooklyn Heights, alone with her new found joy in a world that feels edgeless and filled with possibility.

To be Moonstruck is to be lovesick to the point of insanity by the influence of the moon. One could say that a lunar induced madness causes these star crossed lovers to do outrageous things in the name of passion, but I think that at its core Moonstruck is a film about hope. It’s a film about the cornucopia of the human experience— an examination of life and death, love and resentment, suffering and ecstasy— but its true message is about the unpredictable nature of true love. There are unconventional means by which our lives become rich and meaningful, and diversions that pull us away from passion and togetherness, and it is up to us to find creative ways to come back to what feeds our hearts. What this movie calls on us to realize is that passion exists within us, and it is our choice wether we realize it or repress it. The choice to grab it may destroy us, but the choice to snuff it out is sure to.

Moonstruck suggests we allow ourselves the freedom to “ruin everything”, and this is an ethos that I have, for better or worse, lived by most of my adult life. I was in a near death accident when I was twenty-two, and in the eighteen years that have followed, I have capre-d the shit out of every diem whenever possible. This has often resulted in a broken heart and bruised ego, and while I have lost precious time in the wake of heart fueled, life ruining quests, I am glad to have been someone with enough courage to risk stability in the name of wanting more than the status quo. This film is an endorsement of imperfection and a celebration of an overfilled sandwich.

I used to do a podcast with my mother on Heritage Radio Network about the intersection of food and grief, called Processing. One of our guests was a woman who had tragically lost her twenty-five year old son while he was abroad. Her grief was almost tangible as she spoke about him. She told us that on nights when the pain kept her awake, she would go down to her kitchen and make herself midnight spaghetti, a simple yet soul satisfying melange of garlic, chili and salty grated parmigiano. It struck me as such an act of defiance towards the darkness to feed herself something so flavorful and nourishing. When we are grieving it can be so difficult to give ourselves pleasure and comfort, and a big steaming bowl of pasta in the middle of the night feels like an outright demand for pleasure, for air to the tiny flame that refuses to go out even as the gale force winds whip at one hundred miles per hour. A small and powerful cry that says “My heart still beats. My joy is still important.” In the scene where Loretta and Ronny eat in his apartment, I have always thought she was having spaghetti aglio e olio, which is quite similar to midnight spaghetti. It’s easy to make, classic and perfect, and signifies the beginning of Loretta’s own journey towards devouring her one precious life.

This world is vicious, and it is also often kind. It will, over and over again, blow us to the ground. Sometimes we get knocked down so hard that breathing, let alone cooking spaghetti or dancing down the street, feels impossible. Death and taxes may be the two universal constants, but there is more to life than its certainties. It is the mysteries and colors that we can only see in the moonlight that make this life delicious- may we fill our bellies while we have the chance.

MIDNIGHT SPAGHETTI

This is pasta is a twist on the classic spaghetti aligo e olio. I kick it up a notch with some butter and lemon zest for optimal midnight slurping satisfaction! While this is a bold and beautiful late night snack, it is really perfect anytime, and goes great with a lemony arugula salad piled right on top. If you’re not Cher-ing, just half the recipe, or make the whole thing just for yourself :)

INGREDIENTS

Serves 2

1/2 lb spaghetti

*16 whole roasted garlic cloves (see note below)

1/4 cup garlic oil (or regular EVOO)

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

zest and juice of 1 lemon

1/4 cup finely chopped Italian parsley

1/2 cup grated Parmigiano or Grana Padano cheese

2 tablespoons butter

3/4 cup pasta water or regular water

salt and black pepper to taste

*The whole roasted garlic in this is delightful, and super easy to make. I am lucky to have a top notch Korean grocer in my neighborhood that always has pints of the freshest whole peeled garlic, and I buy it and make roasted garlic to always have on hand when I need it. If you cant find peeled garlic, you can absolutely peel and roast your own, or sub with slice or smashed garlic toasted until golden brown in EVOO.

To make whole roasted garlic cloves, combine 1 cup peeled garlic cloves with 1/2 cup EVOO in a small sauté pan or pot over medium low heat, checking frequently to avoid burning, for 12-15 minuets or until golden brown. Remove from heat and let sit for at least 10 minuets before using to allow the garlic to soften. Can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 months, maybe even longer, if the garlic is completely covered by oil.

DIRECTIONS

1.Boil spaghetti in salted water until it is al dente, which is usually about 1-2 minuets shy of the package directions. Just sample a strand, and if it still has a little bite to it, it is done. Strain, reserving 3/4 cup pasta water. If you forget to save pasta water, don’t fret, just use regular water, it will work just fine.

2. Add garlic, oil and chili flakes to a large sauté pan over medium high heat. If using roasted garlic, smash the cloves up a bit with a fork, for about 1 minuet. If using sliced garlic, sauté in oil unti golden brown. Add pasta, 1/2 of the water, lemon juice, salt and pepper and allow to reduce while stirring/ flipping frequently for about 1 minuet. Add parsley, lemon zest and the rest of the water and continue cooking over medium high heat for 1-2 minuets or until the pasta starts to look glaze-y. Turn off heat, and stir in cheese. check seasonings and transfer to a bowl ( or eat it straight from the pan!) and top with more grated cheese. Eat in the moonlight if possible,

Some great mix-ins would be, capers, olives, anchovies, artichokes, pickled peppers or tuna. But this pasta is truly perfect in its pure form. Listen to your hungry midnight heart!