That Silver Screen Lifestyle

Upon reading the chapter from Susan Loomis’s On Rue Tatin, I had to refrain from periodically laughing at what was on the pages in front of me. I was laughing not because the writing was clever, which it certainly was, but at the almost absurd amount of good fortune Loomis had throughout her adventures in France. It seemed to me that at every turn Loomis was being offered something even more fabulous than what she already had, a position as head chef at a Parisian bookstore café, an opportunity to write a book on a topic she loves, a whirlwind romance that resulted in a fiancé in less than a month, all in one of the most romantic cities in the world. I am no pessimist, nor do I ever root for another person’s failure, however I found myself being frustrated by just how perfect her life seemed to be going. Loomis was living an enchanted life, a life that I could only relate to from viewing of silver screen romantic comedies or dabbling in romance novels.

            I was thrilled to see that I must not be the only one who had this particular view as one of the questions for discussion mentioned whether or not we believed Loomis’ narrative to be “like a fairytale”. I was ready to tear into Loomis’ work as being hard to relate to and somewhat unbelievable however, upon reflection I realized that Loomis had actually included a decent amount about her struggles in Paris in her writings. She simply chose to focus on the positive aspects rather than elaborating on the negative aspects of her life. This sort of optimism is inspiring; her life wasn’t perfect but through sheer optimism and the desire to chase after a higher calling, Loomis achieved a life that the film industry has been telling women to aspire to for years. However, she didn’t let others tell her what to want, she wrote her own script.