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Metatextuality and mise en abyme in the 1987 romance, Moonstruck

Good morning! On this ice-cold Sunday, I’m sharing a close reading of one of my favorite scenes in one of my favorite movies. (If today’s edition is truncated in your email, click on "View entire message" to view it all in your email app, or pop onto the web or Substack app.)

🍿 Enjoy!

The 1987 film Moonstruck, starring Cher, Nicolas Cage, and Olympia Dukakis is one of my all-time favorite movies for many reasons:

• Ronny Cammareri’s tragic (and hilarious) backstory about how he lost his girl and his hand, thanks to his brother Johnny’s negligence.

• All the deeply funny existential and selfish stuff that Loretta’s father says

• Loretta’s mom’s perfect line: “Your life is going down the toilet.”

• The perfectly-timed music, from operatic overtures to Vicki Carr records

• That famous scene where everyone looks at “la bella luna,” floating impossibly bright and low i…