Cupid Columbia...

So what in the world is cupid columbia? Nothing in particular, just two separate quiries I have which I conveniently mixed them together to attain an alliteration.

Alliteration: the commencement of 2 or more words of a word group either starting with the same letter or with a similar consonant sound...

My english standards ain't vast, but my curiosity is. So today, let us briefly venture into uncovering the rationale between two "hidden beauties" in life... 1) Why are cupids depicted as babies? 2) Who is the lady featured at the front of Columbia pictures production?

After reading much material online, I found this website: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090213143331AAnkuKn to provide the most comprehensive and condensed info about cupids. For those of you too lazy to read through the whole thing, then instead of clicking, just scroll down.

Essentially, to answer it simply, cupids are depicted as babies because of their representations by artists. They are supposed to be called "Cherubs" in the bible, which describes them to be a tetrad o living creatures; having 4 faces, an ox, a lion, an eagle and a man. Well, no mention of babies... and their "birth" came about by artists representations. They depicted cupids as "putti" (singular, putto) which have the figure of a human baby and are naked with wings. Putti are innocent winged-like children who sing praises to God daily.

So, to divert away from the main question asked, Cupids are Cherubs, but the cupids we see as babies are in fact Putti. Ain't it complicated? There's no mention of their "evolution" anywhere, so I can only assume that they are depicted as soul because of they are innocent looking and they are more "sellable". Imagine a cupid with 4 different faces hovering around you, carrying a bow and arrow and aiming at you... Just like the Black Eyed Peas groundbreaking single... Where is the love?

I shan't put the history of Cupid down, if you want, you can google it or try the link above, how it's the son of Mars and Venus... blah blah blah. But it's interesting to read that there are different "versions" of cupids... like how some are wearing diapers!! The reason? One word answer. Censorship!! Some conservative countries cannot accept dangling modesties... so... ahem* how do one cover a baby's modesty? If you're wondering why not females... I am clueless either. It says traditionally cupids are depicted as male babies generally... I guess there's some sexism carried over in the history books...

1 down, 1 more to go! Me being an avid movie goer, has always wondered who in the world is the lady who looks like the statue of liberty shown during the beginning of Columbia Pictures. Simple answer... She's no one. She's a computer generated figure, an arbituary and generic figure created. But you might ask, there must be some "foundation" from which her features are derived from. You're right! Here's the slightly more elaborate answer. From the beginning, Columbia Pictures needed a mascot, so they asked a female model to model as the lady. The "real" model by whom the lady was depicted is still a controversy. Well, I can live without knowing... unlike who S. W. Erdnase really is....

So over the years, Columbia Pictures "modified" her outlook and her features and the most recent one we see on the screens nowdays are generated using computer graphics... thus, just a generic face. So... she's not the mother of the founder of Columbia Pictures, nor the mistress, nor the daughter... just some random female model...

If by now you haven't bothered to ask who S. W. Erdnase is... then it's time to stop reading because this post is only meant to answer those 2 burning quiries I have. But if you're wondering who in the world is he, since I've already mentioned him... in a nutshell, he's a "ghost" magician, or more appropriately, a cardshark who wrote a revolutionary "magic" book which inspired many of the world's legendary magicians... problem is... he's a "fictional" character.

No one knows who he really is because he never came forward to claim the book as his. Spectulations have named him E, S Andrews (spelt backwards) and that he was in huge debt at that time, and being a "cheat" or more politely put, a "cardshark" back in those days, he didn't dare to make public his identity... because all he wanted was the extra cash for him to repay his debts. Unfortunately just like how Elvis Presley faked his own death, we'll never be able to uncover the truth. One of the greatest mysteries in life indeed...

That's about it for now. I shall never stop looking.... and never stop asking... Why some things are the way they are. Because just as much as I would love to live my life through blind faith, a part of me craves to discover more, to uncover the "hidden beauties of life".