Valentine’s Day doesn’t need to be about splurging on gifts you can’t really afford or feeling single and lonely. If you do it right, it can be liberating, says Charlotte Muru-Lanning. Hating on Valentine’s Day is an activity enjoyed by many. As a country of people who seem nearly allergic to romance, we’re particularly good … Read more
It’s Valentine’s Day, so why not pay homage to the New Zealand icon herself, Xena: Warrior Princess (the first three seasons drop on Lightbox tomorrow). Sam Rutledge writes a love letter to the woman herself. Question: was anyone who was alive in the 90s in New Zealand ever NOT watching Xena? I was only born in the … Read more
To celebrate Valentine’s Day and the launch of DB Export’s new campaign, The Spinoff pays tribute to New Zealand’s most famous love stories. Love isn’t something that’s always come easily to New Zealanders. Our “man alone” colonial history has often demanded feelings be suppressed, and emotions were traditionally something to be bottled rather than expressed, … Read more
Today is Valentine’s Day but for two very rich authors, every day is a day for romance. Nicholas Sparks and Danielle Steel go head-to-head in a battle for the trashy romance crown. Ten year old me browsed the books tables at the school fair. At 3pm, stalls were winding down and the tired volunteer mums … Read more
Two years ago, Dorothy McLean received a call that turned her life upside down. Then, out of tragedy, came hope. Sunday 14th February, 2016. Valentines Day. Work at Moore Wilson’s was chaos – frantic boyfriends rushed to buy chocolates and candy hearts. By 10am, we’d sold out of roses. Unknown to me, this stressful but … Read more
The Spinoff presents the video premiere of Jonathan Bree’s ‘Valentine’, just in time for a heart-broken Valentine’s Day! ‘Valentine’ director of photography Kermath says: I’m so sick of love songs; they’re so absolutely done. People draw on this falsified world of love through music, trying to make their relationships work as though the instructions are set out … Read more
For decades romance was full of complications for Lexie Matheson. But one Valentine’s Day she learned that to love herself required accepting who she was. It’s hard to separate the idea of Valentine’s Day from martyrdom in one form or another because martyrdom is locked into the history of the day and the people after which … Read more