Independents’ day: music, film, art and more celebrating singledom at Valentine’s
The highly entertaining New York fashionista romcom The Devil Wears Prada was something about which I was regrettably snooty when it first appeared. How wrong I was. It’s a gem, with great performances from Meryl Streep as the terrifying magazine editor; Stanley Tucci as her long-suffering art director; Emily Blunt as the icy couture fanatic; and Anne Hathaway as Andy, the guileless PA. But more than this, it is a great movie for singledom, perhaps the movie for singledom. Because the point is, despite dalliances with super-hot guys, Hathaway’s character winds up single and perfectly happy. Her relationship is with her career as a journalist, which is probably where the romantic energy has been all along. She has outgrown her boyfriend, the toxic schemer Nate, and she is happy with herself. This is singledom nirvana. Peter Bradshaw
*** Music
“You’re lovely / But it’s not for sure / That I won’t ever change … ” One of the quirkier hits of the 00s, Nelly Furtado’s breakout single I’m Like a Bird has aged spectacularly well in the fresh millennial context of prioritising oneself. Less outright ghosting, more polite “no, thank you”, Furtado’s bird never bumbles, floating across lush meadows in her refusal to be tied down to a relationship that doesn’t entirely suit. A sceptic might diagnose her with a bad case of grass-is-greener syndrome, but despite Furtado’s polite regret, there is something inspiring about her desire to strive for something more, embracing independence with open wings. Jenessa Williams
*** Art
Lisa Brice looked to Caribbean culture to create After Ophelia, a badass redux of Millais’ painting of the drowned Ophelia as a supine martyr to a broken heart – the one that the model Lizzie Siddal posed for, notoriously nearly freezing to death in a bath. Instead of a watery grave, Brice’s woman emerges from a cheap plastic ribbon curtain. No sad wilted bouquet for this lady: she has a joint in one hand and, in the other, a Stag beer, a so-called “man’s drink” in Trinidad. Her skin is the blue of carnival devils and the cat is more witch’s familiar than pet. Like the decidedly undomestic-looking feline, you feel this single woman is a predator not a victim. Skye Sherwin
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Book
It is more than 100 years since Hermann Hesse wrote Siddartha, and 72 since Hilda Rosner’s English translation, which caught the attention of the hippies who turned it into a countercultural classic. Hesse’s idealised take on Indian spiritualism can now feel clumsy, but it’s hard to think of a more recent novel that has sung so eloquently of the joys of being alone. That’s partly because it’s hard to find books about the appeal of the single life. But it’s also because this story still has its own poetry and power. There’s something beguiling about the way the titular hero finds enlightenment in riverside solitude. Spending time with it will help you understand why it inspired so many boomers to focus on themselves. Sam Jordison
*** Television
The screen adaptation of Dolly Alderton’s bestselling memoir Everything I Know About Love is an exploration of the tensions that new romantic opportunities can cause in lifelong friendships. The breakdown of Maggie and Birdy’s relationship, as Birdy devotes more time to her boyfriend, makes for devastatingly resonant viewing about the pains of losing your best friend to their lover. It tackles the question of how we prioritise our different social relationships as we grow older, and domestic and romantic ambitions supplant the desire for nights out with friends. Anyone who has ever endured the indignity of being the last single friend, with the anxious sense of social abandonment it can cause, will see themselves in Maggie – whether they’re keen on that reflection or not.