On the list of affronts to Italian food culture, dumping ketchup on your spaghetti is a particularly egregious one for many of us of Italian descent. Sure, using a spoon to assist in your spaghetti twirling is up there too, but using a spoon at least has a purpose (one I don’t need, but still), while desecrating a beautiful plate of al dente spaghetti is a whole other crime against humanity.
Clearly, photographer Bettina Rheims was having cheeky fun with Italian goddess Monica Bellucci for this 1995 session, but I bet deep down in her soul Monica cringed at what she was doing. “It’s just a silly photo shoot,” I imagine she repeated to herself, as she ruined a perfectly good plate of spaghetti. It’s all in good fun, though, and Monica is clearly having a sexy good time being tacky. Plus she looks absolutely stunning, which is like saying the sun rises in the east and sets in the west—it’s just an indisputable, immutable fact of life that Monica Bellucci always looks absolutely stunning.
Over the years, the Italian actress has been crowned the most beautiful woman in the world by various outlets and most sentient beings. She’s outrageously beautiful, the kind of once-in-a-lifetime human perfection that makes you believe in a higher power. To paraphrase Agent Gordon Cole from Twin Peaks, she’s the kind of girl that you makes you wish you spoke a little Italian. I do, but very little. Nevertheless, we could reenact Lady and the Tramp over a plate of spaghetti—hold the ketchup though, please.
Today’s post is my little tribute to National Spaghetti Day, which is a silly online holiday that gives bloggers like me an excuse to post a bunch of jaw-dropping photos of my ancestral homeland’s donna più bella. Amazingly, this is only Monica’s second appearance at the Starfire Lounge. The first was in a post about Italian bella donnas. One of these days I’d like to write about Monica’s 2000 film Malèna. Until then, here are a few reasons why Monica Bellucci makes me proud of my Italian heritage. Ciao Bella!
The Starfire Lounge 