Wednesday, October 13, 2010

A heart can be broken, but it will keep beating just the same. - Ninny Threadgoode in ‘Fried Green Tomatoes’

If anyone called ‘Fried Green Tomatoes’, a chick flick, I would totally freak out. It is as bad as calling ‘The Color Purple’ a chick flick.
Fried Green Tomatoes is about women who are old and frail, women who are struggling with their marriages, women who are insecure about themselves, women who are not bigots, women who are capable, women who are strong and lastly women who inspire each other.

Evelyn Couch, an insecure house-wife befriends a frail old woman, Ninny Thread Goode (Jessica Tandy), during her visits to a nursing home where her husband’s aunt is.
As Ninny narrates an old story about two women, Idgie and Ruth, set in good old south in a small town of Alabama.

Idgie and Ruth are two diametrically opposite but strong women. Idgie goes into a cocoon after the death of her brother and Ruth tries to avoid her physically abusive husband, Frank. Together, they open the ‘Whistle Stop Cafe’, which becomes famous for their fried green tomatoes and barbeque. They patronize the local Black people including employing them as cooks at the café.
When Frank suddenly disappears, the local police suspects Ruth and Idgie but they are unable to prove them guilty.
The dénouement of the disappearance of Frank makes for a chilling story.
Evelyn finds herself looking forward to her weekly visits to the nursing home and finds that the story has a positive impact on her life.

This is as much about human bigotry as ‘To Kill A mocking Bird’. Idgie and Ruth are not liked by the people of Whistle Stop because of their friendship with the local Black people. When Ruth's husband ,Frank disappears, their Black cook is arrested and Idgie and Ruth are prime suspects.But without any evidence they are let free.Ninny then tells Evelyn the secret behind Frank's disappearance.

It is also about eternal friendships.Although there has been widespread criticism about the relationship between Idgie and Ruth being that of lesbians, i think that it more to do with friendly affection, which can be easily mistaken and is ambigious.

I remember watching this movie on Star movies about 10 years back, i had never heard of it and loved every bit of it.It was later I came to know that it was nominated for nearly 6 Oscars.

If you would like to see a story set in the 1930s set in the South, which includes the famous barbeque and fried green tomatoes, then this would be the ideal one.

2 comments:

Deepak said...

What the hell!!! I haven't watched ANY of these movies.

Swathi Sambhani aka Chimera said...

@Deppe - no worries, you can pick and choose what you want to watch now :)