Have you seen the new movie about Julia Child? It stars Meryl Streep as Julia, and is written and directed by Nora Ephron. It just opened this past weekend (8/7/2009).
My wife loves to cook. She gets her kitchen tools from Williams-Sonoma, her oil and vinegar from Katz and Company, and follows instructions given by Ina Garten and Michael Chiarello. For us, this movie was a “must-see.”
How does this movie make its way onto a blog about anti-Republican culture? You will have to see it to get the full effect, but here are some hints…
--There is a wedding scene, where Julia’s sister gets married. In the scene, the obnoxious relative is a Republican.
--Julie Powell, the person played by Amy Adams, plays hooky from work and is confronted by her boss. He says something to the effect that, “If I were a Republican, I would have to fire you.”
--Paul Child, Julia’s husband (played by Stanley Tucci), is caught up in the McCarthy hearings of the early 1950s. He faces what appears to be a panel of Republican Congressmen in a windowless room, where they inquire as to whether or not he is “a homosexual.”
I don’t think you will see a reference to these scenes in any reviews of the movie. They are meant to be a backdrop; a landscape for the movie.
But they are there, and they are purposeful.
It makes me think of the caricatures that our entertainment industry has profiled over the years. We had Amos ‘n’ Andy, with the naïve Amos and the gullible Andy representing the way people with dark skin live. We had I love Lucy, with Lucille Ball showing women behaving in a ditzy fashion.
Over the years, our entertainment industry has become a bit more sensitive in exploiting caricatures of human beings. However, that sensitivity now has a political agenda.
What is the message we see in Julie & Julia? The wedding scene shows us that Republicans are inappropriate and obnoxious. The scene with Julie confronted by her boss shows that Republicans are mean-spirited and vindictive. The Joseph McCarthy inquisition scene displays Republicans as bigoted and homophobic.
It takes something away from the entertainment value of the movie, but yes, Ms. Ephron, we get the message.
UPDATE 1
Thanks, Stacy!
UPDATE 2
Over at GayPatriot, Dan has an earlier and more comprehensive review of the film, noting the "gratuitous slap against Republicans".
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
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7 comments:
My daughter and I saw the movie and, aside from the gratuitous political references, we loved it. We're both conservatives and agreed that had they been deleted, the movie would have been even better -- and shorter.
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You are exactly right with the use of the word "gratuitous", Kitty. We are accustomed to gratuitous sex and violence. I guess it's time to get used to gratuitous politics.
Sony uses the movie to promote certain products (Did you notice the Vaio laptop?). Nora Ephron seems to be using the movie to promote "her products".
I wish I hadn't spent $ seeing this since it did bash a political party, which I find divisive for our troubled country right now. Streep's characterization of JC was strong but greatly undermined by a very weak and uninspiring depiction of Julia Powell. Here is something tongue in cheek to watch though (: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO2eh6f5Go0
I saw the movie. It was a reflection of the time period. Were the McCarthy hearings in full swing? you bet. This is a period piece and a piece about two real people. So both appear to be somewhat liberal, big deal. Certainly shouldn't deter you from enjoying the movie.
Lori12:
Thanks for the post.
What's fun to note about the movie is the perspective of our culture. It is a story about cooking, yet Nora Ephron uses it as a vehicle to provide lingering impressions of "bad Republicans". Our culture views this as "right and natural".
As an intellectual exercise, see if you can come up with any other movie in your lifetime (with nothing to do about politics) that gives a slant leaving the impression of "bad Democrats".
Does that makes the point?
OOPS...
Sorry about the typo. That last sentence has a renegade "s".
I'm glad I only paid $1 at Red Box to rent this movie. Nora Ephron doesn't deserve our money, nor does anyone who gratuitously promotes a political agenda in a movie. The slaps at Republicans were disruptive and incongruous to the story. "If I were a Republican, I would've fired you." Oh, please. How inane.
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