I went to see Julie & Julia. It is a wonderful movie! I found it refreshing and original and of course, about two of my favourite topics: food & France
Of course on a deeper level, this movie was not just about food & France. Honestly, it resonated with me, and I would guess many other women, on different levels.
First I think it aptly describes some of the essential dilemmas of women's lives:
-Where are we to put our energy?
-How are we to maintain balance, within our own selves and outwardly in our lives, our careers, our relationships?
-How are we to find and make meaning?
-Who are our models and where is our support?
J&J each struggled with the core question of where to put their energy, and they both stumbled upon it by the simplest method: they made a conscious decision to do what they loved to do, regardless of the outcome. On a subtler lever this meant trusting that this simple connection to the outside world meant something important. That it was worth honouring, and in doing so each woman honours her self.
About balance: this has to be the biggest issue that I see with my women friends and my own life. J&J reminds the viewer to savour the sensory experiences of her own life, literally through food, but also by enjoying her relationship to her self as much as the relationships with those whom she loves. It is about balancing the inner life with the outer life. To let go of "doing" long enough to "be". How to live a subjective life, rather than being a mere observer of one's own life. J&J becomes essential advice for maintaining grace in difficult situations (read: how NOT to have meltdowns-advice I could have used in my twenties!). It is also about not being stuck "in your head" and learning to rely on other more "feminine" senses-intuitive, emotive, sensory-to guide us in our choices.
I loved each woman's relationship to her husband in the movie. Their husbands were their centre beam in their "house", their main support. Not because they were weak women, but the opposite. These men kept them "real" by encouraging them to listen to and trust their own, inner voice.
Another source of strength for the J&J characters in the movie were other women as role-models. Today we are so fortunate to have so many great women to look up to: women like Julia Child, who were leaders even in the most domestic of ways. Amelia Earhart, in a more unconventional way, is another of those women. I look forward to the forthcoming movie starring Hilary Swank (though too bad about Richard Gere playing Putnam-that really sucks). Other personal heroines that I have mentally asked the question " what would she do in this situation?": Barbara Kingsolver. Beryl Markham (you must read her wonderful book: West with the Night). Grace Kelly. Meryl Streep. Coco Chanel. Murielle Guiliano. My Nana.
The one common denominator among these women: they knew themselves and were not afraid to be themselves.
It is particularly interesting to me that J&J found their liberation from convention in the most conventional of pursuits, the 50's housewife's domain: the kitchen. For many women the kitchen represents subservience, tedium, dependence and overwhelm.
I was a staunch feminist in University and I stayed away from the kitchen as much as possible in my newlywed days, and a lot of my women friends still don't cook anything (or at least anything from scratch). I can understand this position. It isn't political for most of them, it is personal and more often just practical.
For me however, I now love to cook. My biggest moment of growing from girl to woman came at the surrender to this fact. I love looking in a fridge that supposedly contains "nothing" and being able to use my creative flair for frugality and exposure to other cultures to create a nutritious and beautiful meal. Cooking to me is liberating, powerful and life-affirming
Another thing I personally loved about this movie was the ultimate aim of the two main woman: both J&J focussed around one goal: getting published. Getting published in a book, with a real publisher and all the symbolism and value in that from sharing knowledge and bettering the world, to being validated. The book represents la creme de la creme
Being published on the internet is not life affirming. It is a popularity frenzy and a trend, a "movie of the week". It is impermanent & disposable, more like a magazine.
Books are permanent. The publisher's responsibility as gatekeeper and protector of proper language are especially of value today, in light of the crap being "published" on the internet (including, some would argue, this very blog!)
I see this as another aspect how books are a tactile form of idea-sharing and they are one of the most beautiful achievements of human civilization. Julia Child's wonderful book Mastering the Art of French Cooking can probably be found if you google the recipes online (I don't want to try), but it is just not the same. An E-Book, even if the e-version is available on my IPhone with a full complement of do-dads, is not the same. Electronics will never be the same as as the beautiful smell, feel and weight (and cooking stains) of a properly bound, solid, printed book.
So although this movie appears to be about food I think it is really about about courage: allowing one's self to be really out there in the world, living with passion and making the most of one's life within the limits we are given. And sometimes that looks pretty domestic, and I applaud this movie for being completely unapologetic for that.
So now I have ordered a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking (sheep that I am) because I have to try that amazing Boeuf Bourguignon recipe, Julie and Julia's first, and soon, hopefully, to be my new specialty
