This was a FABULOUS FILM! It was based on the book Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg published in 1987 and a best seller. The film was done in 1991 and it is clearly a feminist film with many underlying themes. The most obvious and prominent feminist feature was the character Idgie Threadgoode. Idgie was a tomboy as a kid and never gave up her stubborn and driven ways. She grew into a wild young woman after her brother died. He was a huge influence on her life and a role model and his death divested her. Idgie knew her own mind and did as she pleased. She drank and played poker and carried on and refused to get married. One summer the girl her brother had liked, Ruth Jamison, comes to try to cure Idgie of her wild ways. Instead they become best friends with an underlying feeling that there may be more to their relationships ( which there is in the book in fact). At the end of the summer Ruth gets married, something Idgie can't forgive her for. It is many years before she visits Ruth and discovers that her husband beats her. Immediately Idgie takes over and get Ruth to leave with her. Idgie and Ruth open a cafe together. They work and play together. Throughout the film there is a hint of homosexuality but it is never fully fleshed out, probably because the film was produced at a time when homosexuality was still greatly unaccepted throughout the film industry. Ruth and Idgie have a bond beyond friendship that much is evident. Idgie is an idealized strong woman who cannot be tamed. When accused of murder she can't even hold her tongue in court. In addition race a huge factor in the movie. The reason Idgie goes on trial is to protect a black woman who killed Ruth's husband while protecting her child. The time period of the movie is through the 1920's and 30's and African American's were still severely persecuted at that time. Idgie however saw no color. Big George was one of the only people she clung to as a child and confided in as an adult. At their cafe, Idgie and Ruth not only served African Americans (granted it was in the back) but they also hired them. Idgie and Ruth were ahead of their time. They were headstrong women in a patriarchal world. Even so, these women took a stand and upheld their beliefs.
This entire story is told by an old woman in a nursing home to Evelyn, the 1985 housewife who is with her husband visiting family. Evelyn and Ninny form a bond through the story and we watch as Evelyn finds strength in these characters to change her won life. She has been taking marriage counseling classes (sans her husband of course) and has been doing everything she can to be the perfect wife and yet is still less important than baseball on TV. Evelyn learns through the strength of Idgie and Ruth to stand up for herself, to do things for herself, and to make changes in her life. She begins exercising, she stops cooking the same southern meals each day. She becomes a modern woman, a woman who can say no to her husband, a woman who is her own person. It is great to watch her make this transformation and become a feminist. The movie shows that feminism doesn’t have to be radical ( the example of her friend is radical). It showed that women can be inspired, they can take their lives into their own hands and they can be happy. It shows that women deserve to be happy and that by being happy things in their lives can change and improves.
Fried Green Tomatoes was a great film and really showed the heart of feminism and the simplicity of taking action, as a woman, in your own life. It also showed how friendships and bonds can be formed and how the relationships between women are extremely important.
Feminism to me is a movement by all people who believe in women's rights and women's intellectualism. Feminism is a support of women worldwide; it is the voice of women, the strength of women. It is our way of reaching out to the world, to becoming equals. Feminism is a movement meant to give any woman, every opportunity possible to be all she can be.
I think that art is extremely important to feminism and other movements. Many people are much more affected by art than they are by speakers or information presented in other ways. We are a nation of entertainment and art is entertainment. Using things like films as vessels for a cause is extremely effective. People may watch Fried Green Tomatoes and love it, and they may not even realize that by liking the film they are supporting feminism. Art gives fresh perspective to beaten topics. Art is a great way to reach millions of people with one simple movie, painting or song. Art is the vessel used for almost all causes and is particular good for feminism because it can display changes and display the ideal world so that changes can be made to make these idyllic scenes a reality. I hope that one day my words or my artistic outlets may express my feminism and reach to others and persuade them to support women: everywhere!
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Fried Green Tomatoes: Feminist Film xtra credit
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Making Tea, Making Art
My performance is art because I made the tea with the intention of the action being art. The more I made the tea the more I learned about making tea. With each repetition I discovered something I could do differently, somehting to change- to improve. Making tea became fluid; it became habitual. I would pour the water from the Brita into my kettle, then set up the tea bag and cup while waiting for a boil. I poured the water carefully, learning the easiest way to pour without burning my hands with the steam. Then I let the tea steep for a few minutes before consuming it. Another cup could not be made until the first was gone. This is art because my every move was calculated. I was making tea for the purpose of art and thus it became so. Art is expression. Art can be anything, there are no bounds except that it must be known that it is art. Making tea was my expression of myself. Tea is something that reminds me and connects me to my mother and my sister. Making tea in this way expressed this connection just as a painting of sculpture might, but instead I was living art. The difference between art and life is in the mind set. When I ritualistically make tea at night it is not art because I don't perceive it to be so. When I make tea for two hours straight with my sister's help it becomes art and I become a part of the medium through which it acts.
An audience was not necesarry in this case, though there could be one. If this action were perfomred in front of an audience I think it would become more mechanical. I would feel that the audience was judging each movement insteqad of the freedom I feel when not under scrutiny. I think that having an audience would not change this as an artistic exhibit. Again, it is art because I have chosen that it be art, audience or not. Art is a way of growing, exdpanding your knowledge and creativity. Repetition like this is a great way to grow and to look critically upon you actions.
I thought I succesfully was able to make an everyday action ( making tea) into art. The repetition allowed me to look into my actions in different ways and to evaluate my purpose as well as the meaning behind my actions and I feel that this is what art is meant to do
An audience was not necesarry in this case, though there could be one. If this action were perfomred in front of an audience I think it would become more mechanical. I would feel that the audience was judging each movement insteqad of the freedom I feel when not under scrutiny. I think that having an audience would not change this as an artistic exhibit. Again, it is art because I have chosen that it be art, audience or not. Art is a way of growing, exdpanding your knowledge and creativity. Repetition like this is a great way to grow and to look critically upon you actions.
I thought I succesfully was able to make an everyday action ( making tea) into art. The repetition allowed me to look into my actions in different ways and to evaluate my purpose as well as the meaning behind my actions and I feel that this is what art is meant to do
Monday, June 11, 2007
Self Portrait number two
Well one of the self portraits I posted was of my three prize posessions. The running shoes are very important to me because the represent a huge part of who I am. I am an athlete and I spend a very large portion of my life in running sneakers. I also took a picture with my giant banana, it was hard not to smile for this one because giant bananas are silly. This may seem very strange to most people but the banana has been with me since my freshman year of high school. I moved from my hometown to a town just outside of Chicago Illinois that year. It was a huge adjustment for me and it took a long time to make friends and to be able to express myself. It was there that I really was able to find myself and discover the thinigs that mattered most to me. The banana was given to me by a girl that became my best friend there. To me it symbolizes the changes I have been through. That move gave me confidence in my person and I will always be grateful for that. Plus the banana makes a great pillow on road trips...haha
The last image is of myself in my leather jacket. I think this is a symbolic picture because it expresses my love of fashion and excitement. I love this jacket, not because it is practical but because it is outrageous. Sometimes I like to dress up, and by that I mean I basically wear a costume. Not like halloween or anything I just find really random or outrageous combinations of clothing and wear them to normal occasions. I feel that the jacket represents this outgoing side of my personality.
So to tie these images together: I began running in Illinois and have been ever since ( the orange and black were our school colors). It was there that I received the banana as a gift as well as learned to be my own person and to embrace my quirkiness. My quirkiness is often expressed in my clothing, such as the jacket.
Ok so now for the other self portrait. This was my original idea but I couldnt get my picture programs to work properly. Needless to say I did alot more work that I needed to.
I relaly wanted to insert myself into the 1920s because I felt it was an era of change for young middle class women. At this time they began wearing shorter skirts, smoking and even drinking in public. Womens rights were on the move and these young women were at the edge. They cut their hair and went out at night. They introduced a new kind of woman.
I used the different images for several reasons. The stage girls seemed to capture the theatrics of the time. These young women were going above and beyond, they were breaking free. Much of this has since been portrayed on the stage in theatre productions such as the musical Chicago. These stage girls seemed to represent the brash new breed of women.
The girls on the street seemed to be a much more average set of young women. They have chic hats and short skirts and wave coquettishly at the camera. I think that this image is a classic image of the time and really captures the movement.
The final image is not truly inserted into another photo. I felt that many times these women were just dressed up for show, they wanted the spotlight and that was what I wanted to capture here. Dressed to the max and playing for the camera.
I think that over all I did a good job in cpaturing hte ime period and the images that represent it. It was relaly hard to digitally photoshop the images and I think I would have been able to do a better job with different programs. But working with what I had ( and having my computer crash in the middle) I thought this project runed out quite well.
The last image is of myself in my leather jacket. I think this is a symbolic picture because it expresses my love of fashion and excitement. I love this jacket, not because it is practical but because it is outrageous. Sometimes I like to dress up, and by that I mean I basically wear a costume. Not like halloween or anything I just find really random or outrageous combinations of clothing and wear them to normal occasions. I feel that the jacket represents this outgoing side of my personality.
So to tie these images together: I began running in Illinois and have been ever since ( the orange and black were our school colors). It was there that I received the banana as a gift as well as learned to be my own person and to embrace my quirkiness. My quirkiness is often expressed in my clothing, such as the jacket.
Ok so now for the other self portrait. This was my original idea but I couldnt get my picture programs to work properly. Needless to say I did alot more work that I needed to.
I relaly wanted to insert myself into the 1920s because I felt it was an era of change for young middle class women. At this time they began wearing shorter skirts, smoking and even drinking in public. Womens rights were on the move and these young women were at the edge. They cut their hair and went out at night. They introduced a new kind of woman.
I used the different images for several reasons. The stage girls seemed to capture the theatrics of the time. These young women were going above and beyond, they were breaking free. Much of this has since been portrayed on the stage in theatre productions such as the musical Chicago. These stage girls seemed to represent the brash new breed of women.
The girls on the street seemed to be a much more average set of young women. They have chic hats and short skirts and wave coquettishly at the camera. I think that this image is a classic image of the time and really captures the movement.
The final image is not truly inserted into another photo. I felt that many times these women were just dressed up for show, they wanted the spotlight and that was what I wanted to capture here. Dressed to the max and playing for the camera.
I think that over all I did a good job in cpaturing hte ime period and the images that represent it. It was relaly hard to digitally photoshop the images and I think I would have been able to do a better job with different programs. But working with what I had ( and having my computer crash in the middle) I thought this project runed out quite well.
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Sappho Translation
Well I would like to premise this post with the notion that translation is really difficult. Its so easy to either just imitate or not get the point across at all!
I really enjoyed the opportunity to explore jealousy. I used the translations by Anne Carson; I chose that one in particular because it was by a woman. I felt that to capture a woman's jealousy it is best to use another woman's perspective. In her translation Ms. Carson compares the beloved to a god which I felt was an unnecessary comparison, I said rather that he was a quintessentially perfect male. To some this may seem the same but I feel that by giving the beloved a godlike quality he then has too much power. Additionally this comparison does not reflect that a god is not always male or all powerful, which flaws the image. If he is just the epitome of male perfection, then the attraction can be there without the danger of having to worship him in any way. While writing my translation I tried to take the idea behind the poem and write from personal experience. I have definitely been in that situation... where the guy you have a HUGE crush on is being snatched up by some other girl. I tried to think of precisely how that made me feel and put it into words.
I really wanted some more vivid imagery in the poem soI tried to flesh out the "drumming fills ears" part into something more tangible with my analogy of an ocean serf. I used similar description as far as the sensation of fire on the skin and sweating and trembling. My description of "sweat trickling between my breasts" I thought made the poem more gender specific. Instead of my translation saying that my tongue breaks, which implies it wont work I wanted something more aggressive. I like the imagery of biting my tongue to restrain the words I'm thinking and I felt this reflected more realistically how this situation would play out. I think in this day and age women are more outspoken so it is more likely that a woman would have to hold her tongue than for it to stop working.
I changed the use of the color green in the poem. I still used the description, green as grass, but rather than to describe my appearance I used it to describe how I saw other things. People viewing me may not know I am jealous, but this fit of jealousy will overpower my vision and cast itself upon everything I do. I felt this internalized the emotion more and made me more responsible for it. Additionally, I still included a death like state but I did it in such a way that it was more like blacking out. As though the effort needed to control my emotions was such that it was causing my body to break down and my mind to shut down.
I feel that by translating this poem you are able to evaluate your own emotions and try to capture their essence. I have been jealous before, but now I have a very distinct description of how this emotion affects me.
I really enjoyed the opportunity to explore jealousy. I used the translations by Anne Carson; I chose that one in particular because it was by a woman. I felt that to capture a woman's jealousy it is best to use another woman's perspective. In her translation Ms. Carson compares the beloved to a god which I felt was an unnecessary comparison, I said rather that he was a quintessentially perfect male. To some this may seem the same but I feel that by giving the beloved a godlike quality he then has too much power. Additionally this comparison does not reflect that a god is not always male or all powerful, which flaws the image. If he is just the epitome of male perfection, then the attraction can be there without the danger of having to worship him in any way. While writing my translation I tried to take the idea behind the poem and write from personal experience. I have definitely been in that situation... where the guy you have a HUGE crush on is being snatched up by some other girl. I tried to think of precisely how that made me feel and put it into words.
I really wanted some more vivid imagery in the poem soI tried to flesh out the "drumming fills ears" part into something more tangible with my analogy of an ocean serf. I used similar description as far as the sensation of fire on the skin and sweating and trembling. My description of "sweat trickling between my breasts" I thought made the poem more gender specific. Instead of my translation saying that my tongue breaks, which implies it wont work I wanted something more aggressive. I like the imagery of biting my tongue to restrain the words I'm thinking and I felt this reflected more realistically how this situation would play out. I think in this day and age women are more outspoken so it is more likely that a woman would have to hold her tongue than for it to stop working.
I changed the use of the color green in the poem. I still used the description, green as grass, but rather than to describe my appearance I used it to describe how I saw other things. People viewing me may not know I am jealous, but this fit of jealousy will overpower my vision and cast itself upon everything I do. I felt this internalized the emotion more and made me more responsible for it. Additionally, I still included a death like state but I did it in such a way that it was more like blacking out. As though the effort needed to control my emotions was such that it was causing my body to break down and my mind to shut down.
I feel that by translating this poem you are able to evaluate your own emotions and try to capture their essence. I have been jealous before, but now I have a very distinct description of how this emotion affects me.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Self Portrait
The neck has always been a symbol of feminity and sensuality in my mind. I like the way this picture shows the ringlet underculrs of my hair, giving it an air of innocence. The two additional copies ( one in red and one in blue) I used to depict the underlying currents in the portrait. The blue is the calm and logical part of me whereas the red depicts my emotional side. I did the original in sepia because I found that it added a timelessness to the photo, however I did not feel that it accurately represented all of who I am, which is why I did the color versions. For this portrait I took many photos and various parts, my hands, calves, ears, etc. In this exploration I found that my neck seemed most representative of my gender and made me the most aware of my feminity. I did not choose the neck because it seemed vulnerable, but rather it seemed powerful. Additionally I chose this particular picture because my shoulder is also slightly visible. I think this hint of mucularity helps show my athleticism. As a female athlete and engineer I am very aware of my gender and the struggles that women before me have gone through so that I may have the many proviledges that I do. However I don't feel that by pursuing a prodiminately male major or by being athletic that I give up any of my femininity. I think that there is beauty in strength and I feel that this portrait is able to capture that combination excellently.
A little about me
My name is Anna and I am entering my Junior year in Bioengineering at PSU.
I'm from the middle of nowhere PA and grew up without TV, I still don't watch much now, but I really liked Psych last summer on USA. I like almost any kind of food, I think clams are about the only thing I won't try. My major doesn't give me alot of free reading time but I am currently reading Atlas Shrugged. My worst date ever was with a guy I knew from high school. I thought we were just friends...he had other ideas. My comfort level with the on-line technologies required by this course is quite low; I've never had an online course before so I am a little intimidated by all web stuff. I am an engineering major...so basically I am in the minority in 90% of my classes, believe me I am very conscious of my gender. As alot of other students... http://psu.facebook.com is definitely the site I visit most...sadly.
I'm from the middle of nowhere PA and grew up without TV, I still don't watch much now, but I really liked Psych last summer on USA. I like almost any kind of food, I think clams are about the only thing I won't try. My major doesn't give me alot of free reading time but I am currently reading Atlas Shrugged. My worst date ever was with a guy I knew from high school. I thought we were just friends...he had other ideas. My comfort level with the on-line technologies required by this course is quite low; I've never had an online course before so I am a little intimidated by all web stuff. I am an engineering major...so basically I am in the minority in 90% of my classes, believe me I am very conscious of my gender. As alot of other students... http://psu.facebook.com is definitely the site I visit most...sadly.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
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