Fried Green Tomatoes: Feminist Film xtra credit

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!