Can Butter and Blogs Save?

Bob Davidson reviews Julie & Julia

Feature Film

I walked into the theater to see Julie & Julia knowing I was in for a good evening. I was alone with my wife, going to see a movie about cooking. For me, that is a trifecta that cannot be beat—and for those reasons I loved this movie.

Julie & Julia is the weaving together of two stories: Julie Powell’s and Julia Child’s.

Amy Adams plays Julie Powell, a young married woman in New York who takes on the task of cooking her way through Julia Child’s massive cookbook, “Mastering The Art Of French Cooking,” in one year, blogging her journey as she goes.

The other half of the film is the story of Julia Child (Meryl Streep) going from American housewife to cooking legend. Ping-ponging back and forth between the two women’s stories, the film shows the similar paths their lives took as well as exposing the differences.

Meryl Streep spent the 123 minutes of film showing the world why she is the most nominated woman in Hollywood history, while Amy Adams continued to prove that she may be the most likeable actress in Tinseltown.

Julie & Julia is more than just a gooddate movie with food porn; it’s a film that deals with a reality thatmost all of us are dealing with everyday, whether we are conscience ofit or not.

At a number of points in the film Powell declaresthat Julia Child saved her. This is an interesting statementconsidering the two never meet. Thus, the question is: saved from what?

Early in the film we see that Julie is unhappywith her life. A government “drone” who gets yelled at on the phone allday, Powell feels like her life isn’t amounting to anything. She has aregular “Cob Salad Lunch” with a few friends that she dreads going to,and while it would be easy to assume she hates spending her lunch withthese shallow, self-absorbed women, the rest of the film shows thatthis really is not the case. What Julie wants is not to be free ofthese women; she actually wants to be one of them. She wants a blogwhere the world tunes in to see what she is doing. She wants people topay attention to her. And while her blog gains popularity (you can’thelp but root her on as she gets first ‘comments’!) her life starts tofeel the negative effects of the project. The narcissism that it takesto run a blog boils over into her relationship with her husband.

What did all that butter and blogging save JuliePowell from? Was it from living the life that most all of us aredestined to live—one of average anonymity? Or was it from not livingthe life she was meant to live—one where she expressed herself throughfood and words? Is Julie Powell a success story?

Almost everyone is a blogger these days. You maynot have a blogspot, but I would bet you have a Facebook page. Do youfeel a tiny rush when you see someone ‘liked’ your status? What aboutwhen someone leaves a comment on one of your photos? Do wall posts ormessages in your inbox give you sense of worth? Do you long to be savedfrom anonymity? Or is it something deeper? What is your blog feeding inyour life? Why are you blogging?

Great little commentary on Twitter [which is just blogging 140 characters at a time]

View original entry here.