Julie and Julia

Many of the critics just don't get this film. 

A number of women share my view:  the $10 we paid was worth it and then some. 

Dollar #1:  Meryl Streep.  Perhaps because it's my birthday this month, I'm feeling like I need to be a grown-up woman -- a real grown-up -- I'm not quite sure how to do this. Meryl Streep seems to.

Dollar #2:  Julia Child was in her 30s when she started culinary school.  In her 40s when she became a cooking instructor. In her 50s when Mastering the Art of French Cooking was published.  Sometimes our dreams take awhile to play out. Repeat after me. Mid 50's -- 20 years.

Dollar #3:  Her dream was right there.  So close she couldn't see it. Maybe even already a part of her.  Hat-making?  Playing bridge?  Nope.  Eat sumptuous food?  Experienced writer?  Organize voluminous amounts of material?  Pay dirt.  Many pieces of our dream are already at our fingertips just waiting for us to fit them together.

Dollar #4:  Julia Child walking into a class of all men who didn't want her there.  "I will slice onions better than any of you."  So much steel.  "I will not cry.  No sir.  But maybe you will."

Dollar #5:  Judith Jones.  We all need a Judith Jones.  The person who looks for the 'yes' rather than the 'no'.  Who invests in us, who is a see-er of our magnificence.

Dollar #6:  Julie Powell was stuck.  Committing to document her experiences cooking the 524 recipes in Child's cookbook was a means of becoming unstuck.  Something she liked to do.  Concrete long-term goal.  Daily checklist.  Clear timeline.  A winning recipe for 'unstuckness'.  And achieving a dream.  

Dollar #7:  Each of us has fears.  Boiling a lobster.  Eviscerating a duck.  Not a big deal to me, but they were to Julie.  We need to respect one another's dragons.  Then help slay them. 

Dollar #8:  Watching Julie and Eric make a space for her dream.  Eric was pursuing his dream and he encouraged Julie to pursue hers.  As her dream took flight, she was not as available as she had been creating conflict.  There's give and take, rough and tumble, as spouses grow and develop, learning to saying 'yes' to the relationship, even as we say 'yes' to our dreams.

Dollar #9:  When parents aren't as supportive as we need and deserve, if we are going to become our best selves we need to find people who will support us -- biographies and literature can do this for us by proxy remarkably well.  In studying Julia Child, Julie came to admire her, to be connected to her. 'Don't be afraid' came to mean so much more than advice about disemboweling a duck.  We all need an encouraging voice.  Julie found it in Julia Child.

Dollar #10:  Julia never met Julia Child, nor Judith Jones.  Neither is her accomplishment the stuff of myth.  But in undertaking the Julia/Julia project she re-discovered her self and made meaning of her life.  In the process, she helped me make meaning of mine.

Did you like Julie/Julia?  Do you have a Dollar #11?

Why?  Why not?

For another sampling of why critics don't get it, click on Ode to Julie and Julia.

P.S.  Thank you to Becka for her shout-out.   I am honored; I hope each of you guest-bloggers are as well.

Comments

[Macy Robison]

SO excited to see this movie. I was going to wait until Neal got home, but I may get a sitter and just go...

[Emily]

We had grand plans to see this tonight but other things came up. When I'm done I'll come back and add at least $2 more since movies here are between $12-15 :)

Very excited to see this though!

[Bonnie Tonita Whtie]

I was looking for a book at the bookstore the other day when a lady came up and made the comment to me that she was looking for the Julia Child cookbook. They were all out. They are on backorder. I suggested she might want to go to a second hand bookstore. Perhaps her mother in law has a copy in some dusty closet. I love how all things really do become new again. I haven't yet seen the movie - our bookclub has a date for the end of the month. I have observed though how this movie is stirring people up and motivating them, uplifting them, inspiring them to dream. You have to love that.

[LL]

LOVED the movie!!!!

[Positively Present]

I love this post, mostly because I wanted to see the movie and I wasn't quite sure whether or not I should. I guess I got my answer here! :)

[julia]

I loved the movie too! I even took my 11 yr old daughter (who was good at covering her ears/eyes when I told her too). I'm going to go again this weekend with some girlfriends. Julia Childs is a true example of grit!

[Jenny]

Whitney-what a great, insightful review. My favorite line: We need to respect one another's dragons. Then help slay them.
I'm looking forward to seeing this, too.

[Lisa Stone]

Can't wait to see the movie, I love Meryl Streep.

[Janna]

Dollar #12: Trusting your passion (this may be related to Dollar #3). Over the years, I've asked woman after woman, "If you could do anything, and money were not the issue, what would you do?" They always answer their passion. Then, quickly after that, they say, "But, I could never do that because..."

I am living proof that it's not only recognizing your passion, saying "hello" to it, and giving it the time and nurture it needs to grow that helps you live your dream. It's also trusting it. Trusting that it will come through for you. Trusting it will be there when everything else is smashed to bits. Trusting that it will never fail at making you feel like you.

Trust it, and it will always return the favor.

[Alyson]

While Julie and Julia is a good book, it should be said that the scenes of Julia Child life, as seen in the movie, were taken from her autobiography, "My Life in France". That being said, the movie is really a marriage of the two books. I am just putting it out there because her book isn't getting as much airtime as it needs to.
I think my #11 is that it only takes following through ONE dream to change us. Julia Child only lived in France for a relatively small portion of her life, I think its around 6 years more or less. But it was her time there that she relishes, for it was there that found her passion. She could hardly speak French and towering above the Europeans, she looked completely out of place, car and all. Yet, she said that on her first day in Paris, she as no longer a tourist, but felt Parisian.
Julie Powell cooked and blogged for a year. It took a whole year for her to find her meaning! It is easy to think that once we begin the dreaming process and we are on our way, we think those first disappointments and difficulties have changed us instantly. It doesn't. It takes time, consistency, and dedication. When it comes down to it, not very many people have the ability to follow through! Like most of us, Julie had a history of not following through.
Thanks for linking my blog. That just made my day!!!

[Janna]

Oops! My Dollar #11.

[Rebecca]

I love that you don't give the movie away! Can't wait to see this. I too, am a fan of Julia's. She didn't get lost in the fluff and fanciness of celebrity, but so generously shared her love and craft. Her influence is far reaching. She taught me that bacon was missing in my potato salad all of these years:)
That said, her influence obviously goes beyond the kitchen. I think what I love most about her besides her wisdom, was her courage & her sense of humor. I would have loved to share a meal with Julia!

[Diane Sampson]

Thanks for a wonderful review and reminder about the bounty that comes from patience and passion. I felt defeated this morning, and your review reminds me of advice I give others all the time--that there is plenty of time to do what we want, and that it often takes a long time to see something come to fruition. I feel inundated by articles/images/advertisements about young and wealthy and instant (young founders of technology like Facebook, Google, fill in the blank....) We have always worshipped young and beautiful. Now we also worship "overnight success": "If you can't deliver 7 figures ($$) in three years, it may not be worth doing." Clearly, the instant gratification impulse permeates all our lives, and isn't all bad. Who would want to go back to landlines as a way to connect to our kids? But, Julia Child's story is the story to hold on to and repeat to ourselves. Patience (20 years) coupled with passion.

[Mercedes]

Whitney,

What a great movie review. I haven't had a chance to see this movie yet, but when I saw the preview for it a few weeks ago I got the chills and KNEW it was going to be one of those movies i had to see.

Many have touched on the idea of patiently pursuing our dreams. It is something I am struggling with. I want everything to fall into place NOW and when it doesn't sometimes I let myself feel like a failure.

Stories about women who achieved great things, but whose success came slowly as a result of years of effort somehow always make me feel better. It doesn't all have to fall into place in the next three months, and the fact that realizing dreams takes time doesn't mean I am a failure.

Thanks for your thoughts!

[Kathleen P]

I knew that if the critics hated it, that I would LOVE it. I laughed so many times and I just couldn't get over how GREAT Meryl Streep was as Julia. I liked the whole premise of Julie being in a slump, thinking of an idea to pull out of a rut, the relationship of husband and mother and their conflicts, and coming out victorious at the end. Why don't the critics get it? Why don't they like it? I am always so perplexed.

[Whitney Johnson]

I think the critics don't get it (at least based on the Yahoo grades) because most are men. The arc of Julia Child's story they get because men tend to be more outcome than process-oriented. Julia writes a cookbook. It gets published. She eventually has her own show. She becomes famous. Outcome.

But Julie is completely lost on them. Hers isn't outcome, it's about the process of getting out of a rut, of simply moving forward -- the journey. Many women more instinctively this, and if we don't, we tend to learn, especially if we spend any amount of time caring for children.