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Friday, January 22, 2010

a blogger's story



i had a conversation with a colleague about the film julie and julia today and i came away from it a bit surprised. this person's contention was that they didn't care for "julie" at all. she was boring, narcissistic, and treated her husband like shit. their take was also that the only good part of the film was that of meryl streep playing julia and that segment of the film had the only lively engaging scenes. 

my experience differed immensely as i had sympathized so much with the julie character in j/j. she had been living awhile in a rather uninspired mindset and got this idea to do a blog in order to jumpstart her passion. being rather at a loss for a subject to write about, she chooses julia child and her cooking which is fodder she already has a natural interest in. she begins this new process of blogging, and researching the subject of her blog. she becomes infatuated with this woman she admires from afar, as the struggles and tenacity thatchild mastered during the finding of her  vocation could so easily be echoed in julie's own situation.

taking a cue from her self-proclaimed mentor, julie develops her own passion for what she is doing and infuses some of julia's fortitude in order to stick with her blogging project. and she get sidetracked by the distractions that can come with recognition and even fame. as she becomes engulfed in her new julia world, she has less time for the life she had up until then. her relationship with her husband starts to become unglued, probably because the boundaries had shifted without an understanding. here is where i differ most with my friend's opinion. i don't believe she treated him poorly or unfairly. she cooked for him almost every day for heaven's sake. he ate well, and she often tried to share her new love with him at every turn it seemed.

another critique i heard was that the only interesting part was the julia child section of the movie. well, this does have truth in it. julia child is an icon in the american celebrity landscape. her distinct and comical speaking technique, her recognized relationship with delicious food and the romantic french culture are tailor made for mass appeal. and i also know that my life can often become more exciting and seem engaging when i am reading a book about someone fascinating. my life changed forever as i read about the ex-pats like stein, fitzgerald, and hemingway.

but part of the appeal here is the love of julia child as seen through the eyes of a similar middle aged woman who also had love and marriage, but no personal fulfillment. and the take away from this film remains for me that there is a price for really finding your dream and following it. it is not easy to be fulfilled and it requires more than just hard work.it requires willingness. but the satisfaction of finding one's passion and working to make it part of one's life, changes drastically the landscape of what is possible.

before "julie and julia", i have found that amy adams is adorable to me. a friend remarked that she had lost him at "enchanted" but my take away was very much the opposite with that film. i found her performance in that film to be almost vaudeville-esque and quite amusing. and it had been a similar experience with the "Miss Pettigrew" film. and the (maybe) naive quality that she emits in "the wedding date" sealed the deal for me becoming a fan. "sunshine cleaners" and "doubt" have not disappointed, either.  and come to find out, she was raised in colorado, not far from the Denver area. maybe that's some of the allure.

i guess the reason i am posting this, is the fascination i have with the different takes on the same film. the same subject can so easily inspire such different responses. and maybe i'm a little sensitive about this particular film. there aren't too many that i have seen that revolve so centrally around blogging. i loves me some blogging. it has been a solid friend to me these last  3 years. i have grown, i have cried, i have hidden from life at times, and i have learned how to google myself. i have corresponded with people whom i would have never otherwise met and my world has become richer.

today's sound choice is adele with "take it all"




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2 comments:

Unknown said...

It is an interesting story, most interesting seen at dinning table..Jewish Treatment

Unknown said...

I like your take on J&J. I enjoyed the film and identified very much with Julie.

I also like Amy Adams and enjoyed the escapism of "Enchnatment."

great sound choice, I'm a fan of Adele

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