I saw the film Julie & Julia today. It was sweet and funny until almost the very end. Meryl Streep was great -- so was Amy Adams although Streep outshined her. See, I had to go see it because it's about this woman turning thirty, feeling lost, and finding a way to ground herself through cooking her way through all 500+ recipes in Julia Child's cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking, oh and then she blogs about it. So I ran out to see it the day it came out, even went by myself because I didn't want to wait to scrounge up someone to go with me.
I was ready to laugh, to smile, to maybe even cry a little. But most of all I was ready to feel inspired. I even had a grocery list in my purse so that I could return home and immediately continue with my cooking experiments. (I'm not doing too badly, btw, though I think my stir fry is becoming consistently worse.) Instead I left feeling rather devastated.
Nora Ephron (director and screenwriter) did a great job of establishing Julia Child as a lovable character. We really came to adore her and we went for the Julie's adoration hook, line and sinker. And then -- Bam! -- "Julia hates my blog ... she thinks it's disrespectful or something."
Oh the pain and the bewilderment. Putting people on pedestals is always dangerous to do, but it turns out that it's much, much easier to deal with them toppling off those pedestals than it is when they take a swipe at you from them. When they topple off you know they're human. When they take a swipe at you there's gravity helping to land a blow even harder.
I went to the store feeling sick and distraught. Sure, the character Julie pulls it together by the end of the film. Even leaves a gift on the shine of the Julia Child. But in the few minutes between the turn in the film and the credits rolling I had not pulled it together yet.
Still I shopped. Buying green peppers, an onion, and chicken broth to make corn chowder with the ears of corn that are quickly rotting in my crisper bin. I've never made corn chowder before but I'm eager to try it because it's new ... and because it'll use up all the corn quickly, before it gets any closer to Everclear. Also into my basket went talapia and a bottle of red wine. The fish is for tomorrow. The wine is to console my soul.
I'll let you know how the chowder goes.
