I watch stuff: Julie & Julia
Feb. 14th, 2010 11:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ginny_tSo, if you show even the slightest interest in cooking, much less spend a year at culinary school (not the Cordon Bleu, alas), you get shoved into a box. The box is convenient for people. It makes it easy for them to give you Ratatouille for Christmas in spite of the fact that you're horrified by a rat in a kitchen. The box also convinces people that Julie & Julia will be right up your alley.
Alas, no. In fact, it didn't do much for me. Yes, Meryl Streep was superb as Julia. Yes, Paris was stupendous as itself. Neither of those statements is all that much of a surprise. Parts of Paris are wonderful and stunning. Meryl Streep has given superlative performances before. Internal consistency ftw.
On the other hand, the Julie portions indulged in some pretty egregious ablist language. Oh, you have ADD, do you? Oh, no, you're ADD-like, according to your own criteria. Well, isn't that nice for people who actually have ADD fucking up their lives. Add a "deranged" and "emotionally unstable" (that I recall--I'm pretty sure there was more) and you get a nice little stew of ick.
Finally, I didn't love the fact that both husbands were mere loving placeholders. Yes, I'm a feminist, and I hate women who're only there as placeholders. But more than that, I want a good strong story with well-rounded characters. This wasn't that.
In happier news, I'm dreaming of peg board in the new kitchen.
Alas, no. In fact, it didn't do much for me. Yes, Meryl Streep was superb as Julia. Yes, Paris was stupendous as itself. Neither of those statements is all that much of a surprise. Parts of Paris are wonderful and stunning. Meryl Streep has given superlative performances before. Internal consistency ftw.
On the other hand, the Julie portions indulged in some pretty egregious ablist language. Oh, you have ADD, do you? Oh, no, you're ADD-like, according to your own criteria. Well, isn't that nice for people who actually have ADD fucking up their lives. Add a "deranged" and "emotionally unstable" (that I recall--I'm pretty sure there was more) and you get a nice little stew of ick.
Finally, I didn't love the fact that both husbands were mere loving placeholders. Yes, I'm a feminist, and I hate women who're only there as placeholders. But more than that, I want a good strong story with well-rounded characters. This wasn't that.
In happier news, I'm dreaming of peg board in the new kitchen.