Week 12 - semester wrap up

I really can’t believe that this is my final blog post. It has been a long time coming and I have honestly enjoyed so many of the food films that we have watched throughout the course of this semester. I do have to admit that there were a few that I obviously was not a huge fan of, but I can still understand why we watched all of the movies that we did. The two food films that I honestly did not like as much were Soylent Green and Babette’s Feast. The reason that I did not like these two movies was because I was just genuinely confused while I was watching them. Babette’s Feast was also just a really slow build up so it was harder for me to follow. The material that we covered in this class was also very interesting to me. When I signed up for this class, I honestly did not know what to expect completely. After we started talking about what makes a food film what it is, I really came to appreciate the material we were covering a lot more than I did before. The material was challenging at the same time though. It was not all challenging but when we started talking about Soylent Green and Babette’s Feast, I was a little more confused because like I said before these two movies were two that I did not really like. That being said, the material was harder for me to comprehend because I honestly was not as motivated to learn it. That is just the whole truth. I definitely did not spend as much time as I should have reading the required material. I would always watch the movies and then there were some weeks when I didn’t read the article in detail like I should have been doing. My favorite film that we watched this semester would have to be a tie between The Hundred Foot Journey and Tortilla Soup. I really loved these two movies because they were the most modern in my opinion and the easiest for me to understand. I also really liked the plot for both of the movies. Now that this semester is over, I have a greater appreciation for food films. In the future, I will always try to pick out the “falcon” of the movie as well.

Week 11 - Big Night/Dinner Rush

The two movies Big Night and Dinner Rush are similar and different in many ways. One of the ways that they are similar is the way that they both portray food and the food service industry. Both movies are stories about Italian restaurants that are in trouble in similar but at the same time different ways. When Enrico is shot at the beginning of Dinner Rush, this is where the problems really start for the characters in the film. His granddaughter had just seen him a few moments earlier and now she will never see her grandfather again which is tragic. Another similarity between these two movies is the fact that both are about untraditional Italian foods. People normally think of pizza and spaghetti when they think of good Italian food. In Big Night though, this is not the case. Primo is cooking very Northern Italian types of food so pizza and spaghetti are not included in this. In the movie, Dinner Rush, the entire movies is taking place over the course of one very busy “dinner rush” at a trendy Italian restaurant in New York City. Dinner Rush is more realistic to what the restaurant business is really like. This is because a lot of the movie is filled with arrogance, ego and self-importance. While this may be the case, there is also an underlying story of love, respect, and friendship. There are also other things that are different about both films. In Big Night, the food will literally make the viewer’s mouth water. In Dinner Rush, this is definitely not the case with the scenes in the kitchen. Between the two movies, I definitely liked Big Night a lot more. This might be because I am obsessed with Italian food, but either way I liked it a good deal more. The thing I loved the most is the fact that while I was watching the movie I literally went to go order a pizza because that’s how much my mouth was watering and I just had to get some Italian food right in that moment.

Week 10 - Big Night

The movie, Big Night, is about first-generation Italian immigrants. The two brothers, Primo and Secondo, work at their restaurant. There is definitely significance to the last scene in the film where the three main characters are eating breakfast. The scene is so simple yet so complex all at the same time. This scene shows that the brothers can look past all that has happened throughout the entire film and they want to come together to enjoy one last meal together before the film is finished. The three main characters have had a lot of hardships throughout the whole film, so this is an opportunity for all of them to come together and share food. Like we have said many times in our class discussions, enjoying food means nothing if you do not have anyone to share it with. While the final scene in the film is very short, it is really showing that even when two people have so many differences throughout their lives, they can ultimately come together for some really good food that is being shared among them. Another thing that is significant about the final scene in Big Night is that the two brothers, Primo and Secondo, do not talk at all during the scene. I found this to be super interesting because it is like saying that they can speak to each other without actually speaking. They can instead use food to communicate with one another. Overall, I thought that the last scene of this film was very interesting because like I said previously, it is not common that there is no speaking for the last scene of any food film that we have watched so far during this class. I really liked the scene because of that fact actually. It was very intriguing to me personally.

Week 9 - Once Upon a Time When We Were Colored and Soul Food

These two films definitely show how food transmits culture and how it constitutes ethnic identity. Once Upon a Time When We Were Colored shows the virtues of African American culture through the food that the characters are eating throughout the film. Another interesting thing to point out is that the African American culture in Once Upon a Time When We Were Colored was something that I never really understood at first, but it became more clear that food was a very important part of the lives of the characters. The racial segregation was another thing that unfortunately did not surprise me at all. During the time of this movie, segregation was a very big issue and it unfortunately was a pretty important theme throughout the film. The article by Robin Balthrope mentioned how cooking can be done out of love. I think that this is another main theme that was shown in these two movies, Once Upon a Time When We Were Colored andSoul Food. In both films, when the characters were cooking they were usually doing it for their families and having gatherings of people over to their homes to enjoy the meals that they had prepared. In Soul Food, Big Mama really represents all the mothers who make their child’s favorite foods to show them how much they love them. In Once Upon a Time When We Were Colored, food is used to show the way that communication is facilitated between family, friends, and the community itself. It is also not a secret that in sharing food and having good conversation, people can often become more connected. We’ve seen this in so many of the other movies we have watched throughout this semester. In Mostly Martha and Tortilla Soup, there was always good food and conversation and because of that the characters became more connected with one another.

Week 8 - Tortilla Soup and Eat Drink Man Woman

The two movies are very similar. First of all, it is important to point out that the movie Tortilla Soup is a remake of Eat Drink Man Woman. After I watched both movies, I realized how closely related they actually are. In both films, there is a widower who has three daughters who are trying to rebel against their father and “go against the grain” so to speak. It is also interesting to point out that in both of the movies cooking is basically what seems like the father’s entire life. It is like his life and livelihood revolves around cooking and providing good food for the people that are in his life and around him in general. In the film Eat Drink Man Woman, things start off with a cooking scene and while it is very “graphic” and shows the true way of Asian cooking, it is very important to show how the father, Mr. Chu, does all of his cooking. In the film Tortilla Soup, things start off with the father, Martin Naranjo, getting many different foods together to cook a fancy meal for his whole family. When it comes to the role of food in Eat Drink Man Woman and Tortilla Soup, it is very evident that the food in these two movies is for the purpose of livelihood and bringing families together. The presentation of the different foods in very immaculate and these two are my favorite movies we have watched so far in terms of food presentation. Like I said before, food in these movies is meant to bring the families together. Food in general has a certain way of doing that. It brings people together and it might bring up feelings that are not expected, but either way food in general and food in these two movies makes everything better.

Week 7 - Chocolat

While watching the movie Chocolat, I learned so many new things about the French culture. The movie taught me that the French people really invented the art of chocolate. This does not necessarily mean that other countries are not good at making chocolate. It honestly just means that the French people really invented it as an art. Before, it was just a yummy thing that people were able to enjoy. Think about the first time you had chocolate. Were you taken to another place and time because of how good the chocolate was? That was the case for me. While that might seem like I am exaggerating, I really am not exaggerating in the slightest. The first time that I had chocolate I was very young. My dad is from Germany so I basically grew up with chocolate always in the house. This experience can be true for anyone though. To some people, chocolate is so good that they feel like they are taken to another world when they enjoy it. Like it did in my own life, chocolate also played a huge role in the movie Chocolat. Vianne and her daughter Anouk open up a very unusual chocolate shop in the town in France that they move to. No one truly knew the impact that these two characters would have on their small French town that they now called home. Like I said earlier, the French honestly invented the art of chocolate. This is why it has such a big role in this movie. It is important for all of the main characters and it is now the main source of income for Vianne and her daughter Anouk. I feel like chocolate is also important for this movie because it is something that really brings the whole town together and brings so much happiness to everyone.

Week 6 - What’s Cooking?

There are so many different cultures that are represented in the film “What’s Cooking?”. Watching the movie was so interesting because there were so many different types of food being cooked in all of the different cultures. Ethnic identity is so important in the movie because each family had there own way of showing their culture. While some of the cultures might not have the traditional Thanksgiving food that so many people think of, the food is special in its own way. Family is another theme that is very clearly shown in the movie “What’s Cooking?”. No matter what the family structure is, each set of family members deals with their issues in their own unique way. Food always has a interesting way of bringing people together. In this movie, the food makes so many people realize that no matter what issues they have going on, they can always make a good meal and things will be better. Multiculturalism is represented in the film because there are many different interracial relationships being displayed. An example of this is Jimmy and his girlfriend who is Hispanic. Their two cultures crossover a lot and it is cool to see how they help make meals together. Burning the food is another thing that is something that we see a lot in food movies and especially in this food film. While I was watching the movie, I was also thinking about the fact that there are so many different ways to do the Thanksgiving holiday depending on how a certain culture or family eats. As we know, not every single culture has the typical turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and cranberry salad. This was honestly one of my favorite movies that we have watched so far in this class. This is because it showed a bunch of different cultures and types of food that I had never considered for Thanksgiving before. I have always just had the typical white American type of Thanksgiving so it was interesting to see new types of cultures and families celebrate Thanksgiving together.   

Week 5- Like Water for Chocolate

Dr. Amy McNichols talked a lot about Latin American culture, specifically in the movie “Like Water for Chocolate”. I thoroughly enjoyed her presentation. I enjoyed it because I have always loved Latin American culture so this made it super interesting for me to learn more things that I did not know before hearing the presentation. Dr. McNichols also mentioned that cookbooks are an important source of information about women’s daily lives. I think that this is definitely true because women are usually the ones that are in the kitchen so cookbooks are the most important thing that they need to succeed in the kitchen. Another extremely interesting point that Dr. McNichols brought up was that you’re never just American, there’s always a little bit of everything. Another way of saying this is that there is “one foot in two worlds”. To me, this means that no person is solely from one culture. There are so many different cultures that someone can be a part of. Chicano culture refers to Mexican Americans. This is something that Dr. McNichols really made sure she reiterated many times in her presentation. This is very important to our topic because like I mentioned earlier, there are often a few different cultures that people can be a part of. In the movie that we watched (“Like Water for Chocolate”), it was pretty evident that the characters were Mexican American. Another thing that Dr. McNichols talked about was all of the various kinds of Pre-Hispanic foods. The ones that she mentioned were Tomato, Chile, Cacao (chocolate), Avocado, Corn (la tortilla), papaya, and beans. These are all types of food that were represented in the movie that we watched. When you typically think about Latin American culture, all of these foods are basically staple foods for these people. Overall, I really enjoyed the presentation. I love Mexican food so this is one reason, but I also enjoyed it because it was interesting to learn some new facts that I did not know before.

Week 4 - Soylent Green

When I think about food and the metaphorical meaning that it has, this movie is a great example of how much food can mean metaphorically. Soylent Green is basically about an interesting dystopian society set in New York City in 2022 (so like 2 years from now). The city is very overcrowded and when I was watching the movie, I really did not think about the role that food would play in the narrative. There are a bunch of riots that take place which leads to a lot of disarray and the people that are living in New York City have no idea what they should do about this. Soylent green is actually a type of food that these people are eating to keep themselves satisfied. If I was in this sort of situation, I would honestly feel the same way. Living in a society and a city that is very overcrowded and full of issues such as political upheaval and euthanasia is not anyone’s idea of a peaceful life. Another thing to consider about being in that situation is the fact that the Soylent Green can only be a good option for so long. The people who are living in New York City at the time of this film do not have any idea what they should do. The food that they have to eat only can help sustain them for a finite period of time. When I really think about it, Soylent Green is in a way a scary concept to think about. This is because our world could be moving towards a dystopia and that is something that I am sure no one wants to have happen. This movie really got me thinking about how much I appreciate the food that I have to eat now in my life.

Week 3 - Mostly Martha

The themes of love and romance are represented in many ways in the film “Mostly Martha”. Martha’s sister unfortunately passes away so she decides to take in her 8 year old niece, Lina. She shows her niece love and by taking her in she learns to be more gentle with other people and the way that she treats them every day. Love and romance are also represented in the romantic relationship that she forms with Mario. He is a chef that comes in to the restaurant to replace Martha’s previous sous-chef, Lea, who is having a baby soon. Mario is very fun loving and he turns Martha’s kitchen into a relaxed place instead of having the preciseness that was there before. Even though Martha originally does not want to form a romantic relationship with Mario, she eventually does. Having Mario in the kitchen actually turns out to be a good thing for Martha because he helps Lina come out of her depression and because of this Martha becomes more accepting of him. As for the role of food in this film, it means everything to the characters. One example of this would be when Mario comes over to make a picnic style dinner for Martha and Lina. The three of them have a great time throughout the evening and while there is a mess at the end, the food that they shared caused the three characters to grow closer. As with any film about food, this one has a lot of focus on the kitchen itself and the way that all of the food is being prepared. I enjoyed the fact that by the end of the film, Mario and Martha get married. None of this would have happened if he never had the personality that he did in Martha’s kitchen.

Week 2 - Babette's Feast

There are many interesting aspects of the movie “Babette’s Feast”. One of these very interesting aspects is the main idea of the “Power of Food and the Protestant Ethics”. The main part of this idea that is important in this movie is the way of life that the two sisters have. They have an extremely simple way of living and so food is something that they can truly experiment with. When Babette shows up at their house and she offers to be their maid basically working for free, this really sounds appealing to the two sisters, Martine and Filippa. The sisters honestly do not get that creative when it comes to the food they are making on a daily basis. With all of that being said, Babette coming into their lives is truly a great thing. This is because they now have more interesting dishes being served to them in their house. When she (Babette) wants to serve a very fancy French dish to the two sisters and the churchgoers, this definitely comes as a shock because the sisters do not want everyone else to know that Babette is actually an incredible cook. When it comes to the Protestant Ethics, this is a very interesting subject as well. Protestant Ethics basically state that there must be a very strong work ethic and also frugality when it comes to a person’s values. As it relates to the film, the sisters, Martine and Filippa, were definitely very frugal when it came to their ways of living. In terms of the food that they would eat on a daily basis, it was very basic without many extravagant flavors. As a whole, the movie was interesting in the ways that food and the ethics were compared. I would be interested to somehow see a remake of some kind.

Week 1

I chose to take this class because I have always enjoyed movies that pertain to food. My favorite one would probably be the movie “Julie and Julia”. I’m pretty sure that movie is actually the first one I saw that was mainly about food. I have also always loved Julia Child so it was cool to be able to watch a movie that portrayed her life. I also chose to take this class because I have had Dr. Esa as a professor before here at McDaniel College and I really liked his teaching style a lot so that made me want to take another class that was taught by him. Another movie about food that I really enjoyed was actually “The Hundred Foot Journey”. This is the movie we watched on our first day of class and I had no idea what it was about before we went to watch it, but now it is definitely one of my favorite films about food mainly because of the premise/storyline and because of the setting. It is also one of my favorites now because it was about a lower income family that moved to France and actually did really well for themselves which was super inspiring to me. I also love France so that definitely helped a little bit. In this course, I hope to accomplish many different things. One of the things I really want to accomplish is having a better appreciation for movies that I might not know at all or just know a little bit about. This is because I did not think that I would like the first movie as much as I did. That being said, I want to give every movie a chance before I think that I won’t like it. I also want to accomplish a greater understanding of different cultures around the world because I do not often think about other cultures and how much they are affected by food.