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.