Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)

A secretly gay film covering life in the South, racism, and sexual-less love. Although, called a "lesbian classic," this movie is anything but your typical love story.

⋆⋆⋆⋆ // 4 STARS

Director: John Avnet (screen play by author Fannie Flagg and Carol Sobiesky)

Where to Watch: I watched this movie on the website myflixer!

Google User Rating: 91% liked this movie!

"Go on you old Bee Charmer, tell me a good tall tale." (Ruth Jamison)

This movie is based off the book "Fried Green Tomatoes" by Fannie Flagg in 1987, and I'll talk about it later.

And this movie is NOT a romance movie, so if you're looking for that, this is not for you, however I do highly recommend you consider it.

Quick Synopsis

We start this movie off with Evelyn Couch and her husband Ed going to visit a relative in a nursing home. Evelyn's kicked out of the relative's room and sits down in the waiting room,

only to be greeted by an old woman named Ninny Threadgoode who begins telling Evelyn a story about a young girl named Idgie Threadgoode (Ninny's sister-in-law). Idgie's brother, Buddy, gets hit by a train and Idgie takes it horribly, pretty much staying in the woods and hanging out with the "colored folk." So preface, this movie takes place after WWI and before WWII, so racism is a big point in this movie, that's one of the main reasons why this movie is more than just a romance. In fact it's quite far from a romance, but it's still important that I share this movie. But I digress. Some years pass, and Ruth (family friend) is called upon to help out Idgie who's still very hurt by the death of her brother (they were extremely tight do to Idgie's "tomboy" nature and rebellion from a "women's role" or whatever), and they become very close. Very, very close (more on this later). Idgie shows Ruth how to be wild and free, and Ruth helps heal Idgie after Buddy's

death. However, Ruth is set to marry Frank and leaves for a couple years, until she finally gives in and visits Ruth at their house. Idgie finds Ruth with a black eye, and it's revealed that Frank has been abusing her, but convinces Idgie to leave without doing anything. Some time later, Idgie receives a letter from Ruth containing a bible verse and a note that says Ruth's mother passed away. The bible verse was meant to tell Idgie that Ruth needs to help, so she takes Big George (colored man who works for Idgie, however they're extremely close) and another man to Ruth's house. Events commence, Idgie threatens Frank (important for later), but eventually Frank leaves. Turns out Ruth's pregnant, and goes to live with Idgie and eventually gives birth. Idgie is given some money from her dad to take care of Ruth and her child, and she does just that, and opens a cafe as well! She and Ruth work there, employing Sipsey, the house cook, and Big George. Because Idgie is so close with Sipsey, Big George, and all the other colored people she grew up with, she has no problem serving them and being openly welcoming to them despite threats from the KKK. Everything's great, Idgie's working in her cafe with Ruth (she also teaches a bunch of children, white and black), until Frank shows up and threatens to take Ruth's child. Eventually, he does show up again after making those threats, and takes the child, but is stopped by a homeless man Ruth befriended, and someone else (we don't know who until the end). The altercation ends up with Frank dead, and the baby returned safely, however because the only witnesses were colored people and a homeless man, there's no way a jury would ever believe their tale. Despite this, a detective shows up looking for someone to blame, so who'll take the fall? And where will Idgie and Ruth end up, along with all their friends?

Alright, now that's what's happening in the flashbacks, but what about Evelyn and Ninny? Basically we go back and forth from each time period, but essentially Evelyn is a depressed housewife who gets inspired by Ninny's tales of Ruth and Idgie and you follow her story of self discovery.

Official Review

There's so much to unpack in this movie, I couldn't possible write about it all. But let's address the elephant in the room, where are the lesbians? So here's the thing... it's never explicitly stated, confirmed, or talked about in any manner, HOWEVER I'm pretty sure the director has talked about the romantic implications, and the book features multiple extremely convincing

passages, and the author herself is lesbian. However it's still debated, why? HOMOPHOBIA! Just kidding, but maybe? It's pretty obvious to me, however I can see why people may be uncertain. But honestly? It doesn't matter that much if they are in love (which they are) because that's not what the story's about. It's about a love deeper than a sexual love, and I kind of really appreciate that in film. But in most people's minds, they were romantically involved, which is why this movie is such a big deal for gay women. The book was written in 1989, the movie in 91', let's be real, it's not exactly like people were super keen on gay people, so it makes sense why it was never explicitly stated, that and the fact that the story isn't supposed to be a romance novel/movie. Enough about that, let's talk characters. Idgie is my hero. I'm just gonna put that out there. Ruth is a bad bitch for going through all she's been through. Evelyn is every unhappy middle aged woman's role

model... and also mine too. Big George restores my hope in men. I swear you're going to love these characters, and Idgie really is every girl's dream gal. She's the perfect embodiment of that rebellious "screw the law and screw what society says" kind of person. And Idgie's and Big George's relationship is the best friendship you could ever want. I think racism is handled pretty well in this film, to be fair I haven't watched too many movies where the KKK shows up unexpectedly, but I believe it was a realistic depiction of what used to happen in America and it really upped the seriousness of the film. Seriously, this movie had some high highs and some low lows... it'll make you laugh and cry. Maybe cry more than laugh, but still. It's an uplifting movie with strong themes of friendship above all else, and it's wonderfully written

and produced. And although we may all want Idgie and Ruth's relationship to be more prevalent in the film, their romantic and sexual relationship just wasn't the focus of the movie, and I respect that. But... on the other hand, it could have just been because of the time the movie and book was created... either way, this movie is one of the first to have this kind of female relationship, whether sexual or not (but it definitely was) and that's why it's so instrumental to queer film makers and watchers! Not to mentioned the variety of other important topics this film touched on, menopause, death, abuse, and of course, racism. Watch the movie, you won't regret it.

Cast/Heartthrobs

Let's start with the obvious one. Mary Stuart Masterson as Idgie Threadgoode. She really is a lesbian icon. Hot as hell, smart as a whip, doesn't conform with societal norms such as racist

views (or classist for that matter) despite what some of her friends may tell her, and she's super caring and kind. I am not joking when I say dream boat. But the cast as a whole is pretty amazing, I think they all play their role very well and make you feel exactly how they want you to feel about them. Ruth (Mary-Louise Parker) played her southern belle turned sort of rebellious character well, she wasn't as good as Idgie, but hey, still amazing. I really love Big George (Stan Shaw), he really plays the big lovable giant so well, and his character always sticks up for Idgie and her for him, and it's the sweetest thing. Regarding the whole Ruth and Idgie relationship thing, I believe I read

somewhere that the goal was to make them portray their relationship through their facial expressions considering there was no dialogue about the two of them. And I say 10/10, because if you really pay attention, they obviously are so much closer than friends could ever be... it's very cute. Also, I know I don't talk about Evelyn (Kathy Bates) a lot, but she did great too, unfortunately I know her from too many other movies so that kind of screws up her character, but she played her role well as well (I love her in the Titanic too haha).