Saturday, September 05, 2009

Julia & Julie: Dinah's Comments.


I went to see Julia & Julie tonight. I've decided it's my job to blog about it because there's no chance that either Roy or ClinkShrink will go to this movie.

The storyline is simple: A young New Yorker named Julie is looking for meaning in her life---she's an unpublished novelist who looks for meaning in being a blogger. I think she might be my soul mate. She becomes obsessed with her cooking blog, and a mission to cook every recipe in Julia Child's cookbook (that would be 541 recipes...Oops...542) in 365 days. We go back and forth with this plot to Julia Child in Paris in 1949 and her role as a bored housewife, also in search of meaning: hat making, bridge playing, and finally cooking. She takes a class, becomes obsessed, and meets two other French chef women and they become a trio, obsessed with writing a book. Well, two of them work on this book....40, 60, 80 hours a week...the third one is not so in to it (---oy...feels a little too familiar!). It takes them 8 years and well, everyone from Julia Child the chef/author/TV personality to Julie Powell the blogger/author and now the subject of a movie, all become famous.

If you take out the cooking and the food, I could totally relate to the obsession of a blog and a book...and to all the innuendo. Both women become fixed on their projects, their lives revolve around them. Julia Child's publisher isn't so happy with her book...again, oy!...and there is some focus on getting the correct title for the book (something we Shrink Rappers are still struggling with.

So, I'm calling Meryl Streep in the morning. I'd like her to play me in the Shrink Rapper movie. My nose is a little different, but we don't have to tell anyone. Suggestions for the roles of Roy & ClinkShrink, anyone?

6 comments:

retriever said...

heheh. I really want to see it! I can't quite see anyone making a film about my own quest to avoid the dread crisis of meaning and purpose in life.

But college aged daughter and I are trying to avoid our joint passion for cooking rich food lately as both are exercising and getting back into shape and one Bouef Bourgignon second helping will undo that ten mile hike...

The thing about the Project, or Writing , or Blogging is not just discovering a gift or a distraction (depending on one's talent). But also about finding others (like ham radio operators calling out to each other in the old days) who share one's preoccupations. An end to the isolation of being surrounded in real life by people, but few kindred spirits at the office.

ClinkShrink said...

Actually, we did see this movie yesterday. I can see the parallels between you and Julie, particularly the meltdown with Julie lying on the floor of the kitchen. However, you were never covered with chicken parts. And you know I want Sigourney Weaver to play me.

Anonymous said...

Meryl Streep was very good. At one point I thought to myself, oh, I'm watching a fictionalized Julia Childs getting it on on the big screen. Had you told me i would be watching this 5 years ago, I would have told you you were crazy! And then puked! From reading the blog, Dinah is exactly like the Julie character!!!

Russell said...

Is the podcast gone for good?
(sorry for going off topic)

Roy said...

Russell,
Not gone for good. We've just had so many things going on (Clink-climbing, me-work/advocacy/CCHIT, Dinah-writing??) that take away from our "free" time, that we haven't gone back to it. We keep hoping we'll start up again. Encouragement helps, so thank you for asking about it.

Russell said...

roy,
EXCELLENT

You're in my top 3 podcasts

How about commenting on scam/quack psychology/selfhelp. (ie energy healers, EFT)