Movie Review #1: Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)
Tuwanda! Kicking off the Postpostmodernism project with some personal reflections on Jon Avnet's Fried Green Tomatoes, a celebration of women's empowerment and the deep, abiding power of friendship.
Postpostmodernism is an exploration of life after postmodernism, investigating both “high art” and “low culture” while casting a critical gaze on Grand Narratives as well as life in the 21st-Century.
Mary-Louise Parker and Mary Stuart Masterson in Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) image credit: Universal Pictures
You just don’t see movies like 1991’s Fried Green Tomatoes very much anymore. First of all, its framing story with Evelyn Couch (Kathy Bates) and Ninny Threadgoode (Jessica Tandy) centers senior citizens in a way you barely see anymore. Secondly, it doesn’t focus on sexiness. Although there are some steamy bits, mostly in the subtext between young Idgie (Mary Stuart Masterson) and Ruth Jamison (Mary-Louise Parker), Fried Green Tomatoes is, first and foremost, a story of the deep and abiding power of friendship.
Fried Green Tomatoes begins in the present day of the early ‘90s with Evelyn and her husband Ed (Gailard Sartain) visit his aunt in a senior living facility. Evelyn wanders around after being harangued by Ed’s aunt, where she meets Ninny, who regales her with stories of growing up and living in nearby Whistle Stop, Alabama. She begins with the tragic backstory of Idgie, a misunderstood tomboy who loses her brother, the only person who understands her in the world, to a train accident. Thus begins a wild life, with Idgie bucking every conception of a young lady as she continues to fish, drink, and gamble until all hours of the morning.
Concerned, Idgie’s mother sends for Ruth, the young lady Idgie’s brother was courting, to have a civilizing influence. The opposite ends up happening, with Idgie encouraging Ruth to express herself and live life to the fullest.
This begins a series of exchanges between Evelyn and Ninny, who become fast friends as Evelyn continues to visit, each time getting a new chapter in the exploits of Ruth, Idgie, and Whistle Stop, Alabama. Meanwhile, in her own life, Evelyn is feeling lost and adrift, struggling with disordered eating while being neglected by her husband. She attends weekly women’s empowerment meetings - with some of the movie’s funniest scenes - but they don’t really help. Instead, hearing about Idgie and Ruth is the inspiration she needs to start to stand up and assert herself.
As the flashback narrative unfurls, we find out that Ruth ends up in an abusive marriage with Frank Bennett (Nick Searcy), a nasty piece of business with a habit of running around in bedsheets once the sun goes down as a member of the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. After Idgie discovers Frank is abusing Ruth, she shows up in Georgia to rescue her when Ruth’s mother dies. They return to Whistle Stop, where they’re given the funds to open a restaurant by Papa Threadgoode (Danny Nelson).
Ruth and Idgie at the Whistle Stop Cafe image credit: Universal Pictures
Although successful, the cafe is controversial as it serves the town’s African-American residents as well as the white. This emboldens Frank and his KKK buddies to terrorize the restaurant, even going so far as to attempt to lynch their friend and employee Big George (Stan Shaw), in some of the movie’s most distressing scenes. Frank returns in short order to attempt to kidnap his infant son, at which point he goes missing.
This sends the film rocketing towards its riveting conclusion, which is far darker, more hardcore and intense than you’d expect from such a life-affirming movie. I’ll not say more, in case anyone’s not yet seen Fried Green Tomatoes. I’ll suffice it to say… “the secret's in the sauce.”
Idgie, Ruth, and Buddy image credit: Universal Pictures
Personal Thoughts on Fried Green Tomatoes
I’m kicking off this new project and space with a review and some personal thoughts on Fried Green Tomatoes as it falls somewhere between “official criticism” and memoir. I first saw this movie in the movie theater with my Mom when I was a little boy. My dad had passed away two years prior and, to be honest, neither my Mom or I had a ton of friends. I can truthfully say between the ages of probably 9 and 13, my Mom was my best friend.
We’d constantly be going to the movies, where we’d take turns switching off between whatever schlock was being peddled to 11-year old boys at that time and the sort of fare directed at aging housewives. I thought it was appropriate to start here as 1. it’s Mother’s Day and 2. Fried Green Tomatoes is not your usual fare for young boys.
Except I absolutely loved it, as well as being horrified and gutted at the way people treated Kathy Bates, in the present day, as well as the women and People of Color in the flashback sequences. It wasn’t as much of a leap as you might imagine. I was already obsessed with period pieces, which remains true to this day, and had a tenderness and a burgeoning social conscience from growing up with movies like these. I can truthfully say that movies like Fried Green Tomatoes, The Color Purple, The Power of One and so on are directly responsible for making me the anti-racist and ardent feminist I am today.
None of these observations seem suitable for “official criticism,” but they absolutely inform how I view Fried Green Tomatoes 30+ years later. Also, I think it should, which strikes at some of what I hope to investigate in this new space and project.
As far as an “official assessment,” Fried Green Tomatoes is not without its critiques. Some take issues with its white savior narrative and the way the Black characters are depicted. Others accuse the movie of lesbian erasure, as it is very strongly implied that Ruth and Idgie are not just “good friends” but, in fact, lovers. There’s also a passing reference to Ninny having a neurodivergent child who is mentioned in passing and then just…. disappears. All of these observations are valid, and worth keeping in mind when you’re watching the movie.
Fried Green Tomatoes is a good movie, nonetheless. It depicts real feminist issues in a highly real and relatable way. It depicts real people with real bodies struggling with real-life issues. Your heart breaks when Evelyn admits to hiding candy bars around the house. You rejoice when she stops taking shit, wrecking a pair of young women’s car with one of the movie’s most memorable lines - “sorry, girls. I’m older and have better insurance.”
Add in some lovely period details, with all of the antique trucks and beer bottles you could ever hope, and you’ve got yourself a true classic ‘90s movie that’s well worth your time and attention.
R.I.P. Phyllis Ann Real Simpson Frost. You will be missed more than you can ever know.
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J. Simpson is a prolific academic writer, journalist, and critic, specializing in dark, experimental, and avant-garde art. You can follow him on Letterboxd, Twitter, Instagram, Threads, BlueSky, and GoodReads.