Food and Film?

I sort of think there are (warning! – generalization follows) two classes of people in the world of culinary arts. There are those that dedicate themselves to producing good food, nicely presented and pursue their career with that objective. People like Thomas Keller and Alice Waters come to mind. Then, there are those with sort of the opposite objective, letting food and cooking be the source of personal gain – the “it’s all about me" crowd. Just look at the box of Triscuits with Rachel Ray grinning at you. Or Molly Wizenberg (of Orangette) who parlayed her food blog into a column, then a book, and gosh, now she’s just “too busy” to really do the blog anymore. Me, me, me. And, I suppose there is sort of a middle ground here, there are those that started out with the first objective, and after establishing themselves on that basis, sort of grew into the “media” side of things. Jacques Pepin and Julia Child would be good examples of this. They used television primarily to further an interest in good cooking, bringing classic techniques to everyone. It is left to the reader to figure where Emeril belongs.

So it was with some interest that I noted the editorial page of the latest Bon Appetit was headlined: “Why Julia Still Matters”. Hmmm, interesting (her 97th Birthday is this month). The first paragraph starts out with praise for Julia’s accomplishments, mostly about her life in France where she developed her classic “Mastering the Art…” book. But then, a quick transition in the 2nd paragraph informs us that we will now be able to see more in an upcoming movie, called “Julie & Julia”. What's this? Well, the “Julie” part turns out to be somebody named Julie Powell, a(nother) blogger who decided to cook each of the 500+ recipes in Julia's “Mastering” in one year in her “small New York kitchen”. Gee, you think she did that for anything else than personal gain? Well, apparently it worked. They somehow forced a movie out of it. The column goes on to say that it is a “light, frothy, romantic comedy”, and further “Julie and Julia is a luscious fresh peach mousse after a menu of gravy-laden main courses”. At this point my stomach began to churn and those proverbial hackles arose on the back of my neck. I could barely keep reading. Somehow, they roped Meryl Streep into playing Ms. Child, and it’s directed by Nora Ephron, whom some will know is a noted foodie. Give me a freaking break. And, guess what? All through the Bon Appetit issue are references to “the Movie”. Party menu (with Julia's recipes) : “August is a big month for Julia Child fans, On the 7th Julie & Julia, a movie inspired by her life opens”. Another place: “the essential Julia Child – To Cook: (her Mastering book); To Read: “My life in France”, then To Watch: Julie and Julia. Give me another one of those f’ing breaks. I just wonder if Conde Nast has some bucks invested somewhere – ya think?

To portray Julia Child (played by Meryl Streep) in a “frothy, romantic comedy” with some silly person is just abhorrent to me. Hey – let’s use Julia’s name and we’ll fill the theaters with foodies! Oh, and by the way, we’ll give little Julie top billing. I hope Julia is looking down and is chuckling while she prepares some silky sauce. Why Julia Still Matters? That enough of us learned from her the importance of good food and love of cooking and that we know what’s important. This isn’t.

Dress For, go have a nice (French) Dinner, and stay out of the theater. That would make Julia happy.