Julie & Julia (2009) - Analysis

This movie is based off of the blog of Julie Powell, who, in 2003 began the daily documentation of her following every recipe written in Julia Child’s cookbook everyday for 365 days straight. To start, I am humored by the fact that this concept is definitely something that I would see as an experiment on Youtube that would probably gain a healthy following and thousands of views. The fact that it was 2003, however, the kinks of the internet world were still in the process of being ironed out. Youtube still had a handful of years left to be created in the first place. Back then, Powell was criticized for using Julia Child’s name as a way to gain attention (which, today, is something a lot of people do often), and being disrespectful to her name. Child herself even commented on the experiment, saying the Powell isn’t a real chef, and doesn’t take cooking seriously.

On today's internet, there are tons of videos along the lines of copying celebrities, and people enjoy it. I’ve watched videos titled “I Dressed Like Kylie Jenner Everyday For A Week” or “Recreating Claire’s Gourmet Hot Pockets”. The criticism of “using the name for clout” would not have been as prominent now than it was then.

Next, it shows that this movie was made to show Powell in a positive light. It gives us a peek into Powell’s personal life to bring sympathetic moments, as her marriage suffers in the name of her Julia Project. It gives a face to the words she wrote online. When it is brought up how Child denounced her work, I noticed that while moping on the bed with her husband, she lists off the exact same reasons as written in an article. Her language, the celebrity clout, and disrespect. With this scene alone, the real Powell is sending her message that she acknowledges the criticism, but wants people to believe that this project was not started with shallow intentions.

I read someone say that Powell’s story alone would make for a boring movie, which is why they intertwined it with Child’s story of living in France and writing the cookbook Powell is following. This is something I agree with, and it was a good call on Ephron’s part for doing this. What could have been a dragging film was made into one with more depth. It painted Child’s life to be idyllic, with her wholesome marriage. And for some reason, there were enough negative remarks about being a Republican for me to take note of it. I think this vision of idealism plays into us viewing Child’s life through Powell’s eyes.

One critique I have on this film, and this may be a product of its time, or perhaps just a lame attempt of inclusion- there is one single black woman in this film, whose face is never shown, and who has maybe one line the entire movie. Otherwise, this film is very much white.

I appreciate that this is a movie about women made by a woman. This film allowed the actors to win awards and give publicity to Powell’s work. This movie is a step in the right direction and a wholesome and fun movie for any given night.