The Mouse That Roared

 SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

 

The title of this farcical satire, The Mouse That Roared (1959), refers to the smallest nation in the world, the Duchy of Fenwick, located on the Swiss-French border, which is a technologically unevolved nation. It is oblivious to the current events that are occurring on the rest of the planet. It becomes, through a series of ridiculous events, the most powerful country, and the film uses the story to ridicule the arms race, the destructive tendencies of the large governments of the world, and in particular the foreign policies of the United States.

 

We know we are in for a crazy time when the Columbia Studio’s trademark, the woman holding a torch, is disturbed by a mouse under her dress, a metaphor for how the mighty can’t seem to handle the unexpected disruption of something that should not be a threat. The credits present opposing images and sounds, such as a small boat and then an ocean liner, and an animated rodent that surprises itself as it roars like a lion. These humorous contrasts stress the theme of how the mighty can somehow be unexpectedly vulnerable to something seemingly insignificant. The opening narration comically requires a magnifying glass to locate Fenwick, pointing out its supposed insignificance. It was a British colony, suggesting English imperialism, making it the only country in Europe that uses English (which also makes the movie accessible for American and United Kingdom audiences). It is a rustic, backward place, with old automobiles and residents using manual labor while wearing clothes that look like they came out of Medieval times. 

 The ruler is the Grand Duchess Gloriana XII (Peter Sellers, in one of his multi-character portrayals). She waves her hand like Queen Elizabeth II as she drives her antiquated car, possibly a jab at the outdated royal ruling class in England. There is also a parliament, as there is in Great Britain, and the Prime Minister is Count Rupert of Mountjoy (a sexual reference or haughty last name? Also, played by Sellers). The country's forest is supervised by Tully Bascomb (yes, Sellers again). He is an incompetent having been caught is his own trap as a staring fox remains free, ironic for a guy who is supposed to take care of the woods. This image adds to the reversal of what would be expected to happen. 

 

The Fenwick army consists of men in chainmail using longbows, an anachronism in the nuclear age, but also much less of a threat to others. Tully supervises the men, and when he uses a bow, the arrow splits the wood frame before it can even be launched. It’s a visual that Woody Allen might use later to show ineptitude. 

 

The country’s source of economic success is its wine, Pinot Grand Fenwick, and the inhabitants make it the old-fashioned way, of course, by stomping on grapes in large vats. The United States has been its primary buyer. But, then a California winemaker manufactured a knockoff of the beverage, called it unscrupulously “Pinot Grand Enwick,” and used the capitalist tools of “vast advertising” and discounted pricing, which ended Fenwick’s wine selling in America. So, the affluent United States has such power that it can make or break tiny sovereignties, driving them into economic crises.

 

Fenwick’s protests to the U. S. have been ignored, so Rupert says that the only way out is to declare war on the United States. But the plan is not to win, which is impossible, but to lose. He says, “There isn’t a more profitable undertaking for any country than to declare war on the United States and to be defeated … the Americans pour in food, machinery, clothing, technical aid, and lots and lots of money, “to the defeated country. He declares that shortly they will be “rehabilitated beyond our wildest dreams.” The film here satirizes the American desire for war followed by its wielding economic influence over its former enemies. Of course the policy, though overly expensive, is to win the defeated over so they can become future allies. Rupert suggests that Tully will lead their small band of twenty men, but the parliamentary opposition leader, David Bentner (Leo McKern) lists Tully’s multiple failings, such as “flat feet, sinus, migraine and claustrophobia” problems. He also is “nearsighted and dizzy in high places.” Not exactly encouraging as a leader. But, Rupert finds him fit enough to lead them to defeat, a low bar if any to reach. Bentner declares that, “War is reprehensible, barbaric, unforgivable and unthinkable. And I second the motion.” The movie is suggesting that it’s even worse to pursue a horrific course of action when one realizes its terrible consequences.

 

The document declaring war is sent through the country’s post office system with only a “special delivery stamp” added to ensure its arrival in the United States. This fact comically highlights that Fenwick doesn’t even have any diplomatic connections, so unsophisticated is its government. After turning over the document to the messenger, Rupert and Bentley drink a toast which is full of clichés and irrelevant famous lines, such as: “the die is cast;” “Our cause is just;” “To be or not to be;” “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”  It’s the kind of absurdist list that would show up in a Marx Brothers routine or an Eugene Ionesco play, both of which make fun of how language can become illogical and nonsensical by inept communicators. The final words of the toast are, “To our glorious defeat,” another ironic joining of supposedly irreconcilable terms. 

 

Tully has no desire to leave his forest for a war. Added to his list of ills is that he gets seasick on ocean journeys. But Rupert and Bentley insist. Tully speaks with his lieutenant, Bill Buckley (William Hartnell) who is to go on the journey to the U. S. with him. (Not sure if this is another bit of satire, but he has the same name as noted political conservative William F. Buckley, Jr). Tully says he will appeal to patriotism to get volunteers. Men say they love their country but if asked to enlist, they resoundingly say, “No!” The implication could be that people will give lip service to their country as long as there is no sacrifice. Or, individuals may on the surface be supportive of their nation, but realize governments are not anywhere worth dying for. However, Buckley resorts to brute commands showing how easily the timid can be intimidated, and they get their twenty volunteers.

 

The receipt of the Declaration of War is rightfully considered a joke in Washington D. C. (yes, it does get delivered there. That special delivery stamp must have done the trick). The absurdity of the enterprise is stressed by the military contingent needing to flag down a bus to get them to a small boat in Marseilles in order to sail to New York City. The soldiers woefully drill onboard as Tully is consistently seasick. These guys would lose to pacifists.

 

Meanwhile, as Stephen Colbert would say, the United States is ready to have an expansive air raid drill over the entire east coast of the country, closing the ports and evacuating the cities. This alert is received on the QE II as it sails close to the United States. The captain (Stuart Saunders) and the second officer (Ken Stanley) believe the exercise is to prepare for the development of the “Q-bomb,” which is supposed to make “the H-bomb look like a firecracker.” Apparently the further down in the alphabet an explosive device gets its letter, the more deadly it is. However, the two say no bomb will “replace the English Navy.” It's a satiric shot at the smugness of the English mentality that clings to a feeling of superiority even though there is no longer a British Empire. 

 

The Fenwick boat approaches the QE II, and the captain tells them to turn around since New York’s not open to sea craft. The QE II is greeted with a barrage of arrows. It’s like that old cliché that represents futility as throwing spitballs at a battleship. The Fenwick crew continues to New York City, finding it empty. One soldier says he saw the Empire State Building first, so he gets to keep it. It’s a joke about how some get caught up in the idea of conquest, no matter how impossible the odds are. 

 

Buckley is impatient to get captured so they can achieve their unorthodox goal. Buckley hears Tully squeaking and determines by raising Tully’s arm that his mail became rusty in the rain. It brings to mind the Tin Man from the wizard of Oz, and it fits since they have found themselves, like Dorothy and her companions, in a strange land like Emerald City, which is what New York City could represent here. The rusty sound could also imply how out-of-date their weaponry is. This out-of-touch feel continues when one man steps on some gum and calls it “germ warfare,” although they question how there could be “sticky germs.” 

 

The soldiers look into the subway and see several people making the best of their seclusion. Buckley finds a newspaper and tells Tully and the others about the air raid drill and the preparation for the arrival soon of the awesome Q-bomb. At the New York Institute of Physics we get a look at the explosive. As IMDb notes, the device is in the shape of a football, which coincides with calling the launch codes under the U. S. President’s control the “nuclear football.” Professor Alfred Kokintz (David Kossof) and his daughter, Helen (Jean Seberg) work on the bomb at the Institute. How does Kokintz secure the warning alert on the bomb? With a bobby pin from Helen’s hair. So high-tech and reassuring. There is obviously a satiric thrust at scientists that create such monstrosities without making sure that adequate protections are present. Kokintz says he must “remove the detonator. It’s sensitive.” Unfortunately no adequate fail-safes have been installed to reduce its propensity to explode. Just lightly touching it produces an annoying crackling sound like a scared animal. 

 

An American decontamination man sees the Fenwick men in their shiny armor and it is so alien-looking, he assumes there has been an invasion of Martians. Now, these decontamination guys are wearing full-body hazmat suits, so which ones really look like they are from outer space? The Fenwick soldiers think the Americans are from another planet, at least until they start taking off their outfits. Both sides lean toward paranoia when confronted with something different, and the word of an alien invasion among those in the fallout shelters spreads to the point where the supposed number of extraterrestrials balloons into the thousands. 

 

Tully thinks they are going to an arsenal but the soldiers get lost and coincidentally arrive at the physics institute. Tully remembers from the newspaper article that Kokintz is working there. He and his men enter the building while General Snippet (MacDonald Parke), a name that sounds like he’s going to perform a circumcision, calls the Secretary of Defense (Austin Willis) about the report of an invasion from Mars. One may recognize the hysteria of unreasoning, conspiracy-minded people as they react to unfounded rumors here, as they did with Orson Welles’s radio program based on the novel War of the Worlds.

 

Tully wants to take Kokintz hostage along with the Q-bomb to have more leverage in bargaining with the Americans. The ease with which Sully and his men acquire such a powerful weapon points to the danger of having such weapons in existence. When Helen raises a bottle as a weapon, her father, the maker of the most destructive device in history, ironically tells her, “no violence,” which shows his lack of insight into the ramifications of what he has created. 

 

 A military jeep containing Snippet and New York City policemen drives by and the archers stop it with their arrows. It’s a repeat of the attack on the ocean liner. The suggestion here is that despite all of the highly evolved machinery and technology, something simple can derail everything, and, thus, safety is just an illusion in times of modern warfare. Sully captures the Americans as Snippet is in denial about what is happening. Sully tells the boat captain that they won the war, given that they have the Q-bomb, and there is now a Fenwick flag flying at the U. S. Customs building at the dock. 

 

Back in Fenwick, Rupert, Bentner, and other officials are preparing for an American occupation by planning to be hospitable toward their conquerors to facilitate the aid they will receive. They will offer the visiting soldiers discounted wine, for instance, plan on getting malted milk machines, and plenty of hot dogs. Rupert says that non-fraternization should only last two days, and then he wants the young foreign soldiers to feel that Fenwick is “a home away from home.” So, he is suggesting making Fenwick females available for socializing. Why should being defeated preclude entertainment? They have the American flag flying and a band playing American songs, like “Frankie and Johnny.”

 

The precariousness of the Q-bomb is accentuated as one of the soldiers cradles the explosive like an ominous demon-child in a raging sea storm. Kokintz wants Helen to seduce Tully into letting her father dismantle the bomb, but the pathetic Tully’s seasickness spoils this attempt. 

 

The Grand Duchess, Rupert, and the other citizens are unhappily astounded to learn from Tully that they have won the war and have the world’s most destructive weapon in their possession. Kokintz warns Rupert and those present that the bomb could destroy most of Europe unless he disarms it. The Grand Duchess seems unable to sort things out and orders that the bomb be secured in a dungeon. But she is most hospitable toward Kokintz and Helen, getting them a room next to her and ensuring they have fruit juice for breakfast. This contrasting of the dangerous with the frivolous adds to the film’s humor. The Grand Duchess is oblivious to the modern world as she tells Snippet, who brings up the contents of the Geneva Convention, that she can accompany his reading of the document on the harpsichord. She later thinks the current U. S. President is Calvin Coolidge.

 

Snippet is rigid in his military way of thinking and assumes that he must fight to be treated well. He refuses to go anywhere without the basic standards guaranteed to prisoners of war. He doesn’t even look to see that the Duchess offers opulent surroundings with plentiful food and drink served by beautiful women. The policemen partake of this generosity, while Snippet sits in a damp cell eating basic fare while the theme music from The Bridge on the River Kwai plays in the background to satirize the general’s macho insistence on being treated as a suffering captive. 

 

In response to tiny Fenwick having the Q-bomb, Britain and France try to cozy up to the new superpower. Russia, however, uses the news to prop itself up and deploy propaganda by saying they invented the bomb earlier but were too peace-loving to use it, and they then condemn the capitalist countries for being aggressors. Tiny, powerless Taiwan, which has been surpassed by mainland China as the dominant nation there, says it will do what it can to help Fenwick fight the U. S. This humorous request shows how another tiny, mousy nation wants to “roar.” The top news out of the United States is the results of a World Series game, which implies that Americans are more interested in sports than the safety of the world. 

 

The irrationality of the whole affair is stressed in scenes in the United States and in Fenwick. There are many countries which are pledging military support for Fenwick against the U. S. Each wants to retain the Q-bomb supposedly to protect it but they really want to use it to intimidate the rest of the world. One of the United States military men illogically says America can pledge more military support for Fenwick than other nations. The Secretary of Defense ridiculously must remind him that we can’t send aid to the enemy. The Secretary says the President is sending him to make peace with Fenwick through surrender to prevent an explosive holocaust. 

 

In Fenwick, Rupert says that only an idiot could foul up his plan, and “an idiot did,” as he refers to Tully. The Duchess disagrees with Rupert that they should return the Q-bomb because he is worried about its danger. The Duchess says the world powers will just invent the x, y and “zed” bombs, so the danger is continuous. The movie suggests that her analysis of the arms race among nations appears to be an accurate one. Rupert and others resign leaving Tully in charge as the Prime Minister. 

 

Rupert and Benter approach Helen and promise their aid in helping her leave with the Q-bomb. Meanwhile, Tully ponders the explosive as it looks like an egg sitting on a nest of straw, waiting to give birth to destruction and chaos. He tries to be friends with Helen, a sort of symbolic joining of the two warring factions. Tully kisses Helen, and she calls him “thief,” but he is actually stealing her heart. However, Rupert and Benter whisk her away with Snippet and the Q-bomb, which is sounding agitated. They don’t know where Kokintz is. The professor happens to be stuck with the Duchess who is playing the harpsichord. Tully witnesses his “girl” and his “bomb” scurrying off.

 

The film then inserts an image of an atomic bomb detonating. The narrator reassures the audience that it is not the end of the story, but since such devastation could occur at any moment, the filmmakers wanted to prepare us for the possibility. It is a darkly humorous ploy, and it not only reminds us that we may be seeing possible catastrophe in the movie, but that same nuclear horror can be unleashed in real life, too, at any moment. 

 

The representatives from the various dominant countries attempting to find favor with Fenwick play “diplomacy” monopoly. The fate of the world is depicted as just a game to those nations jockeying for power. While playing the board game, the Russian says he gets to bomb Philadelphia, and others get to take over other countries. A joke or real life?

 

Tully runs after the escaping car taking Helen. While in pursuit, he again gets his foot caught in a trap in the forest he was supposed to manage. The car carrying Snippet, Helen, and the cops breaks down temporarily, and must be pushed. Snippet is alone in the vehicle as it takes off. He runs into a haystack and the Q-bomb gets even louder. In a sort of Keystone Cops routine, the policemen and others toss the bomb around like a football, showing that the fate of the world is literally up in the air not only here, but in real life. Tully is the last to get hold of the Q-bomb and it appears he places it just over a sort of a white-painted goal line, enhancing the football metaphor, and how lives are being played with. Despite the increasing racket made by the Q-bomb, there is no detonation. 

 

The next shot is that of Rupert and Benter crushing grapes in a vat as punishment for their careless actions. Tully asks that the peace treaty make Fenwick the sole provider of the wine brand they were prosperous at producing. He asks for a million dollars for the country. The Secretary of Defense insists it must be a billion, suggesting that the smaller amount undermines the exalted reputation of the United States, which knows how to throw money around in huge amounts to flaunt its affluence. Also, Tully and Helen are to be married, a joining of the two countries in an affectionate bond.

 

Tully says the Q-bomb will stay in Fenwick. He argues that the large countries of the world have been so negligent in protecting the world that it’s time for a sort of league of little nations to give it a try and supervise disarmament of the powerful sovereign states. Tully says that if the large nations don’t agree, Fenwick will set off the bomb. The Secretary says that will destroy Fenwick, too. But, the Duchess argues that the large countries will most likely cause a nuclear catastrophe, and Fenwick would be wiped out anyway, so why delay the inevitable agony? 

 

As Kokintz checks the bomb after its rough ride, he sneezes and drops it. It does not explode. Kokintz declares the bomb a dud. But Tully says it will be a secret shared by the professor, Helen, and Tully supposedly so that they can wield enough power to bring about disarmament. After they leave the room, a white mouse crawls out of the Q-bomb, and the device makes some noise. Is the mouse representative of Fenwick and how there has been too much power placed in the hands of powerful people that created a threat to us all? The words after “the End’ question if that is so. The implication is that there may be a disastrous detonation in our future which could really cause “The End” of humankind.

The next film is A Beautiful Mind.

The Evolution of Movies as We Know Them

This guest post is from Hotdog.com

 

For half a century, sitting in a darkened auditorium with a crowd of fellow movie-goers was the most popular way to enjoy exciting new films. As the distribution process shifted cinema to video on demand, more opportunities changed the ease of accessing flicks at home. Though the future of watching movies in the traditional sense remains more uncertain than ever before with the rapid evolution of online viewing services. We can learn where the film industry is heading by looking at its resilience over the years. 

The Dream Factory 

The largest filmmaking industry began in the United States, while international countries produced and released their projects independently. In the early 1900s, films stemmed from five studios in California - Paramount Pictures, Metro Goldwyn Mayer, Warner Brothers Pictures, 20th Century Fox, and RKO. Known as "The Dream Factory," these studios oversaw every aspect of filmmaking and distribution. Their streamlined process from pre- to post-production continually churned out consistent films, even as the country faced devastating economic and political challenges. 

 As successful as Hollywood was, the original studio system faced its ultimate downfall in 1948. The Big Five Studios owned almost half of all theater chains and required independent theaters to purchase packages of B-rated projects in order to rent their A-budget films. "Blocked booking" gradually sparked legal disputes but failed to disarm the studios' power hold over the years. A landmark case between the United States v Paramount determined that the studios broke antitrust laws and needed to divest their theater holdings to encourage exhibitor competition. 

From Cinema to Living Rooms 

This move marked an impending shift in technology. Though movies encouraged people to leave the house, television also provided entertainment from their living room. Programming, however, remained primitive until the 1950s. As licensing agreements took hold, a select range of movies like "The Wizard of Oz" (1939) began premiering on TV. Fusing classic movies into another medium didn't end cinema's popularity, but the writing was on the wall. 

 In the 1960s and 1970s, television was almost in every U.S. household and opened the door to video formatting. A series of videocassettes emerged on the market – namely Sony's UMatic and Betamax. The price tag, however, was more conducive to professional settings instead of personal. In 1976, Victor Company of Japan (JVC) released their less expensive VHS Tape, which made it possible for everyday Joes to record material up to 6 hours. 

Birth of Video on Demand 

VHS Tapes became an essential part of home entertainment centers and launched video rental stores to new heights in the 1980s and 1990s. For two decades, VHS Tapes enjoyed the limelight until it faced film digitalization. 

 In the late 1990s, savvier technology arrived from Japan in the form of DVDs and DVD players. Temporarily, VHS and DVDs coincided in recording players interfacing both mediums. Eventually, the compact nature of DVDs with enhanced picture quality, special features, and the simplified ability to rewind or skip ahead outweighed the old-fashioned bulky inconvenience of VHS. 

 Just as fast as DVDs and Blu-Ray DVDs skyrocketed, the early 2000s marked steadfast transitions from VHS to DVD to streaming services with the takedown of a major video rental giant. 

Blockbuster Video was the go-to destination to rent movies - first with VHS Tapes and then DVDs. But with the expansion of the internet, a competing company, Netflix, lured movie lovers with a DVD-by-mail service for a fixed monthly fee. When Blockbuster finally caught up to the same model, Netflix transitioned their subscription from DVDs to streaming in 2007 and this radical shift changed the way we watch movies forever. 

The Future of Movies After COVID

 As the age of Netflix streaming dawned, its rise to the top coincided with android smartphones and iPhones making entertainment available through apps. Anyone could watch a movie at home, school, or during a commute. 

Where Hollywood maintained a semblance of control was the time frame between theatrical to DVD release. After a newer film ran its course at the box office, it eventually moved to other physical media. But even that transitional window started declining in the early 2000s from 6 months to approximately 16 weeks as of 2020. Additionally, more subscription services emerged in Netflix's footsteps, began developing original films, and skipping over traditional releases. 

However, the biggest impact on the cinema-going experience didn't stem from video formatting or television. It arrived with the Coronavirus pandemic in 2020. As most cinemas closed their doors and millions remained at home under lockdown orders, subscription services became the primary source of entertainment. While a fair number of movies were delayed for 2021 release dates, studios like Warner Bros decided to "drop" titles to their streaming services on the same day as cinema openings or bypass the latter. These divisive steps drew criticism over broken agreements and enhanced the ongoing fear over the end of cinema. 

Though the movie theater experience isn't the main draw it used to be, the film industry is striving to calibrate its chain of supply and demand. With physical activities returning, hope is still alive as studios re-adjust their plans and the general public aims to return to pre-pandemic activities. However, subscription services are certainly not disappearing any time soon. The combination of both will continue to shape how we watch movies for years to come.

The next film to be analyzed is The Mouse That Roared.

Fried Green Tomatoes

 SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

 

Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) shows women battling those that try to keep them in subservient positions, sometimes through physical abuse. What is different about this film is that it deals with two different time periods and shows how the earlier era helps empower a female in the later time frame. The movie also focuses on racial bigotry and age discrimination. Fiction (this movie is based on a novel by comedian Fannie Flagg) set in the South often has a gothic feel, sometimes presenting the supernatural, or at least dealing with the darker side of human nature. This movie certainly does the latter.

 

The opening shot of an early model car being fished out of a river establishes that what is happening took place in the past. The image is accompanied by the other-worldly music of a single clarinet which delivers feelings of mystery and danger, sort of the way the music works in another Southern gothic-type tale, To Kill a Mockingbird. As the credits roll, so do train wheels, and they move quickly over rails. Trains play a role in the plot, but the image also is one of movement that acts as a transition to current events as a dilapidated town is displayed. There is an empty building with a worn sign that says, “Whistle Stop Cafe,” which is located next to train tracks. Evelyn Couch (Kathy Bates) sits in a car while her husband, Ed (Gailard Sartain) talks on a public telephone. (The name “Couch” suggests someone who is inactive, as opposed to the swiftness of a locomotive, and this tale is very much about Evelyn getting off a comfortable but stagnant spot and going on a personal journey). The portly Evelyn, which also implies being weighed down into passivity, stares at the old menu painted on the closed restaurant, takes out a candy bar, and starts chewing on it. She hears a train whistle and an engine chugging but there is nothing visible on the tracks. The camera moves along as if there is something passing through. There is a faint reflection of cars passing by in the windows of the defunct cafe, and the leaves on the ground blow away from the tracks. This ghostly suggestion fits in with a gothic story and adds to the merging of the past with the present. 

 

Evelyn gave Ed wrong directions, and she sheepishly smiles, acknowledging her mistake. She is lost in many ways at the start of the movie, and is the passive one in her marriage. They eventually get to the nursing home in Alabama where Ed’s aunt resides. She is ill-tempered toward Evelyn, who leaves Ed with her as Evelyn wanders off. She meets “Ninny” Threadgoode (Jessica Tandy), one of the residents, and it winds up changing Evelyn’s life. (Ninny’s last name suggests that she weaves a silver lining into the tapestry of Evelyn’s life). 

 

Ninny is a frank woman and starts the conversation by talking about having her gallbladder removed and needing a fleet enema. Her subject matter is not what the genteel women of the South usually engage in and is not what Evelyn is used to hearing. Ninny, who is from Whistle Stop, is not in need of skilled medical care but is the roommate of her friend, Mrs. Otis, and states she will leave when Mrs. Otis settles in. Ninny then abruptly mentions Imogene “Idgie” Threadgoode, and says she married her brother, Cleo. Idgie and Ruth Jamison ran the Whistle Stop Café. The coincidence of Evelyn getting lost (leading to her finding herself) at Whistle Stop right near the café and then learning about it right afterwards suggests fate is playing a role. 

 

Ninny says that Idgie was a bit wild but then adds that she can’t believe anyone would think Idgie “murdered that man.” Her line piques Evelyn’s and our interest and meshes with the opening shot of the car that suggests dire events. It also propels us into the narrative set in the past as the excellent storyteller Ninny recounts what happened. 

 Ninny says that Idgie was arrested for killing Frank Bennett, but then backtracks to when Idgie was young and played with her brother, Buddy (Chris O’Donnell) right after WWI. On the day of the wedding of her sister, Leona (Afton Smith), little Idgie (Nancy Moore Atchison) is wearing a dress. But, as she lifts her hem to walk down the stairs, scraped knees are visible, implying that Idgie is more of a Tomboy and wearing the traditional clothes of a female does not suit her. She immediately gets into a fight with the teasing young Julian Threadgoode (Reid Binion). She climbs to her treehouse and begins to shed the dress. Buddy tells stories and relates one about ducks getting their feet frozen in a nearby lake and flying off with the body of water to Georgia. He is able to charm his little sister. Idgie goes to the wedding but wears a jacket and tie showing her early rebelliousness against imposed gender roles. 

 

Ninny mentions how she had a big “crush” on the likable Buddy, who all the girls fancied. Buddy, however, was interested in Ruth (Mary-Louise Parker), who was a daughter of a friend of his mother. On the day of the wedding, Idgie, Ruth and Buddy go strolling and he tells the story about the ducks. This fairytale delights Idgie and Ruth, and is repeated in the film, adding an element of fantasy to the reality. 

 But the idyllic time the three share on that day is undercut when Buddy goes after Ruth’s hat that flies away in the wind. It winds up on those train tracks, which symbolize how life has good and bad changes in store as it passes through time. The two girls laugh as the hat keeps escaping out of Buddy’s reach, but this whimsical scene abruptly turns deadly as Buddy’s shoe gets caught in between the rails. We hear that whistle in the distance, a real one this time, and a speeding locomotive barrels down on where Buddy is trapped and kills the young man. 

 Idgie was so traumatized by the death of her brother that she exiled herself near the short waterfalls where she, Ruth and Buddy walked. As time passed, she became even more of an outsider to acceptable society. She only allowed Big George (Stan Shaw), the African American family worker, to be her friend, which in the South was rebellious in itself. He acted like a guardian angel as “he watched over her night and day.” The grownup Idgie (Mary Stuart Masterson) would stay away from home mostly and only Big George knew where she was.

 

Evelyn attends meetings to put “magic” and “spark” back in her marriage (the moderator is the author, Fannie Flagg), implying that society has left it up to her as the wife to revive the relationship, relieving the husband of all responsibility. Evelyn imagines herself wrapped in cellophane to greet Ed when he enters their house. The music playing in her head asks, “what’s become of the broken-hearted,” which implies her plan does not have a good chance for success. She imagines Ed’s response would be that she is insane. She can’t even have a romantic fantasy without it being doomed to failure. Her friend Missy (Constance Shulman) says instead of this useless group, they need, “an assertiveness training class for Southern women,” which she then admits, “that’s a contradiction in terms.” The stress here is that Southern women are taught to be submissive.

 

The next scene emphasizes the above fact as Evelyn waits at the door with beer in hand as her husband rushes through the house so he can eat in front of the TV while watching a ballgame. His only words to her are to ask her to not block his view. He confirms what she predicted when she asks what he would have thought if she greeted him only wearing cellophane. He says he would be checking her into the “looney bin.”

 

Evelyn is relegated to the waiting room again at the nursing home when they visit Ed’s aunt on Halloween (another gothic reference). Ninny sees her and the older woman mentions how smells bring back memories. Again there is that ethereal music that brings us back to the ghosts of the past as Ninny recalls eating fried green tomatoes at the cafe. Ninny says that Idgie, on a rare visit home, met Frank Bennett (Nick Searcy), and he is overly complimentary. She says her name is “Towanda,” which reflects her mythical warrior-woman persona, and says to Frank, “You a politician, or does lying just run in your family?” She sizes him up right away and the exchange shows how she is not willing to comply with playing the Southern hospitality game. 

 Mama (Lois Smith) and the family servant, Sipsey (Cicely Tyson), accept Idgie’s gift of caught fish which emphasizes Idgie’s self-reliant abilities, showing how she can exist without the presence of a man. Mama asked Ruth to spend the summer with them, hoping Ruth could connect with Idgie and bring her back to the family. But, Idgie was a renegade before Buddy’s death, and it is Idgie that draws out the courageous woman inside the meek-appearing Ruth. Ruth goes to The River Club which Big George warns does not have “church-going” people there. But Ruth feels it's her duty to reach out to Idgie, who is playing cards with Grady Kilgore (Gary Basaraba), the hulky local sheriff. Ruth brazenly grabs Idgie’s money and says Idgie must go home to her family. Ruth tells Idgie that she is being self-centered in her grief concerning Buddy, since they all lost him, and she shouldn’t turn her back on the family that loves her. But Idgie says that she goes where she wants to go, so Ruth’s argument concerning submission to Mama’s request is rejected.

 

Reverend Scroggins (Richard Riehle) gives a sermon about how evil lurks in places like the River Club, which he calls “a den of the devil,” because it has alcohol, gambling, and “sin,” in general. He equates Satan with serpents and while he speaks, the irreverent Idgie rides by, disrupting the status quo, saying Scroggins resembles a serpent himself. The reverend stresses to his congregation that evil can take a pleasing shape, implying the congregation shouldn’t be taken in by the pretty Idgie. Although these two are combative, Scroggins believes in justice and is not above bending the rules to see that fairness triumphs later in the story.

 

Ruth persists in trying to be Idgie’s friend and begs for a chance to have fun together. Idgie’s idea of fun is not what Ruth had in mind. Idgie takes her to, where else, a train, which has cans and bags of food in one of the cars. This time its movement shows it to be a vehicle for good as it allows the two women to aid the poor people on the roadside as they toss food to them. Even though they are giving away what doesn’t belong to them, they are like angels dispensing hope to the underprivileged. So, Ruth’s participation in Idgie’s Robin Hood-like adventure turns her into an outlaw, but she enjoys the role as she sees the smiling faces of hungry children running near the train so that they can get something to eat. Idgie points out that the high-minded churchgoers are hypocrites because they go to the River Club. The implication is that they pretend to be Christians but do no acts of kindness for the needy. When the time comes to jump off the train, Ruth thinks Idgie is crazy for suggesting it. But, when Idgie says to Ruth she will never jump off, implying she doesn’t have the courage to be daring, Ruth’s hidden strength surfaces. She says to Idgie, “Don’t you ever say never to me.” Ruth is the first to jump and she comes out unscathed while it is Idgie who hurts her ankle. Ruth tells her that she will help her walk. So, Ruth, through her association with Idgie, becomes the strong one in a reversal of roles.

 In an acknowledgement of Ruth showing her daring side, Idgie now demonstrates her strong will in order to reward Ruth. Idgie takes Ruth into a field where there is a huge beehive in a tree. She reaches in, grabs a chunk of honey, and puts it in a jar (she earlier brought a jar of honey to Buddy’s grave), and gives it as a gift to Ruth. The bees swarm around and land on her, but she assures the concerned Ruth she never gets stung. (There are no special effects or a stand-in as Mary Stuart Masterson did the scene herself). This incident adds another element of the supernatural as the astonished Ruth says to Idgie, “You’re just a bee charmer, Idgie Threadgoode, that’s what you are, a bee charmer.” Idgie is more one with the cosmic power of nature than she is connected to other people.

 Ruth’s friendship does bring Idgie back to having more contact with her family. Ruth is teaching religious classes to children for Reverend Scroggins. She is telling the youngsters about Job. The Bible story seems to fit what happens to people in the movie as they suffer many tribulations. Idgie is smiling as she looks at Ruth through a window, which stresses her outsider status. The next scene contrasts with the previous church setting since it takes place at The River Club, which Scroggins condemned as a place of sin. They are celebrating Ruth’s birthday and she gets drunk and plays poker and baseball for the first time with Grady, Idgie, and others. The two women are dripping wet after taking a dip in the river, and there is a sensual feel to the images. Ruth says that it’s the best birthday she ever had and declares that she never had more fun. Then she kisses Idgie on the cheek. The novel has a lesbian connection between Idgie and Ruth, but the film only hints at intimacy between the two. 

 

Idgie tells Ruth not to concern herself about getting drunk and worrying what other people think. Idgie wants to open up a whole new world of enjoyment for Ruth. Idgie tells Ruth she has only done what was expected of her, teaching Sunday school, taking care of her father before he died, and will be doing the same for her ailing mother. Ruth then surprises Idgie when she says, “and I’m gonna marry the man I’m supposed to.” Ninny narrates that Ruth married Frank Bennett, but Idgie didn’t go to the wedding, which shows some jealousy and possibly that Idgie felt that she and Ruth didn’t need men in their lives to be happy as long as they had each other. Idgie was so upset that she “swore that she would never see Ruth again.”

 

Evelyn continues to go to groups to find some satisfaction in her life. One meeting addresses female empowerment and the instructor says the women present are to explore their “own femaleness” by using mirrors to examine the “source” of their “strength” and “separateness,” their “vaginas.” This exercise is so shocking to Evelyn’s Southern temperament, she almost falls out of her chair. She says she can’t just slip off her panties because she is wearing a girdle. It is a funny scene, but it also points to how her society has put Evelyn physically and literally in restraints. The room in which the meeting takes place looks like a man cave, with animals and fish mounted on the walls and a dartboard on the door. It’s as if the macho male-dominated culture which surrounds women is difficult to escape.

 

Evelyn still tries to win her husband over with a nice dinner, but he comes in wearing baseball clothes (another testosterone-fueled image) and takes his meal again to the chair to watch a game on the TV. Evelyn says with their son on his own they can go to Florida and rent a boat like they did when they were first married. But the unromantic Ed says he likes the quiet in their house now which implies he sees no need for such a trip. She is trying to recapture the romance that no longer exists in their relationship. She says the classes she takes haven’t helped and instead of showing understanding or taking responsibility, he simply tells her to stop attending the meetings. At this point she is still looking for individual fulfillment from a man.

 

Evelyn instead gets what she needs by visiting Ninny on her own and listening to her tale of two women in the past dealing with male adversity. At this point in the story, Idgie is more at home staying with the Black servants, Sipsey and Big George, than her own family, which again shows Idgie’s lack of conformity. Idgie eventually feels the need to pay Ruth a visit and discovers Frank has hit her friend. Idgie wants to confront Frank, but Ruth tells her to leave if Idgie cares about her. Ruth most likely is implying that men have the upper hand, and she will suffer more violence if Frank thinks she sought outside help. 

 

Idgie receives a letter from Ruth that has an obituary for her mother and a passage from the Book of Ruth in the Bible that implies Ruth wants to be with Idgie. Idgie goes to the Bennett house with Big George and the now grownup Julian Threadgoode (Haynes Brooke). A mournful Ruth says she is pregnant. They begin to load up the car with Ruth’s things when Frank arrives, and he promptly smacks Ruth hard. Big George intimidates Frank, so he lets Ruth go, but not without kicking his wife, who carries his child, down the stairs, showing what a vile person he is. Idgie threatens to kill Frank if he comes near Ruth anymore, and again calls herself “Towanda, the amazing Amazon woman!” which is a persona which conjures up independent female power. But, her threat will come back to haunt Idgie.

 

There is then an appropriate transition to Evelyn looking at a tabloid with a headline about a woman killing her husband and selling his body parts to aliens. Sci-fi homicidal capitalism! (The outlandish violence in the newspaper is actually a foreshadowing of what is to happen). Evelyn probably is subconsciously building up her aggressive feelings about being dismissed, and that is why she is looking at the article. We then get a scene which will feed her anger as a rude male youth bumps into Evelyn who is carrying her bags and proceeds to call her a “fat cow” and an “old bitch.” So not only is Evelyn being dismissed because of her gender, she is also being victimized because of her age and body-shamed due to her weight. 

 

At their next meeting, the sobbing Evelyn tells Ninny she feels “useless” and “powerless.” That can be attributed to how she has been treated. But she is also stressed out and keeps eating. Men go through midlife crises, and women also can experience that feeling. As Evelyn says, “I’m too young to be old and I’m too old to be young.” Ninny discovers that her friend has hot flashes, sweats, and her heart sometimes pounds. So, menopause is complicating her situation. Ninny tells her to get some hormones to help with her symptoms. The older lady acts like a counselor here, also telling Evelyn to get out of the house and find a job. Ninny tells Evelyn that she has a “pretty complexion” and could sell cosmetics. As opposed to the nasty boy who attacked Evelyn’s looks, Ninny inspires self-confidence. We thus have a woman helping another woman to help counter the negative effects of a male. 

 

Ruth, no longer tied to her parents or her husband, now becomes part of the Threadgoode family, has her child, and stays at the Threadgoode house. That fact brings Idgie closer to her family and she and Ruth are like the parents of baby Buddy Junior, a name that honors Idgie’s brother, but also turns out to be ominous for the boy. Papa Threadgoode (Danny Nelson) gets the two women some money so that they can establish the Whistle Stop Café. Their feminist empowerment thus is fueled now by Idgie and Ruth becoming business partners. There then is a song about good-tasting barbecued meat, and Big George is cooking some food and making a sauce, another bit of foreshadowing. 

 

Grady is disapproving because of all the Black folks the two women are serving at the cafe, and warns Idgie that she is asking for trouble from certain residents in this Deep South state in this time period. Idgie says she might ask those mysterious critics “who they are under those sheets.” She implies that Grady is a member of the Ku Klux Klan since she recognized his large shoe size despite the costume. Grady has already asked Idgie to marry him so he is caught in a dilemma and says he will try to talk to the town’s Klansmen. 

 

Ruth and Idgie are compassionate toward other outcasts of society. Ruth doesn’t charge some families who are poverty-stricken. They give the friendly alcoholic, Smokey Lonesome (Timothy Scott), food and a place to sleep. 

 

While cooking up the first batch of fried green tomatoes, which Ruth declares to be “terrible,” the young women get into a laughing food fight that has an erotic feel to it as did the river scene earlier. The film’s director, Jon Avnet, said in an interview he wanted to suggest two people making love without really making love. That fact is not lost on Grady as he suspiciously eyes Idgie and Ruth smeared in raspberries and other ingredients. When he says they are coming close to disorderly conduct, Ruth plies his face with chocolate frosting. He says that Idgie has been “a bad influence” on her, to which Ruth triumphantly says, “I agree!” Ruth realizes that the rule-breaking Idgie may be condemned by the community, but for Ruth, Idgie’s contrariness has helped to set Ruth free.

 

But the laughter is undercut by the presence of Frank scoping out what is happening in Whistle Stop. He and his fellow KKK members come at night and he threatens Ruth, saying she and the baby will return to him. Society’s scorned members, Sipsey and Smokey, are the only ones there to add support to Ruth, and Sipsey is courageous as she tells Frank she is not afraid of him, another piece of foreshadowing. Frank and his fellow Klansmen from Georgia grab Big George and whip him while also breaking some windows at the café. Grady is there to warn them to stay away but tells Idgie the KKK doesn’t like her selling to Blacks, as he previously warned her not to do. He says he is not a member of the KKK despite Idgie’s accusation, as he doesn’t like being in “parades” wearing “bedsheets.”

 

Ruth goes to one of Scroggins’s revival events, which shows her balancing herself between the world of the spiritual and the profane. Her absence occurs during the Town Follies, a secular celebration in which Idgie is more at home participating. In a skit onstage Idgie is dressed as a man and Grady wears a dress which is for comic effect, but which also implies gender reversal, since Idgie never acts traditionally feminine. In contrast to these festivities, Frank arrives and knocks Sipsey to the floor as he attempts to take his boy. Big George sees him and goes to alert Idgie. As Frank heads to his car the sound of the train whistle is in the background, again sounding like an alarm alerting us that dramatic change is again about to occur. Smokey tries to stop Frank, but he hits Smokey who falls to the ground. Someone slams Frank over the head with a frying pan, buy at this point it is a mystery as to who that person is. 

 

There is a time jump to Grady introducing Georgia Sheriff Curtis Smoote (Raynor Scheine) to Idgie. Smoote is investigating the disappearance of Frank, who told his hired help he was going to see his ex-wife and child. So Smoote is suspicious of Ruth and Idgie’s possible involvement in Frank’s absence. Smoote confronts Idgie and says Frank’s hired hand heard her threaten to kill Frank, so he is looking for the evidence that will put her away. He is also intimidating as he questions Big George, since Smoote learned how attached he and Idgie are. At the same time, he enjoys eating what Grady calls the “best barbecue” in Alabama. Big George prepares the food in the back as the camera lingers on his stirring the sauce, the significance of which we learn later. 

 

Ruth tells Idgie that maybe it’s time she moved on because she thinks Idgie feels she must take care of her and little Buddy, Thus, she can’t “settle down,” which implies getting married. But Idgie says, “I’m as settled as I ever hope to be.” She is by nature unsettled, but the someone she feels most attached to is Ruth, not a man. Idgie hasn’t told Ruth what she was doing the night Frank disappeared and Ruth shows she is sympathetic to doing away with her ex-husband since praying has not helped her in the past. She tells Idgie if Frank came to take little Buddy, she would “break his neck.” Idgie reassures her that she doesn’t have to worry about Frank anymore. Ruth assumes Idgie killed Frank, but Idgie appears sincere when she says she didn't murder him. 

 

Back in the present, Evelyn looks different as she wears hipper clothing. Two women steal Evelyn’s parking space at the supermarket, telling her they are “younger and faster.” This time she will not let someone take advantage of her Southern manners and older age. Idgie, by way of Winnie, is having an effect on Evelyn losing her victimhood. She uses Idgie’s battle cry, “Towanda,” and proceeds to continually slam into the parked car that belongs to the young women. She counters their previous verbal jab by telling the car space thieves that she is older so she has “more insurance,” reversing the power position.

 

Evelyn verbally spikes her triumph by telling Ninny what happened in the parking lot. Evelyn says it was considered “bad manners” for a woman to get mad when she was growing up, but here she defies that upbringing and says, “I got mad and it felt terrific.” She no longer is willing to play the role of a female doormat and takes on her new attitude with a vengeance. She says she wants to take out all the “punks” of the world and then the “wife beaters, like Frank Bennett,” hoping to “machine gun their genitals.” She wants to right the wrongs of age discrimination and body shaming by making wrinkles sexually desirable, and banning young fashion models that “weigh under 130 pounds.” Ninny comically asks, “how many of them hormones you takin’?” 

 

Evelyn is now exercising at home and is into healthier food as she tries to change the course of her life, getting on track as it were, toward something more self-fulfilling. Of course her husband, Ed, is not on board with the new Evelyn, but she begins to reverse their roles. Her knocking down a wall in her house to let in light and air is a metaphor for how she is opening herself up to fresh ways of living. (Ed starts to respond to Evelyn’s worry about their marriage by bringing her flowers, but she later rebuilds the wall to have an extra room because she wants Ninny to move in with them. This possibility is too much for Ed, who says it’s “never” going to happen, Evelyn repeats Ruth's words: “Don’t you ever say ‘never’ to me,” which shows how the courage of Ruth in the past has brought the gift of empowerment to Evelyn in the present). When Ed sarcastically asks if his wife is trying to kill him with the low cholesterol diet, she says if she was going to kill him she'd use her hands, a masculine response. Even Ninny is worried about Evelyn’s extreme turnaround as she tells Janeen (Latanya Richardson Jackson,) a worker at the facility, that Evelyn said she gets the urge to hit Ed with a baseball bat when he watches a game on television. Janeen, obviously knowledgeable about the negative side of men, humorously says, “Oh hell, that seems normal to me.” Evelyn is thinking about using the baseball bat, a possible phallic image, and thus reversing the power roles by employing the male symbol of force against the neglectful and inconsiderate man in her life. 

 

The possibility of Evelyn killing Ed is only a joke in the story in the present. But the narrative in the past contains the real doing away with a man. Ninny says that five years passed since Frank disappeared. Smokey was missing for those five years, and now shows up again, suggesting that maybe he was the one who killed Frank. Smoote still shows up looking for the killer, but also so he can enjoy the barbecued meat. There is that ominous train whistle again in the background and the train zooms by, as someone calls out in alarm for young Buddy (Grayson Fricke). Will history repeat itself? Almost, as the revolving wheels of the train, possibly implying the passing time on a clock face, reap Buddy Jr.’s arm. 

 After drenching rainfalls, Frank’s truck surfaces, like a dark memory that will not be suppressed. Grady tells Idgie that she and Big George will be under arrest for murder. He says that if she runs off the authorities will be satisfied with executing Big George, since nobody wants to hang a woman, especially a white one. Grady says this racism is just the “facts of life.” But the rebellious Idgie will have no part of institutionalized bigotry. 

 

At the trial of Idgie and Big George, Percy, (Macon McCallman), the prosecuting attorney, tries to make it look like Idgie manipulated Ruth into leaving her husband and then she and Big George, who he slanders with racial slurs, murdered Frank. Idgie is confrontational and sarcastic on the witness stand. She never compromises as to what makes her who she is. Ruth dismisses the notion that she was controlled by Idgie and says she went with Idgie because she was “the best friend” she ever had, and declares that, “I love her.” In this context, a platonic love is assumed, but Ruth does not qualify her affection, despite the prejudice of this time and place against true love between women. 

 Back in the present, Evelyn looks classy with her new clothes and hairstyle. She also has slimmed down a good bit and has a job selling cosmetics as Ninny suggested. She discovers from Sue Otis (Carol Mitchell-Leon), Mrs. Otis’s daughter-in-law, that Ninny's house was condemned and torn down, but nobody told Ninny so as not to upset her. After hearing the news about Ninny’s house, Evelyn walks through the nursing home and as she observes old people in wheelchairs the look on her face shows worry. She may be concluding how people, like houses, are subject to the ravages of time. Evelyn goes to Ninny’s room for the first time and she sees the wall full of pictures of Ruth, Idgie, and the Threadgoode family, along with paper roses, which at least can’t decay. It’s Ninny’s birthday, which adds to the emphasis on the passage of time. Ninny says she can’t believe she’s eighty-three, and says, “it sorta slipped up on me.” All of us as we get older feel exactly like that. Evelyn has brought fried green tomatoes instead of a birthday cake as the past merges with the present. 

 

Ninny looks sad as she thinks about Ruth, who began to lose her appetite after the trial. As Ninny says that Ruth’s cancer was found to be so advanced that she only had a few weeks to live, there is a shot of an engineer oiling a locomotive, again connecting the train to the inescapable approach of death. Ruth wants to hear the story about the ducks flying off with the lake. Idgie says that was just a lie, but Ruth just wants to hear a tale, which although not true, serves a beneficial purpose as opposed to most lies. She is just like the rest of us, which is why we read books and go to movies. The best stories show us what is genuine about the human condition. Ruth passes away as Idgie finishes the tall tale. One finally escapes the onslaught of time when a person leaves this earth behind. Sipsey seems to understand the way of things as she stops the pendulum of the clock in the bedroom and tells Idgie, “Let her go. You know, Miss Ruth was a lady. And a lady always knows when to leave.” Director Avnet said that life has no close-ups, no cuts, so he staged this scene so that Idgie was not looking at Ruth as she told the story, and the audience might not notice Ruth’s passing if not paying attention. He said that’s how life is. We may miss some dramatic events. After hearing about Ruth’s fate, Evelyn confesses to Ninny what most of us are afraid to give words to. She says, “I hate death. It scares me so,” whereas Ninny says she’s much older and is not afraid of dying. This film addresses the different ways people live their lives in the face of that fear. Ninny offers later that what gets us through the tough times is knowing that the most important thing in life “is friends. Best friends.”

 

Evelyn goes to the nursing home another time to find Ninny’s bed empty and an attendant peeling Ninny’s roses off of the wall, like a grim reaper. Evelyn thinks Ninny died, and is devastated until she discovers it is Mrs. Otis who is deceased. Ninny discharged herself to go to the home that no longer exists. When Evelyn catches up with Ninny, the older woman is distraught when she sees that her house is no longer standing. Evelyn cheers her up by saying how Ninny, through her stories, has changed Evelyn’s life, and now makes her glad to get up in the morning. Ninny isn’t worried about herself because she is selfless. She is upset because she no longer has someone to take care of, as she did for her child, husband Cleo, and then Mrs. Otis. Evelyn tells her that she can come live with her, and that she would be a blessing for her and Ed, thugs giving Ninny a purpose. 

We then learn the truth about Franks Bennett’s death, since Ninny discovered what really happened from Mrs. Otis, who was Sipsey’s younger sister. It was Sipsey who picked herself up after being hit by Frank and used her frying pan to bash in his skull. It is interesting that the Black female domestic uses a tool of a servant to dispatch a white supremacist woman abuser. Sort of like divine justice. They know that the Alabama society will not believe the alcoholic Smokey, and the Blacks and their friend, Idgie, that the death was in self-defense and to prevent a kidnapping of a child. Idgie, Big George and his mother, Sipsey, devise a coverup, which is pretty dark. Idgie tells Big George that “it’s hog-boiling time.” There is only the suggestion of what takes place, but we know that Big George is barbecuing an unusual cut of meat. The Georgia lawman, Smoote, comments on how good the food tastes, and Sipsey says, “Secret’s in the sauce,” which is really true, as the director pointed out in an interview, since the mystery of what happened to Frank rests there. Idgie looks horrified to think that Smoote might discover the mystery since he is eating Frank’s cooked remains. Nothing like a touch of cannibalism to spice up a story. Smoote finally found Frank’s body, but just didn’t realize it.

 

Director Avnet said that fried green tomatoes are like the enigma that is the South. The tomato “hasn’t made it to ripeness, it’s dipped in batter. It’s bad for you, but it tastes really, really good.” The café and the food conjure up the hospitality of Southern culture. Of course the cooking of Frank’s body subverts that idea, and brings in that gothic element. 

 

Evelyn and Ninny find a jar with a honeycomb in it at Ruth’s grave with a note from Idgie. Evelyn is astounded to learn from Ninny that Idgie is alive, still “charming bees.” She says that sometimes she believes she catches “a glimpse of her.” Evelyn looks intrigued and says, “Maybe we’ll see her today.” Ninny replies, “Maybe,” and she has an enigmatic look on her face. There has been the suggestion that Ninny is really Idgie. The film possibly implies that, since Ninny never appears in the flashbacks as a younger woman. In Fannie Flagg’s book it is evident that they are separate people, and it would be weird for Ninny to say she had a crush on Buddy, since he was Idgie’s brother. It is more likely that Ninny put the honey and the note there to emphasize that these fascinating people live on through the retelling of stories, just like the fanciful ones that Buddy used to tell and were repeated by Idgie, who then told them to Buddy, Jr. Ninny says as much when she tells Evelyn, “All these people’ll live as long as you remember ‘em.”

 

As Ninny and Evelyn walk away, Ninny’s voice-over says that after Ruth died and the train no longer came to Whistle Stop, the café was shuttered, and everybody “scattered to the winds.” She adds, “when the café closed, the heart of the town just stopped beatin.’ It’s funny how a little place like that brought so many people together.” It is ironic that two social outcasts and their Black friends were a magnet that attracted others to this Alabama town so long ago. Whistle Stop is now a ghost town whose spirits live on in the tales told about it which incorporates individuals and transcends them.

The next film is The Mouse That Roared.