Movie

I have posted the trailer for the movie once more because I decided to actually watch the movie. The movie stars Kathy Bates, Mary Stuart Masterson, Mary-Louise Parker, and Jessica Tandy. The movie overall did a good job of expressing the main themes and plot of the story. It got out the message that Fannie Flagg had intended when she wrote the story. It was well casted and they did a great job.

         There were many, many differences though that I found to be interesting. First of all, the way the book is written makes it hard to convert into a movie. It has a bunch of little episodes of story from all different time periods that you have to connect to each other to understand the story. Obviously that would have been a very confusing movie. They ended up putting most of it in chronological order.

         One of the major differences was that they left out alot of the black slaves stories and even some of the characters. I think that they did this because they wanted to make the story revolve mostly around Ruth and Idgie and going into detail about other smaller characters would have taken away from the main plot line. By doing so, they had to change the way that Buddy died and introduced Ruth much earlier into the movie. Ruth comes into Idgie’s life when she is a teenager and in the movie Ruth knows Idgie when she was just a little kid. For the movie they needed to be able to build up the relationship between Ruth and Idgie quickly and if they had waited to bring her into the plot it would have taken too long to fully grasp their relationship.

         Also there are many times in the book when Mrs.Threadgoode is telling the story and does not know the full details of what had happened which made the book much more mysterious. For example, when Idgie went on trial for killing Frank Bennett, the reader did not find out who actually killed him until way after the trial. The reader got a chance to guess who killed Mr.Bennet. In the movie, everything is chronological so you get to see that Sipsey killed Frank leaving no mystery. Since it was a movie, the only way to show that Frank had been murdered was to show the scene before the trial or else it could have been confusing.

         In the book during the trial, Ruth had already died so she was unable to testify for Idgie. In the movie Ruth was alive. I found this to be peculiar because it doesn’t make sense that Ruth was able to testify for Idgie and Idgie still be in trouble. Ruth was her alibi in the movie which helped her get out of the trouble but in the book that is the reason the trail gets even worse for Idgie.

         Now to discuss Evelyn. In the movie Evelyn attends all of these classes to help her marriage which she doesn’t do in the book. I think she does this to emphasize how bad her marriage really is. Also it is hard to understand how depressed Evelyn really is in the movie. In the book she explains how she is practically suicidal. The movie does not do the best job of explaining this.

One of the biggest differences between the book and the movie is that Mrs. Threadgoode never dies and they imply that Mrs. Threadgoode is Idgie. They never go into Mrs.Threadgoode’s life or ever show her in any of the flashback. In the book they are clearly two separate people. I can’t quite figure out why they would do this. In the book there are so many different characters each with their own stories and backgrounds. The screenwriter might have thought it would be easier to cut her out and just make Mrs. Threadgoode be Idgie.  Evelyn looks up to both characters, Idgie and Mrs. Threadgood.  By making them the same person it ties the story together a little better and more simply.

Dynamic Character: Updated Character Study of Eveyln Couch

         After finishing the book I was amazed at how Evelyn Couch transformed into a completely different woman. She went from being suicidal to a woman with self-worth and a passion for life.

Evelyn had her breaking point when a man at the grocery store had called her a fat old bitch. She was so upset by it and could not understand how people could be so terrible. And for the first time in her life she became extremely angry. All of her rage motivated her to want to change and do something with her life. On page 237 Evelyn's life took a sharp turn in the other direction. She was ready to put her life back together. Of course with the help of Mrs. Threadgoode she was able to realize that she could work at Mary Kay’s and sell make up.

         She also decided that it was time for her to serious about getting healthy and losing weight. She sent herself out to a ranch for a few months where she really found herself. She was popular among the women. Whenever a new person came to the ranch everyone would tell them that they must meet Eyelyn because she was such a sweet southern women. She made so many friends that would stay with her for the rest of her life. They all vowed to meet once a year after they left the ranch. Evelyn ended up losing 45 pounds by the time she left.

         Now Evelyn had a job and felt good about herself. Her love life with her husband even began to get a little better. They were working things out and getting along well. Evelyn was now a strong, healthy, confident women who was no longer in fear of her own death but ready to enjoy the rest of her life the best she could.

Rhetorical Devices

"Although it was late, Evelyn decided to drive by the old house one more time. It was just getting dark, and as she came down the street, her lights hit the windows in such a way that it looked to her like there were people inside, moving around...and all of a sudden, she could have sworn that she heard Essie Rue pounding away at the old piano in the parlor...Buffalo gals, won't you come out tonight, come out tonight..."

"Evelyn stopped the car and sat there, sobbing like her heart would break, wondering why people had to get old and die." (p. 384)

Flagg effectively expresses the pain that Evelyn feels when she visits Whistle Stop through imagery and flashback. Earlier in the paragraph Flagg expresses how the house is torn up and ragged but you could still feel the love that the Threadgoode family had given to the house. Evelyn has a small flashback to what the house must have looked like when the whole family was there. The entire story is a flashback so this section represents the layout of the entire novel. Flagg does a great job capturing the past and expressing the sorrowness that Eveyln feels.

The Trial

         We knew this whole time that Frank Bennet, Ruth’s husband, had been killed. No one knew who did it, not even Mrs. Threadgoode who was 82 years old. Idgie is the prime suspect along with Big George, her black friend. Idgie clams that she was at Ruth’s mother’s house with Ruth that night. The trial occurred so long after the murder that both Ruth and her mother had died and Idgie did not have an alibi. So, who killed Frank Bennet?
It could have been Idgie but in my opinion I don’t think Idgie would have done it. I believe she was staying over with her mother that night. I think she was telling the complete and honest truth.
Ruth could have killed him. She had many reasons to kill him. Frank beat her and cheated on her. He was over all a terrible person that sweet Ruth did not need in her life. If he had actually come down and tried to steal their kid I think Ruth might have killed him. But I don’t think Ruth did it because she was supposed to be with Idgie that night at her mother’s house. Ruth is also a very good Christian and breaking a commandment with god would send her straight to hell.
         Another person who could have killed him was Smokey Robinson. He was a hobo who had always been around the cafe. Idgie and Ruth would take such good care of him. He would work and help them out to repay them for their kindness. Smokey was also in love with Ruth, even though she did not know it, and he would do anything for her. If Frank had come to the house looking for her with a gun, I believe Smokey would have killed him right then and there.
          There is also Big George, I don’t think he did it either because he is the most obvious suspect and I don’t believe the story is that simple. I have no doubt he could and would have killed Frank but I believe what he said in court, that he was at home with his family.
         At this point I have no idea who was responsible for the murder of Frank Bennett but I am glad that terrible man was killed before he could hurt Ruth or any of the other people from Whistle Stop.