Fried Green Tomatoes: A Movie To Remember

Fried Green Tomatoes is a great movie with a great cast and plot. The story of a housewife, Evelyn Couch, who is unhappy with her husband. She met Ninny Threadgoode in the nursing home, and Ninny told Evelyn a wonderful story about Whistle Stop cafe that happened before. From that moment, Evelyn had a different thought about her life. In the movie, three female characters give the audience different views of how women should be. Evelyn and Ruth are trying to follow the social expectation of what a woman is supposed to be like. Meanwhile, Idgie is trying to be different and live the life she wants.

Source: IMDb

Evelyn Couch is a good wife and loves her husband, Ed. She tries to do everything to make her husband love her, care about her or even sit at the dinner table with her. But it turns out Ed doesn’t care about that; he sticks with the TV. Evelyn is a woman who cannot go over 11 social expectations or be confident. She has to be nice, good, loyal, and be the role model of a housewife. She has to do it because she wants to keep this marriage, doesn’t want her husband to be embarrassed, and loves her husband. For example, Evelyn cooks meals for her husband, has to go to the nursing home with him to visit her husband’s relative, does housework, and is too nice that a man in the supermarket bullies her. Evelyn later realizes that she cannot take any more; she has to stand up and be confident. She turns out to be like Idgie, a true tomboy who is never afraid of anything. She finds the power inside her and decides not to follow the social expectation anymore. Evelyn starts to go to the gym, no more cooking for her husband, and says “Towanda” when she hits the car.

Ruth Jamison also follows social expectations. Ruth is too kind, sweet, and innocent, which leads to being physically abused by her husband, Frank. She gives birth to a son named Bubby Jr, which refers to her late boyfriend, Buddy. Ruth never wants to be different, she wants to be a good woman with a simple life. She understands the love that Idgie gives to her, but she can’t accept that. Ruth wants her relationship with Idgie to stop friendship, not going further. At this point, the audience can infer that Ruth still loves Buddy, who died in a train accident and will never love anyone else. But because of the social expectation that women should get married and bear babies, Ruth has to get married to a jerk, who later on is murdered. Her life is just like completely tight in one shape of society.

Unlike Evelyn and Ruth, Idgie Threadgoode is different. She doesn’t follow the social expectations, she follows something else that society considers unusual. She looks like a man. She wears men’s clothes and dresses, which look ridiculous. She acts like a man. She plays gambles and drinks beer. And she loves same-sex people. She is homosexual. She loves Ruth, but Ruth doesn’t love her; she wants Idgie to be her friend. After Ruth moves to Georgia to live with Frank, Idgie tries to forget her but later visits her house to find her pregnant and subject to physical abuse from Frank. Ruth returns to Whistle Shop, and Papa Threadgoode gives Idgie money to open Whistle Stop cafe so she can care for Ruth and Buddy, Jr. The love that Idgie gives Ruth is too big, which is real love. But because of society’s prejudice back then, they don’t allow homosexuals, and there is a barrier between the love of Idgie and Ruth. Idgie dares to escape social expectation shape and be new and against tradition.