Julie and Julia

Before the film

In the 1980’s American cooking underwent a mild revolution with the publication of Julia Child’s MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING.  Before Child, American Cooking was dominated by cookbooks like THE JOY OF COOKING that emphasized traditional American dishes, and BETTY CROCKER COOKBOOK which included a lot of pre-packaged ingredients and even frozen foods.  Child’s style was practical but completely new to the American scene.  Copper pans, interesting cooking utensils, and a large wooden were the new fashion.  This is the story of how Julia Child came to write the cookbook, and how the protagonist of the film, Julie, came to write a blog about Child.

The film takes place in two different locations/time periods.  One is France/1949 for Julia Child and the other is New York City 2001.  What does the location/time frame tell you.  What was France like after WWII?  What was New York City like after 9-11?

The two protagonists of the film have basically the same name.  Be prepared to compare the two women.  What do they have in common?  How are they different? 

Julia Child is able to study French cooking while she’s living in France with her husband, a State Department Diplomat.  Look for what life was like in France for diplomats.  How did the world for government workers change with the rise of McCarthy.  (Discuss McCarthyism in class together).

Julie discovers a new life by deciding to cook every single recipe from the famous Julia Child manual to French Cooking, an extremely popular and best selling cook book in the 80’s.  To share her experiences, Julie uses the medium of a blog. 

Julie’s husband says that blogs are great because you can write in them even though you are not a “writer.”  What would this phrase mean?

Julie says that blogs are great because you can get away from what you do all day.
What is a blog?  Do you read/write in blogs?  What do you think of blogs?

Julia’s life in France looks closely at the French style and especially how the French interact with Americans.  Watch carefully the images presented and be ready to describe the French-American relationship. 

After the film

This is a rather unusual theme for a film.  What did you think of it?

Do you like to cook?  List three things you learned about (French) cooking from the film.

Describe Julie and Julia.  List some similarities and differences in their personalities. 

Describe their respective husbands and list some similarities and differences.

Describe Julie and Julia’s respective worlds.  How were they similar and how were they different?

Both women are looking for meaning in life.  How does each find it?  What goal did each woman achieve at the end of the film?  How are the objectives similar or different?

How would you describe both women’s relationship with cooking?  Are they competitive when it comes to food?  How so?

Julie mentions in the film that “cooking is one thing that is for sure, and at the end of a long day at work when nothing is for sure, it’s nice to be able to add eggs to butter and know what is going to happen.”  What does this mean?

What was so innovative about a French Cooking Manual for Americans?  Julie says that before Julia Child Americans had only frozen foods to present to assertive American cooks.

At Julie’s 30th birthday party, Julie states “thanks to Julia, it feels like I’m going to get through.”  What did she mean by that? 

Interestingly the two women never meet.  Julia Child was in her 90’s when she must have heard about the blog and opted not to meet with Julie.  How did this effect Julie? 

When a reporter speaks with Julie about her blog, Julie says that she talks with Julia as she’s cooking.  “She is like an imaginary friend.”  Describe this unusual relationship.

Did the project in the film seem like fun?  Would you like to try an experiment of that sort on a blog?  Why or why not?