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Writer's pictureCarlee Wiley

Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)

Updated: Apr 7

My Quick Take: Fried Green Tomatoes was a beautiful and inspirational reflection on the lives of characters Ruth and Idgie in the 1920s. Although the film never explicitly reveals a romantic connection between the two women, viewers can sense the understated commitment and love between them. This film pulls at the heart strings as viewers are captivated by this story of love and friendship.


Synopsis: This film is based on the novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg. Evelyn (Kathy Bates) visits a nursing home and befriends an elderly woman, Ninny (Jessica Tandy). They bond over stories from the past about two intrepid women, Idgie (Mary Stuart Masterson) and Ruth (Mary-Louise Parker), who caused an uproar in their southern town in the 1920s.


Representation: The romantic relationship between Ruth and Idgie is never explicit in the film as it is in the novel. Unfortunately, this was deliberately erased from the film version. While they express their love for one another as best friends, they never share feelings beyond that or any kind of romantic intimacy in the film. However, the two are enchanted by one another and live together as they run the Whistle Stop Cafe and raise Ruth’s son. While their friends in the town seem to see them as soulmates and never question their life together, it may have been nice for the film to make their relationship more straightforward as it is in the novel. Although, there is also a beauty in the unspoken devotion they share.




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