The Cinematic World of Culinary & Culture

Now that the semester is coming to a close, I decided to go back and reread my previous blog posts. I can't say that I've taken the time to go through my entries after the initial publishing. It's strange to go back and read them and remember my headspace when writing them or what was going on in my life during that time. Memories rush back of sitting decker auditorium, locking eyes with my friends when something unexpected or hilarious happened, hearing Dr. Esa laugh at a scene that no one else found as funny, and chuckling at the one person who was always asleep and snoring during the screening.    Overall, I didn't really find this course challenging. After taking both Intro to Cinema & Film Analysis: Hitchcock , I was used to this style of class. It was difficult to keep up with the journal entries from time to time. I really appreciated the variety of films we watched (even if I didn't agree with the choices of the films). I don't think I would hav

Big Night follows the story of Primo & Secondo, two first-generation Italian immigrant brothers, as they try to keep their traditional Italian restaurant in 1950's New Jersey. During the entirety of the film, we watch the brothers fight with not only each other but also struggling with the aspects of life that come with trying to achieve the American Dream.    Each brother represents a conflicting ideology. We see evidence of this within the first 10 minutes of the film. Two customers are complaining to Secondo about not being able to see the shrimp in the risotto and wanting to have spaghetti and meatballs despite Secondo advising against it. Nevertheless, he pushes his feelings aside and asks Secundo to abide by the customers' wishes. Outraged, he rants, calling them "Philistines" and screaming about the traditional Italian way. In this scene, Secundo represents the idea of assimilating to popular culture while Primo represents the idea of sticking to traditio

  A s an African American, both Soul Food & Once Upon A Time When We Were Colored hit very close to home for me. These films accurately depict "The Black Experience" and how food plays an important part in our culture & lifestyle. For centuries Black people have had to change how we carry ourselves, how we speak, how we dress, but not how we cook. Cooking, like with all cultures, is a way for people of all walks of life to come together and make memories that will last a lifetime.    Growing up, whenever I saw food being prepared with the same abundancy as this gif from Once Upon A Time... is when I went to family reunions. I don't know if you've ever been to a Black family reunion, but it's quite the celebration (I mean, just look up "Black Family Reunion Playlist" on Spotify and see how many pop up). Anytime I see or eat Deviled Eggs, I can't help but hear Before I Let Go by Frankie Beverly and Maze play in the background as memories

It's without a doubt that Vianne Rocher is "the falcon" of Chocolat. She enters our story as a literal force of nature to be reckoned with. Just like her chocolates, Vianne is a mixture of many things; two of those things being of both French & Mayan descent. Some other important aspects of Vianne's character is that we see her cook and heal throughout the film. Because of Vianne and her cooking & healing, we see the French town of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes transform from drab and subdued to vibrant and full of life.    The role that I want to focus on is her role as a cook. Without cooking, we wouldn't have a story! Vianne's job as a cook allows for her to heal & help the villagers around her because she heals through cooking. When she first opens her shop, we see the townspeople reluctant to venture into her store. She convinces her first customer, Yvette Marceau, to by a bag of unrefined cocoa nibs from Guatemala that will waken the passion be

Food is the most coherent, articulate, persuasive, and powerful speaker within the entirety of  Como Agua Para Chocolate. Communication is a very important aspect of this film. The very first thing that we, the audience see is an onion being chopped as we hear the narrator explaining a trick to prevent crying from onions (we find out later how important this moment truly is). Although we've seen food being used as a means of communication in previous films- such as Mostly Martha - this film best executes the idea that food can speak louder than words, especially when words can't be spoken amongst main characters.    The first time we see an example of this is when Tita and Nacha are preparing the Chabela Cake for Pedro & Rosaura's wedding. We can see how absolutely torn up Tita is by this, despite knowing Pedro's true intentions. She is succumbed by anguish and nausea that she begins to cry into the batter. The next day at the wedding, we witness Tita's grie

S oylent Green is the "modern-day" Film Noir that forces its audience to truly understand the importance of how we should cherish the aspects of life that we take for granted - such as the abundance of various types of food, clean, running water, a vibrant ecosystem, and comfortable living spaces- through a futuristic, dystopian lens. As I watched this film, I felt as though the director (Richard Fleischer) used "soylent green" as a symbol and a warning for our planet's future.    Of course, the immediate message one can take away from watching this movie is that if we do not find a solution to fix climate change, pollution, and overpopulation soon, we will see ourselves in a similar fate as the citizens in Soylent Green . But I found myself interpreting a different message. I felt as though the symbolism behind the physical soylent green was referring more to our humanity towards each other. Soylent Green, a dry, brittle, perfectly manufactured, manmade

A fter watching the first 10 minutes of Mostly Martha , I knew that this movie would focus on 3 types of Love: Love for Self, Romantic Love, and lastly, Familial Love. And it is because of these 3 aspects that help guide Martha Klein on the journey of becoming a better person by the end of the film. When we first see Martha, we see that she is in a therapist's office talking about her signature dish, roasted pigeon with a side of ravioli and truffles. She's there, not because of her own volition, but because her boss would fire her if she didn't. Although she doesn't blatantly tell the audience about herself, this exchange actually teaches us about how Martha's brain works. She perceives life through recipes; clear and orderly steps. If we use Martha's mentality, we see that she concludes that her rigidness, arrogance, passion, obsession, and lack of social life are the factors that ensure that her meals are perfect. So, of course, no type of love is apart of th

When watching  Babette's Feast , it's hard to ignore the religious overtones of the film. The entire plot revolves around how the power of religion impacts a remote town in Jutland, Denmark in the late 19 th century. It is also easy to note how significant and dynamic the relationship between religion and food is throughout  Babette's Feast,  especially during the second half. The first 30 minutes on the film focuses more on the religious aspect and the sisters’ influence on the town. The town is strictly devoted to the principles of the Lutheran faith and the memory of its Minister. And because of these principles, the town’s people live simple, secluded, and somewhat repressed lives. Both their love and fear of God inhibit them from trying anything new because, in their minds, anything different is seen by God as sinful. So Martine & Fillipa lead their people -with a hive mind mentality- to focus on loving the lord and the simple joys of life (since the lord teac

    I have always had a love for learning about different cultures. Because I grew up in a community that was not very diverse, I always yearned to understand the cultures and lifestyles of the communities that I was never exposed to as a child. And because of that yearning, I've always wanted to travel, learn about, and experience as many different cultures as I can (even if I can't always travel to those places). It’s amazing to think that the building blocks of our society are made up of so many variables like body language, aesthetics, beliefs, folklore, the arts and, of course, food. If there were a World Cultures major or minor here at McDaniel, I would sign up in a heartbeat. I’ve taken  The French-Speaking World  class and the  Asian Approaches to Acting  class and loved it. So naturally, I had to sign up for the class that had both cinematic & cultural aspects.          Although I haven’t watched many food movies, a food film that I really enjoyed was  Le Bo