Girls, Can You Believe It Has Been 25 Years?????????????????????

                            There is just no accounting for how my mind works.  No sooner do I get "Birds" off the brain, then I tun to...."Fried Green Tomatoes????????"  That's right.  Maybe it being Mother's Day led me back to it, until I realized it has been 25 years since the film was released, and what a time it has been, and how quickly it seems to have gone.

                              Now, that is Mary Louise Parker, on the right, as Ruth Jamison, a true Southern lady, just like I always wanted to be.   To her left is Nancy Moore Atchison, in the small, but pivotal role of Little Imogene /Idgie Threadgoode, who is called "Lil Bit," by her older brother, Buddy Threadgoode (Chris O'Donnell, in a short, but pivotal role) who dotes on her.  Eventually, she grows up to be Mary Stuart Masterson, where from then on, she and Parker, the two three-named Marys--are the grit and substance of this film.

                               Guess I will never be Ruth, because as most who know me would say, I am more like Idgie!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                I first saw "Fried Green Tomatoes" toward the end of its run.  I had seen it advertised on television--emphasizing the Kathy Bates-Jessica Tandy scenes, so I thought it was some sweet confection, not unlike, say Reese Witherspoon's "Sweet Home Alabama," so I did not think there was any big hurry to see the movie.  And, of course, I had not yet read the Fannie Flagg book.

                                 So, the movie began; it was gorgeously shot, and it was moving along at an enjoyable pace--until trio get to the train tracks.  Even as the train first appeared, I was sure Buddy would escape, but as the look of horror--which I will show--filled Mary Louise Parker's face, and Nancy Moore Atchison began screaming furiously, I realized I was too.  I realized, as they did, Buddy would not escape, there was nothing they could do, and I was so upset at having the movie shift on me emotionally, when I was not at all prepared for it.  If I had read the book, sure, but I hadn't, so my reaction to this scene was as genuine as the characters in the story.  Lord knows what the audience thought; they must have imagined I was having some kind of breakdown.  And maybe I was; this was loss, which I don't face well, and it was 12 years since my mother's death--a life altering situation, so everything came together, for me, in this scene.

                                    As cinema, it is beautifully and heart breakingly rendered.

                                   Just look how young, radiant, and full of promise Mary Louise Parker was. She will always be Ruth Jamison.  And look at her face, the horror mirrored in her expression only.  This is some real acting, here, darlings. This is how I reacted, initially, to the scene.

                                    When I eventually read the Fannie Flagg book, and saw the movie again, it all came together.  What a pity Fannie did not write any more stories about Idgie and Ruth, or Idgie in the years after Ruth.  I wish she would.

                                       But as a tribute to all who made this scene work, I will try and show it to you.

                                        I just discovered I cannot. But go to You Tube and you can see the power of this scene.  Oh, my God, Lois Smith's anguish is so real!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                         And yet, the film, overall, is reaffirming. Idgie and Ruth become examples for us all!  May we follow in their paths!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!