Review of Julie & Julia (2009) by Chads — 07 Aug 2009

At its very foundation, "Julie and Julia" is about old and new media, so for the traditionalists, the title itself might rankle their antiquated sensibilities, since the title gives equal weight to the writer and the blogger.

According to the film, Julia Child did not give Julie Powell's blog a fair shake. The chef said it wasn't "respectful". On one hand, the moviegoer sympathizes with Julie Powell(Amy Adams) because as is so often the case, an artist's voice, or persona, may not necessarily be the artist him-/herself.

Child(Meryl Streep) might have not been the perfect woman who lived in Julie's head, or for that matter, the filmmaker's head, as well. Crushed by her hero's negative on-the-record statements to the press about "The Julie/Julia Project", the post-9/11 cubicle worker and her husband stay up late in their one-room apartment, guessing at what angered the then-living icon of French cuisine.

Was it Powell's use of the f-word? It's a probability, since Child added that the blog wasn't "serious" either. Another probability, the one that "Julie and Julia" seems unaware of, suggests itself in the juxtaposition of both women's lives within the dual narrative framework.

While Child's first manuscript went through countless drafts and multiple publishers over a pretty good chunk of time, Powell had a literary agent and book deal before a full calendar year was up.

Although "Julie and Julia" works hard to paint an imperfect picture of Powell's personal and professional life(due to the time-intensiveness of her project), there's something almost obscene about how fame is ascertained these days.

Are enough dues paid; especially if you're essentially amalgamating somebody else's work? Powell was like the Danger Mouse of culinary blogging. Adapted from her own bestselling book, naturally, neither the author's diegetic counterpart nor her husband, broach the possibility that copyright issues might be the reason behind Child's ungenerous spirit.

Undeniably entertaining, there's a dishonesty about "Julie and Julia". It needs a dissenting voice(a dramatization of Child's voice at 90), a dialectic; a voice to counter the filmmaker's notion that bloggers are indeed the professional writer's equal.

By retaining the title of Powell's book, "Julie and Julia" endorses the new media, which merely collates and/or comments on first generation sources, rather than starting off from scratch.

For the sake of humility, the film should be entitled "Julia & Me".