Posted by Michele Olson
The minute I saw the movie trailers for the movie Julie and Julia, I knew I would be there the moment it hit the theaters. It just looked like my kind of story. Based on two true stories, it tells about the recent life of Julie Powell who feels lost in the cubicle world and decides to do a blog about cooking every recipe in Julia Child’s cookbook.
The parallel story happening is the life of Julia Child. I’ve seen Julia Child growing up through the years, but many of us in the 70’s knew more of her from the Saturday Night Live Dan Aykyrod skit about how she had “cut the dickens out of her finger.”
What I didn’t see coming in the movie was the great marriage stories portrayed by both couples. It’s worth seeing from that viewpoint alone. Paul and Julie Child married in Sept. 1946, she in her 30s and he in his 40s. Their love of food is second only to their great devotion to one another. Stanley Tucci and Meryl Streep do a great job of bringing endearing moments to life in the film. How wonderful to think about the fact that Paul and Julia child understood the sense of play and wonder that can be true of marriage.
Here are some quotes that were on about.com that really show the beauty of their marriage.
The parallel story happening is the life of Julia Child. I’ve seen Julia Child growing up through the years, but many of us in the 70’s knew more of her from the Saturday Night Live Dan Aykyrod skit about how she had “cut the dickens out of her finger.”
What I didn’t see coming in the movie was the great marriage stories portrayed by both couples. It’s worth seeing from that viewpoint alone. Paul and Julie Child married in Sept. 1946, she in her 30s and he in his 40s. Their love of food is second only to their great devotion to one another. Stanley Tucci and Meryl Streep do a great job of bringing endearing moments to life in the film. How wonderful to think about the fact that Paul and Julia child understood the sense of play and wonder that can be true of marriage.
Here are some quotes that were on about.com that really show the beauty of their marriage.
Savor them like you would a tantalizing Julia Child meal. Bon appetite!
Julia: "Valentine cards had become a tradition of ours, born of the fact that we could never get ourselves organized in time to send out Christmas cards."Source: Julia Child with Alex Prud'homme. My Life in France. 2006. pg. 301.
Paul in 1967: "How fortunate we are at this moment in our lives! Each doing what he most wants, in a marvelously adapted place, close to each other, superbly fed and housed, with excellent health, and few interruptions."Source: Marilyn Mellowes. "Julia Child." PBS.org
Marilyn Mellowes: "... Paul reveled in his wife's success ... He underwent a coronary bypass. During the surgery, he suffered several small strokes. The strokes had affected his brain. He completely lost his French and verbal fluency. "Whatever it is, I will do it," Paul had said. He had acted as her manager, served as her photographer, tested her recipes, proof-read her books, and was content to let the light shine on her, not on him. Now, the man that Julia had counted on for so much would need her support in his struggle to survive."Source: Marilyn Mellowes. "Julia Child." PBS.org
Julia: "Paul married me in spite of my cooking."Source: "TV's French chef taught us how to cook with panache." SFGate.com. 8/14/2004.
Laura Shapiro: "Her new career crashed like a meteor into the center of their marriage. New roles sprang up and grabbed them -- she the star and he the support staff -- but they were determined to maintain what Julia called “that lovely intertwining of life, mind, and soul that a good marriage is.” “We are a team,” she often said. “We do everything together ... Whenever she talked about her career, she said “we,” not “I,” and she meant it literally. Paul attended all business meetings and participated in all decisions, helped rework the recipes for television, hauled equipment, washed dishes, took photographs, created designs and graphics, peeled and chopped and stirred, ran errands, read the mail and helped answer it, wrote the dedications in all her books, accompanied her on publicity tours and speaking engagements, sat with her at book signings, took part in most of her press interviews, provided the wine expertise, baked baguette after baguette, and in general made a point of being at her side on all occasions, professional or social. When he wasn’t needed, he disappeared happily into his own world, painting and photographing and gardening ... Every morning they liked to snuggle in bed together for a half hour after the alarm went off, and at the end of the day, Paul would read aloud from the New Yorker while Julia made dinner. “We are never not together,” Paul said once, contentedly.”Source: Laura Shapiro. "Just a Pinch of Prejudice." from Julia Child. BostonMagazine.com. 2007.
What do you think?
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