Chocolat

Aka my favorite food movie.

Vianne is the 100% best female protagonist in any movie I've seen in a long time. Her role in the movie is to unite and heal the village through her kindness which is represented in her chocolate. The village,  as a whole, undergoes a character arc which is most noticeable in the film. Armande is able to bond with her grandson, which helps him be able to experience the world away from his mother's rule, Guillaume finally gets together with the widow, Josephine escaped her abusive husband, Reynaud is able to stop his harsh rules and give into life with Caroline. Vianne's chocolate shop acts as a entry way for her to be social and almost meddle in the townspeople's lives. In the shop, she usually does the following:

1. The Cook
Vianne will "lure" people into the store innocently though her cooking. This reminds me of The Hundred- Foot Journey when Hassan's father would stand outside his shop and ask people to come in. This act of pulling in customers off of the street, as shown through Hassan's family's journey, is a very un-french thing to do. The townspeople are very meek and usually try to politely decline, but as soon as Vianne gets the villagers to taste the food, their eyes and minds are opened. Vianne has earned their trust though her act of kindness of sharing her chocolate and now she can move on to her true purpose in the town...

2. The Healer/ Shaman
Vianne's background in the story is perfect. Her father was a medicine man, healing the French, and her mother was a traveler who's tribe worked with chocolate in their shamanism. Vianne is able to relate to the townspeople though her father's side (she looks french/ speaks french no hint of foreign influence physically.) but her  mother's side comes out though her chocolate shop. Her cooking, just like in Like Water for Chocolate, is a direct line to her mother and her culture. She uses her chocolate to heal. For example, Vianne gives chocolate to one of the women in the town who is having a loveless marriage, and after the husband eats the chocolate it is solved. Another example is when Reynaud starts to destroy the chocolate and when he finally has a taste, he is able to see his strict ways are not working and is more open to what others input on others.

The most interesting example of Vianne's healing is though Josephine. Eating the chocolate is nice, but that does not fix Josephine's problem with her drunk husband. The act of making chocolate is what gives her freedom and the confidence to leave her husband. Vianne is able to show her a different way of thinking and helps Josephine heal from her past by helping Vianne in the shop. Vice versa, I believe the townspeople helped heal Vianne. Not in the mystical way Vianne is able to heal others, but they have showed her a sense of stability and family that she did not have growing up. She only had her mother who took her away from her father at a young age, which I see has jaded Vienne to jump from town to town, leaving before anyone could get close to her. The idea that she needed to travel to share her chocolate was a facade to hide her weaknesses, which might hinder her healing of others. Overall, the town needed Vianne as much as Vianne needed the town.

What's Cooking?

What's Cooking deals with cultural differences and major issues many families face during the holidays. The one thing that brings the families together is the meals they share, even though many times there are differences even in that.
Once major moment I found of interest is when the mother is when the Chinese family cooks the turkey. One side is covered in traditional Chinese style sauce and the other is plain, representing the American way of living. The two sides of the family baked into one big turkey that eventually burns up in flames, similarly to the family drama in the movie.
The drama in the different households is not necessarily specific to their ethnicity, but rather a snapshot of examples of the drama that could ensue with any traditional family of any ethnicity/culture.

The title What's Cooking refers to the drama that is heating up as these stories pursue, all while trying to cook the perfect meal for their families. The food is important but not the main event of the movie, but rather the food brings a reason for the families to join together and brings out the different flavors and spices every family has to offer.

Like Water for Chocolate

Mama Elena is the devil incarnate, but even the devil was once an angel. Just like in Cinderella, the father dies which sparks the mother's evil outbursts due to her grief and her children. This causes she youngest and weakest child, Tita, to be the best choice for Mama Elena's personal punching bag. I believe because of this harsh upbringing, Tita developed a great gift; the ability to speak though food. The magic realism is highlighted whenever Tita cooks because of the way she is able to put her emotions into her food and for them to be felt by the public. This ties into what Dr. McNichols mentioned about how cook books are a way to connect to the part. 

Dr. McNichols discussed in class about cultural setting in this movie and how food is also a common language outside the realm of magical realism. Dr. McNichols explained about the Chicanos and the natives who live in Mexico, which explains why Gertrudes has orange hair and speaks Spanish, and this also explains the significance of Nacha's cooking. Tita learned her cooking from Nacha and in a later scene Tita is preparing a meal after Mama Elena's ghost is gone, we see the spirit of Nacha and Doctor John's native grandmother as it is shown there is a bloodline through cooking.

Dr. McNichols most importantly discussed the importance of heritage and cooking in the female community. She explained how women were unable to express themselves formally and publicly,  but their memory lives on through women's cook books. There, women were able to express themselves. This ties into the movie right off the bat when the Narrator(who we later realize was the great granddaughter of Esperanza), when she puts the onion on her head in order not to cry. This movie is definitely categorized as a food movie because the cook book is what propels the Narrator to begin telling the story. We learn about Tita and her cooking though the Narrator who is reading her book.  

Because of cookbooks like Tita's, today we are able to learn about how women lived in earlier periods and the direct relation food has to their history and the women before them. 

I also just wanted to add a list of my favorite scenes in the movie

- The Priest grabbing a woman after eating Tita's love quail -iconic-  

- Tita riding away in her sad blanket to the mental hospital with Dr. John.... that blanket was LONG. 

- Rosaura dying of flatulence and Pablo's face looking down at her.  (I tried to put a screenshot of his face, but it won't let me upload it... I swear he's smiling juuuust a little)

<--- Rosaura
<---Pablo




& Last but not least

- Chencha's character as a whole. She is so smiley and loyal to Tita--- I just love her!!