of the town. Frank_ Bennett comes nosing
around a couple of titnes, threatemng to take
Ruth and the the baby away with  W_he_n
hedisapp6aI'SaflCI'OIl60flh6SeVlS1lS,IdglClS
accused of murder.

The story comes out in episodes over the
course of several months as Evelyn con-
tinues to visit Mrs. Threadgoode. Evelyn
can’t hear enough about Ruth and Idgie,
and as time passes, she is transformed by
them. She quits her marriage classes, loses
weight, stands up to Ed. and, gets 21 10b-
When circumstances reqmre it, she yells
Idgie’s war cry of “Towanda!” and be-
comes a female avenger.

The framing device of Evelyn and Mrs.
Threadgoode works very effectively in this
film, in several ways. First, it builds sus-
pense. Although Evelyn is an appealing
character, and much of her story 1S very
funny, when we are in the present, we are
as anxious as she is to return to the past,
and find out what happens next to Idgie
and Ruth.

It also reminds us that Idgie and Ruth’s
story is long over —- these are memories of
youth, and youth cannot last. The char-
acters from the 1930s whose story we be-
come so involved in are now either old,
like Mrs. Threadgoode, or dead. The col-
ors and tone in the Whistle Stop scenes are
soft and gentle, in contrast to the present,
which is brighter, more strident and alto-
gether familiar and ordinary, underscoring
the fact that Whistle Stop and the people
who lived there are lost to us.

It is unclear whether this softness is an ac-
curate representation of life in Whistle
Stop, or if that’s just how Mrs. Thread-
goode remembers it — one of several

pleasing ambiguities in the film. Another is
that the film strongly suggests but never
confirms that Mrs. Threadgoode is in fact
Idgie grown old. Both, for example, are
characterized as story-tellers. A third am-
biguity is of course the fact that Ruth and
Idgie’s relationship is never labeled. The
film's reticence about the relationship, how-
ever, is consistent with the slight air of mys-
tery surrounding life in Whistle Stop in
general, and this saves it from feeling like a
betrayal of the audience.

The vanished Whistle Stop is a wonderful
place, almost completely cut off front the
outside world. Ruth and Idgie are its moral
center. Although this is the Deep South,
there is a surprising amount of racial har-
mony there. Ruth and Idgie serve all the
townspeople, black and white, at the cafe.
When the Ku Klux Klan makes an appear-
anoe, they are chased away by the local
constable, an old buddy of Idgie’s, and no
one gets seriously hurt We never quite be-
lieve that the murder rap will stick And
Frank Bennett, the only genuinely wicked
character in the film, doesn’t ever seem to
be much of a match for Idgie.

Nobody else does either. Idgie, who strides
through life on her own terms, fights back,
and doesn’t appear in a dress or skirt after
the age of 11 — in short, the very model of
a dyke—is never criticized for being differ-
ent. The townspeople accept her and her re-
lationship with Ruth, and love them both.
Idgie is the axis on which the entire film
past and present, turns. Whenever she’s on
screen, she lights it up.

And what about the relationship? It is ro-
mantic (the bee-charming scene), mildly
erotic (a food fight in the cafe); and Master-

March 1992

son and Parker make it come alive. The two
women laugh and have fim together, work
together, take care of each other, raise a
child together, and clearly live their lives as
a couple. At different times, each of them
openly declares her love for the other.
When Ruth tells Idgie that perhaps she
should leave because Frank is causing so
much trouble, Idgie asks her to stay and
tells her with great intensity, “This is as set-
tled as I ever hope to be.” Later, when Ruth
is asked in open court why she left Frank
Bennett to go away with Idgie, she replies,
“Because she is the best friend I have ever
had, and I love her.” Their relationship,
which is perfect, is contrasted to the dubi-
ous pleasures of heterosexuality, repre-
sented by Frank, who is loathsome, and Ed,
who is ridiculous.

The relationship may be perfect but the
film, unfortunately, isn’t quite. Several of
the plot devices are more than a little shop-
wom — among them, Evelyn’s trans-
formation, the cross-gerierational friendship
between Evelyn and Mrs. Threadgoode,
Ruth’s fate, and the Brigadoon—like quality
of the town. The ending of Ruth and Idgie’s
story is disappointing, and it is only the
knowledge that youth and perfection cannot
last that saves it from being more of a let-
down than it is.

The vividness of Ruth and Idgie’s love and
the performances of Kathy Bates, Mary
Stuart Masterson, Mary Louise Parker and
Jessica Tandy lift Fried Green Tomatoes
out of the ordinary. In spite of its flaws, I
loved this movie. The feelings it evoked
stayed with me for days after I’d seen it be-
cause, like Evelyn, I’d come to believe in
the reality of what I’d seen at the Whistle
Stop Cafe. V

Where to Find OITM

Bennington Free Library Bennington Project EXCEL, Lyndon State College Lyndonville
Brattleboro Food Coop Brattleboro Northshire Bookstore Manchester Center
Cahoots Brattleboro Middlebury Natural Food Coop Middlebury
Common Ground Brattleboro Bear Pond Books M°mP°1}“-T
EVeryone's Books Brattleboro Horn of the Moon Cafe Montpelier
Burlington College Burlington Woman Centered ‘ _ Montpelier
Chassman & Bem Burlington Morristown Centennial Library Momsville
Fletcher Free Library Burlington Moore Free Library _ _ Newfane
Partners in Recovery & Growth Burlington Northeast K§I1g<10m AIDS C°a11t1°“ NCWPO“
Peace & Justice Center - Burlington Brown Public Libl'aTY N°"h_fi"'1d
Pearls Burlington Social Alternatives for Gay Men Norwich
Planned Parenthood Burlington Woman's Study Program Plomfield
STEP Learning Center Castleton Pumey Library _ Pumey
Craftsbury Public Library Craftsbury Kimball Pubhc Library Randolph
Rutland Area Gay/Lesbian Connection E. Middlebury PFLAG _ ' Rlltlafld
Irmwood Manor East Bamet Rutland Free Libraf)’ Rmlmd
Greenhope Farm 335:1-Iardwick LUNA/NEVGALR c/o Umbrella St. Johnsbury
Fair Haven Free Library Fair Haven Natural Provisions St. Johnsbury
Buffalo Mountain Coop Hardwick Regional Llbrary 5% J°hnSbm3'
Galaxy Books Hardwick St. Athenaeum §t‘.)£):insbiii'y

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Jon s Automotive Lyndonville 153R] Books Eh White River Jmcfion