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Sitting through the present, discussing a story that takes place in the past, and watching flashbacks, is a style of storytelling I strongly dislike. To me, it seems like a waste of time. Why doesn’t the person just tell the story? It also infuriates me at the end of the movie, when the person telling the story was the young version of the character all along. Flashbacks are sometimes effective, like in Citizen Kane, but most of the time like in Bette Midler’s For the Boys, they miss the mark.
But at least “Fried Green Tomatoes” had an interesting listener. It supports the flashback structure, unlike “For The Boys.” And the listener is a character I would love to learn more about. Jr: she is Evelyn Couch (Kathy Bates), an unattractive couch potato, unhappily married and constantly showing signs of crushing low self-esteem. She meets Miz Threadgoode (Jessica Tandy), an elderly woman who sprinkles magic into everything she touches, making her far less dull.
As they begin to talk, Evelyn starts to look forward to the Wednesday visits. The old lady recounts an ongoing tale of the thrilling happenings from over fifty years ago in a place called Whistle Stop, Georgia.
You have already read or watched a dozen tales regarding Whistle Stop. It’s one of those stereotypical Southern towns teeming with good, honest folk that peacefully live along with Negroes, while quite a number of redneck racists regularly come in their trucks, shoot their guns, and make a ruckus. In this case, one of the rednecks happens to be a young woman Ruth’s violent, drunken husband (Mary Louise Parker). And I daresay poor Ruth wasn’t “Ruth” in the least for marrying him in the first place. At least not according to Digi Threadgoode (Mary Stuart Masterston) who sports trousers, has her hair cropped short, and is desperately in love with Ruth.
The two women opened Whistle Stop Cafe in partnership, with Big George (Stan Shaw) assisting them. The cafe’s specialty is fried green tomatoes. The Klan members, however, did not react kindly to the women serving George and did not seem too bothered when Ruth’s malicious husband went missing and was presumed dead. The Klan set their sights on George, believing him to be the murderer.
So, what happened to the drunken lout? This is the epic reveal of old Miz Threadgoode’s tale. “Fried Green Tomatoes” is far more complex than the murder and the trial that follow it. At the core, it investigates nonconformity within an incredibly intolerant culture. One can certainly tell that Edgier is a lesbian and, to some extent, that she is with Ruth. But given the social norms of the South at the time, a lot is left unsaid, and we can never be sure how much clarity there actually is to Ruth. It’s also clear that Sipsey and George are better company than most of the whites in town and that Edgier and Ruth, by deciding for themselves who they are and how they will lead their lives, are, in the eyes of the town’s entrenched citizens, a menace.
With respect to that, there’s a unique angle in the Kathy Bates character’s life that connects all those irrational elements. Mrs. Couch is a binge eater and her husband, Mr. Couch, teleports into the journeys of TV and America’s pro sports whilst lounging on a couch aptly named after a piece of furniture he seems to cherish. Before moving on to more fascinating stories, I need to note that she is still incapable of garnering her spouse’s interest Even after attending his door draped in Saran Wrap and his suggestions totes Titillating Total Woman.
The “Fried Green Tomatoes” plot is quite predictable and its flashback structure continuously disrupts the narrative flow, but the sheer performance strength makes the structure’s shortcomings irrelevant. In general, I liked Mary Stuart Masterson’s performance, but then again I enjoyed Always do (check her out in Some Kind of Wonderful). While recalling a story that is not entirely dissimilar to a woman she is, I was captivated by the enthusiasm with which Jessica Tandy meticulously told her tale long ago.
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