Fried Green Tomatoes

Starring: Kathy Bates, Mary Stuart Masterson, etc.
Director: Jon Avnet
Rated: PG 13
Year of Release: 1991
Video Release Date: February 1, 2000

Idgie Threadgoode goes her own way. She wears pants, a tie, cuts her hair short and has a crush on Ruth — all in the deep south town of Whistle Stop, Georgia sometime in the early post-WWII era. Ruth is married to a violent, drunken lout of a racist redneck. The two women open the Whistle Stop Café, and insist on serving Big George, a black man whose mother raised Idgie. When Ruth’s abusive husband disappears, the local KKK decides to blame the “uppity” Big George. This story is told by Ms. Threadgoode in flashback mode from the present day. She lives in a nursing home and is visited regularly by Evelyn -- dowdy, unhappy, and dripping with low self-esteem. The story, and its telling, has powerful curative affects on Evelyn, who learns to stand up for herself.

Viewing Suggestion:

Watch how Ruth and Idgie stand up for what they belief and Evelyn learns from them how to follow suit, thereby gaining the courage to deal with her life’s problems.

Ask Yourself:

- Do you think that you cannot stand up for what you believe.
- What would you expect to change in your life if you felt your fear of standing up for your convictions, accepted this fear and consequently followed through with what you believe in?
- Can you see Ruth and Idgie as models and find the strength, courage, and determination inside yourself to stand up for what you belief?