What's The Hook?

I just finished watching Julie & Julia, and I am filled with some bittersweet emotion. I absolutely LOVED Meryl Streep as Julia Child. Seeing Julia child in the old PBS clips brought back such great memories. At first I really enjoyed the story of Julie, the blogger, who attempts to cook Julia's Mastering the Art of French Cooking book, every recipe, in one year.

However, that was at first. The story of Julia Child from moment one, got me crying more than once as she achieved a goal, or came against a hardship. I loved her story and wanted more. I was so disappointed when the credits rolled. But, Julie and I got off on the wrong foot, which was somewhat my fault.

Since I can't JUST watch a movie, I found myself on Wikipedia looking up Julia Child to see exactly how tall she was, 6'2", if you're curious. While I was at her entry, I noticed the blurb about the movie, and saw that Julie Powell, had an entry of her own, so I read it. BIG mistake. HUGE!

Why? Because it tells me that Julie also wrote a second book, which BOMBED. I couldn't find a nice review for it. I won't go into the book, but, let's just say its a departure from the heart warming story we were experiencing in the movie. Now, Julie Powell, don't come hunt me down and tell me I'm a mean vindictive person that can't get a soul to read my own blog so I resort to trashing others. Thats not it at all. I just let the lines blur between drama and reality, and was sorely reminded that reality is always starker and sharper, and often grungier and more distasteful, than the movies.

OK, so that was the first wrong step. With that information in mind, I watched the rest of the movie with a sarcastic and cynical eye, feeling that instead of the women growing together, Julie, the blogger, was acting more like a leech, sucking popularity and not a little bit of financial gain from Julia Child's hard work. No wonder Julia was not pleased when interviewed about the Blog/Movie.

And to top it off, I went to the Julie/Julia Project, Julie's actual blog, after I finished the movie, and it is quite the departure from the mostly wholesome blog that is portrayed in the movie. I didn't read about any orgies, but maybe I didn't read enough entries.

But, I'm not knocking the movie, the movie I loved, and not even Julie Powell. I mean, she wrote a blog, and she can do that any way she wants. Lots of people read it. People even sent money and food! Obviously people found something that interested them there. It all got made into a movie. That is the American Way, right?

I guess every good blog needs a hook. Julie Powell had Julia Child's book, and look there's Meryl Streep. Justin Halpern (of twitterdom fame, Shit My Dad Says) had a crochety old man, and now look, there's William Shatner. There are a ton of political blogs out there, and I think I'm drowning in techie ones too. They review things, rant about things, disect the smallest rumor leaked from a Taiwanese bathroom stall... but, they have drawn an interest.

I guess that leaves me. I'm not a conformist (of course by saying that, I submit to a certain amount of conformity, don't I?). I love to write, and I love to think that people will read my blog, but, I'll write it anyways, even if CBS won't give me a show. I hope that it offers something of interest, but, I can't think what that would be. So, if you've read this, and you haven't already zipped off to some other blog, drop me a comment that says why you're here. I accept anonymous... because, well... I'm anonymous!

But, back to the movie. My grandmother loved Julia Child. I sat at the breakfast table on many occasions and watched Julia Child cook on PBS from a small 15" TV. My grandmother cooked like Julia, having as much fun as necessary and alternately treating us and punishing us with creations. Although I must say, I have a very diverse palate. Even though I hated water chestnuts as a kid, because they found themselves in all sorts of food, now I eat them fondly, thinking about chicken salad sandwiches and ice cold milk.

So, I ordered Julia's book, the 49th printing of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I look forward to making some Hollandaise Sauce and maybe, if I get really frisky, I'll try de-boning that duck.