Julie & Julia is a wonderful movie. The reasons I say so are as follow.
1. Undoubtedly, Meryl Streep is one of the greatest actresses in the world. I have watched many of her movies including The deer hunter, The French Lieutenant's Woman, Sophie's Choice, Out of Africa, The Bridges of Madison County, Music of the Heart, The Hours, Prime. I may not call myself a huge fan of her. But she is indeed one of my favorite actresses because of her talent rather than her appearance.
2. Julie & Julia is a move about women. I am always interested in learning about women and their lives including emotion, family and career. The inspiration demonstrated in other’s lives would serve as my personal drug to cure some of conditions in my life.
3. The story is not complicated. Julie was inspired by Julia, though they live in different eras with about 50-60 years in between. Julie, like many young women, had a stable and yet dull job. She had a good family with a good man. Everything went well. However, something was missing in her routine life, especially compared with her girl friends. Therefore, combining her dream of being a writer and love of cooking, she started her blog/project, aiming to try 524 recipes in a cook book written by Julia in a year. Once she set up the goal, she was excited and committed to it, which is the theme of the movie. Eventually, Julie became a writer. So it tells us that we need goals and commitment to the goals.
4. We usually say we are goal oriented. However, many young women I know have no goal in their life at all. In retrospect, I can’t say I was goal oriented. Since I started my education in China in 1970s, I finished all degrees without some specific goals (just for degrees’ sake), or just following the main stream. Or I might have vague goals but didn’t realize it consciously. Sure, by following the flow of main stream, some people find their goals and stick to them. As described in the movie, if Julie chose to work as what she was, she could survive but would never develop herself. Goals may not be huge, like becoming a billionaire. Goals should be realistic and obtainable with some work. Otherwise, people may feel frustrated by not reaching the goals. In a long run, it could inspire people to explore and improve themselves. I believe this is the goal/outcome of setting a goal.
5. Julia, in the movie, was always very happy and passionate. Everybody around her would be contagious by her high spirit and optimism. Living with someone like her was such bliss. To her, nothing seemed a problem. She enjoyed what she did. No wonder her husband said “you are the butter to my bread and the breath to my life.” What a wonderful woman!!!
