I’m still thinking about Julie and Julia. I did love it. But one question that I wanted answered more fully was what DID Julia think of Julie? Well, the answer is here and it’s explained beautifully.
The basic problem was that Julia thought Julie’s blog was a stunt, and, apparently, her language didn’t help. That may have been unfair, but Julia was as entitled to her opinion as Julie was to her decision to blog about Mastering. You can see Julie, the real Julie, being interviewed on The Today Show here:
Another thing I find interesting is that Mastering The Art of French Cooking, Volume One is doing even better than Julie and Julia (no slouch at number 31) on the Amazon Best Seller List. Mastering, at this writing, is number 1. My Life in France, currently out of stock and a fantastic read, is number 13. Here's more info about that and the source of the Julie interview.
5 comments:
Hi Sue,
Julie's blog was a publicity stunt. Just like the woman in DC who is going through the Alinea cookbook and blogging about it. Piggybacking on a celebrity's name is a good way to get SEO hits.
Not to say that the blogs can't be well done, entertaining, or worthwhile. But you could see how Julia Child, who did her shows on public television after toiling away in relative obscurity for years and didn't endorse anyone's products might be upset that someone was using her, however seemingly benignly. I hope she'd be happy with the attention she's getting now and also get a cut of the action!
I don't know how Grant Achatz feels about the Alinea blog, but I can't help but think that the woman doing that site has given him a different (and bigger) audience than he might have otherwise had. (Not to mention spending more time on trying his recipes in a home kitchen than he ever did, from the way the blog reads).
Tom
I'm just happy that a movie like this is around to help show the people about Julia. There's people who actually don't know who she is, which is surprising. I'm all about teaching some of the younger kids about history... food wise and other wise :)
I find all this controversy over the movie fascinating. I know I am going to see it. Will I like it? I don't know...but I think it is worth checking out.
I'm holding off on your review for now. I would like to see it on Thursday or Friday. I think I'll enjoy it, but I hate dragging Eric to it. I'm not sure if he would be into it.
Hey Tom,
I’m not sure it was a publicity “stunt” (as Julia called it) at the time that Julie was doing it. I don’t think she knew enough about blogging to know what she was even getting herself into. I will tell you, though, that as I’m reading her book, I don’t like her any more than I did her character in the movie…and maybe I like her even less.
It is true that Julie started a mini-trend. Just like the first reality show started an entire landslide, there are plenty of blogs where the author cooks along with a cookbook. Carol Blymire‘s blog before Alinea At Home was the one where she tackled The French Laundry Cookbook. That was kind of amazing and took her over a year and a half. She wasn’t cooking everyday, because those recipes were so involved (and pricey), but she did a great job. I guess every good idea has its imitators (AND its detractors).
Yes, Adam,
That’s so true. And isn’t it great that Master the Art Of French Cooking is at the top of the best seller lists? Go, Julia!
Hi Jenn,
You WILL love the Julia parts, I know you will. The Julie parts are so underwhelming that we don’t really get a chance to root for her or understand her whole story. But Julia played by Meryl Streep? You can’t help but be delighted by her. A friend just said to me that Meryl out-Julia’d Julia in the same way that Helen Mirren was more the Queen than the actual queen. Good point.
Em,
You’re so obedient. I like that! Go right into the kitchen and bake me some brownies!
It’s not a chick flick. I know many - make that several - guys that liked it. Really. (Get to work on those brownies.)
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