Target Market

A couple of weeks ago, I was itching to go see a movie. It seems I've inherited my father's love of movie watching. Except he sees every movie, in the theater, the week it comes out. Yeah. He LOVES movies. As do I. Sundays are a great day to go because I usually don't have to work. Except football season is now upon us. But I'm from Detroit so...that means I cheer on my boyfriend's team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After the game, with my whole day ahead of me and my boyfriend up to his eyeballs in Fantasy Football, he suggested I go to the movies without him.


Wait. By myself? Alone? Of course! Then I can pick whatever movie I want. That's genius! When I was younger, I used to hate going anywhere alone for fear of looking like a loser; out to lunch, to a bar, even to the movies. I used to look down on the poor, lonely saps I saw sitting all by themselves with a book, or their phone, or their walkman (that's the prehistoric version of the iPod, for you kids). I didn't realize the power, the absolute power, involved in going alone. So I put off seeing Inglorious Basterds for another week and went to see Julie & Julia instead. I definitely made the right choice.


Meryl Streep was such a joy to watch as the towering Julia Child. I had no idea she was an American housewife in Paris, searching for "something to do." And she ended up changing American households forever! All the reviews I read called Julia's half "the better half," and from a film standpoint they were right. Amy Adams' Julie was a bit whiny, a bit annoying, a bit of a pill, but I completely identified with her. Trust me, I'm aware of how that makes me sound and that's because it's true. There's no denying it. And that's exactly what makes Julie's half of the movie worth seeing.


Julia Child has become a myth, a legend. We can't talk to her now. We only have her recipes, her broadcasts, and her book to form an idea of her. But when Julie Powell wrote her blog and subsequent books, she pulled no punches. She allowed herself to be seen the way she truly is, tantrums and all. And that's what true storytelling is about. We want to see her transformation for what it is; flawed and imperfect. And when there is a happy ending, it gives us greater hope for our own happy ending, whether or not we cuss out our boyfriend even though he's just trying to be supportive. (tee hee)


How come the reviewers at Entertainment Weekly didn't feel the same way? Maybe because they weren't part of Julie & Julia's target market. Julie's character is turning 30 years old, like I did last year. Julie was a writer working a stressful, dead-end job, like me. She was feeling lost and behind the curve and found inspiration in the fictionalized version of a real-life woman...just like I did. Julie & Julia reminded me not to be afraid of my own voice, no matter how whiny it sounds. And who knows, maybe someone will find inspiration through my writing.


It's a total cliche but I found solace in a movie, in a Nora Ephron chick-flick no less. This is my confession; Julie & Julia inspired me to start my own blog. I'm not after a book deal like Julie Powell, and I certainly don't expect to change the world like Julia Child. But if I can inspire one person to feel the way I felt when I left the movie theater that Sunday afternoon, then sharing myself and my words is totally worth it. And maybe I shouldn't judge others so harshly when they get all wrapped up in shows like American Idol, Survivor, or The Biggest Loser. I'm not exactly a fan of Reality Television, but if these shows also inspire people to follow their dreams, try new things, and push the limits of what they do in their everyday lives, I guess they can't be all bad. Besides, I'm probably not their target market.