Julie and Julia — The Emotional Allure

By the time I finally saw Julie & Julia on Monday, the media had used every food metaphor in existence to write countless reviews and dozens of behind the scenes stories. Some criticized Julie Powell’s year-long experiment, others lauded Powell for giving food bloggers a voice. Kate, from the Accidental Hedonist, disagreed with both sides. The media dissected the script, the acting and even the food. I’m sure if I look hard enough I’ll find an article on Streep’s hat making.

The only aspect of this movie not covered by the media was audience reaction.

Here’s where you come in.

I’m no use since I saw the movie in a nearly empty house (to be fair, it was a Monday matinee). However, a good friend watched in a packed house and was puzzled by the audience reaction. When the movie ended:

• the audience erupted in applause
• many people were dabbing their eyes or openly crying
• mothers were hugging their daughters (who looked to range between 12 and 17)

My friend is a playwright and notices these kind of things. She tells me the majority of the people at that showing were women aged 40 or older. They attended with what looked like same-age friends or teenage daughters. So, the question is: What were these woman reacting to? Were you moved by this film? If so, what touched you? Or does gentle story telling like this fill a void the car-chase, shoot-’em-up, hot-sex films can’t?